In a pamphlet titled, ‘American Crisis,’ written in 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: ‘These are the days that try men’s souls . . .’ Today, in England, France, as well as the US, these words reflect the mood of close to 500 million people. Serious consequences hang in the balance of the decisions made by those in authority. Uncertainty is the multi-national malaise. Beyond these collective borders, too, is a worrisome ‘rattling of swords.’ Here’s the 2000-year-old breaking news:
“You will hear of wars nearby and revolutions on every side, with more rumors of wars to come. Don’t panic or give in to your fear, for the breaking apart of the world’s system is destined to happen. But it won’t yet be the end; it will still be unfolding. Nations will go to war against each other and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be terrible earthquakes – seismic events of epic proportion, horrible epidemics and famines in place after place. This is how the first contractions and birth pains of the new age will begin!” (Matt 24:6-8)
JESUS
What should an anxious world see in us, hear from us? From Jesus’ own words: Don’t panic or give in to your fear. In other words, our ‘role’ is to be a non-anxious presence, making way for not just peace as the world understands it, but fully orbed peace, or Eirene in Greek, Shalom in Hebrew, as Jesus intended. (John14:27, Ephesians 2:14). ‘This ‘peace’ describes a peace that is positive; a time, place, and condition that features love, righteousness, calmness, political and moral uprightness and much more. It is a word reserved for those who walk with God in a positive relationship.’ (Carpenter, E.E. and Comfort, P.W., Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000, p. 135.)
The unique place this amazing, centered, unflappable state is found, is in Jesus. It isn’t found in Transcendental Meditation, or Zen Buddhism, or any other source holding out such promises. It is in Jesus alone. It isn’t discovered in emptying our minds to open them up to universal forces. That will lead us to a destination but not the one for which we’re aiming. It is in Jesus alone. The world can’t give it to us because the world doesn’t know it. He is the Faithful One, the Ancient of Days, the Prince of Peace. Our Jesus-given peace is a wholeness, a re-integrated completeness empowering us to tell this good news now ours. We are those who’ve been claimed as God’s Beloved. In Him, we can know that we know that we know. PD
