peace

Persons of Peace

Posted on by Betsy

Many years ago I attended a clergy retreat where a speaker introduced us to the concept of a person of peace. Based in Luke 10, a person of peace is someone who welcomes and listens to others and is able to build bridges in a community. They are open and receptive to new ideas and can serve as a doorway to God. We were then asked to identify people who had personally served that function in our own lives, and I immediately thought of a clergy sister who invited me to join her small group the day after I moved into the area, opening the door to new friendships and support. This woman made room for every crazy idea or grievance I had about ministry. She was a deep listener, and I always felt peace in her presence.

The final section of Psalm 37 refers to “persons of peace.” According to David, the future belongs to them. Once again in this psalm, David referred to the righteous and blameless people who will enter in to a place of peace while the future of the wicked will be cut off. For the sixth and final time in this psalm, David states that the future of the wicked is not to be desired. So while we spend time envying the wealth and celebrity of the wicked in the world, we should realize that their fleeting abundance will be cut off like a tree felled by the ax of the Good Woodcutter.

The righteous man and woman are noted for their wise and just words. We realize that wisdom is not just an innate gift of God but also a result of the effort and work we put into knowing God and learning God’s Word. We can’t know wisdom until we learn it. We can’t understand justice until we study it. We can’t learn God’s instruction unless we intentionally read the Bible and engage in corporate study with others. So good for you! You’re actively becoming a person of peace by your reading today. Now be sure to open this to someone else.   

Psalm 37:30-40


The mouths of the righteous recite wisdom;
    their tongues discuss justice.
31 The Instruction of their God is in their hearts;
    they don’t miss a step.
32 The wicked, on the other hand, target the righteous,
    seeking to kill them.
33 But the Lord won’t leave the righteous
    to the power of the wicked,
    and won’t let the righteous
    be found guilty when they are judged.

34 Hope in the Lord and keep his way!
    He will lift you up so you can possess the land.
        When the wicked are eliminated,
        you will see it for yourself!
35 I myself have seen wicked powerful people,
    exalting themselves like a stately cedar.
36 But when I came back, they were gone!
    I looked all over for them,
    but they couldn’t be found!

37 Observe those who have integrity
    and watch those whose heart is right
    because the future belongs to persons of peace.
38 But wrongdoers will be destroyed all together;
    the future of the wicked will be cut short.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
    he is their refuge in times of trouble.
40 The Lord will help them and rescue them—
    rescue them from the wicked—and he will save them
    because they have taken refuge in him.

David’s words make sense in a Christian context as well. People who are open avenues to the Gospel and invite others in will be instrumental in bringing peace and harmony to the world.  David invites us to hope in the Lord and keep God’s ways. When we do, peace is ours not just in the future but in the here and now. Who is your person of peace? Are you a person of peace in your community? 

Persons of Peace by Kathy Schumacher

Pathway to Peace

Posted on by Betsy

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

This beautiful prayer is a hallmark of 12 Step groups such as AA. The origin of it is somewhat disputed, but look at this longer prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

The pursuit of serenity and peace is something that consumes many of us, with little to no results. The reason may be that we are using the wrong things to find it. Hoping to find serenity in alcohol, drugs, food, “retail therapy”, inappropriate relationships, overworking, over exercising, attempting to control everything around us … even the list itself is exhausting.

I know someone who religiously gets up every morning to pour over every single page of a national newspaper, thinking that intellectual pursuit of answers to her anxiety about the current state of affairs will bring her peace. It does not. I know someone else who is up at the crack of dawn to exercise, followed by more cardio work and group classes throughout the day, in hopes that physical exhaustion will settle her mind down. It does not. Neither will the every afternoon Happy Hour routine, the weed smoked before class, the sexting, the pornography, the overspending, the under-eating … nothing we can produce or manufacture will bring us true peace. It is all lies, smoke, and mirrors fueled by industries who are just trying to produce more consumption of useless things.

Niebuhr was right. Accepting hardship, rather than denying it, is the pathway to peace. Living one day at a time, rather than spinning with worry about tomorrow, will lead us to serenity. Enjoying one moment at a time, rather than comparing that moment to the fun everyone on Fakebook seems to be having, will lead to acceptance of the world as it is. And the key? “Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.”

Take a look at verses 3 and 4 of this passage from Isaiah. Note that the voice changes in this passage; verse 1 and 2 describes what is happening, verse 3 addresses God, and verse 4 addresses us.

Isaiah 26

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

    he sets up salvation

    as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates,

    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.”

3 You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on You,

    because he trusts in You.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

To be kept in this perfect peace, our minds must be “stayed” on God. The Hebrew word “sawmak” comes from the root “to prop,” and is translated as “to lean upon or take hold of; to bear up, establish, uphold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay, sustain.” (Strong’s Dictionary)

So, what sustains your mind? What do you lay your mind upon? What does your mind stand fast upon? What is your mind leaning on? To have perfect peace, your mind can’t just occasionally visit the Lord; it has to be STAYED on him. Keeping your mind, heart, soul and activity wholly centered on God is the way to peace.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.Real Serenity by Michelle Robertson.