Are You Being Robbed of Peace?
Almost 10 years ago, now, I was traveling, by plane, from New Jersey to Minnesota. And I sat next to a grandfather, who was with his grandson. The grandfather and I struck up a conversation fairly early in the flight. At the time, he was running a Christian school he founded in his home country in Africa. I asked him about the greatest challenge he was facing, and his answer was surreal. Holding his grandson, who was under the age of two, he simply explained that the growing threat of ISIS had him wondering when, not if, they would come to shut his school down. He'd already received threats. "What are you going to do?" I asked. "What do you mean?" he replied, puzzled. "Well, do you think about closing the school temporarily, until things with ISIS hopefully calm down? Or, maybe, moving to America to be with your grandson?" He smiled at me, almost as if to say, "Oh, what a cute thought from a sheltered American." Then he said, "No. But most mornings I do wake up and wonder if it will be the last day of the school or the last day for me." Then, again he smiled, he hugged his grandson, and I was struck then, and I'm still struck now, by how undisturbed he was by the imminent danger waiting for him. More than that, I was struck by how peaceful he was. I think it was the first time I've ever really encountered the kind of peace that only radiates from those who have a deep, deep relationship with Jesus Christ. As the conversation continued, I asked him if there was a verse in scripture he related to most, or if there was one that helped him become so joyful, despite his grave circumstances. I don't think he even thought about it for a second. The verse just, sort of, leaped out from him, from somewhere deep within him: "All things work for the good of those who love God." And then, he went on to say, "If you believe that, I mean, really believe that, nothing can ever rob you of peace. No matter what comes your way, you will know, really know, that God has allowed it to happen, for your good in this life or the next. Your part, my part, is to simply embrace it, whatever it is, in faith." Then he looked deeply into my eyes, and he said, "Very easy to understand; very hard to live."
God can leave us wanting for certain things, can't he? With seemingly no explanation at all, too, you know? And he has a tendency to allow some things to happen to us that are-- well, frankly, they kind of stink. Today's gospel is a reminder, though, I mean, like, a brilliant reminder - and it's classic Jesus, too, because it's so simple and straightforward - but the gospel tells us that God never keeps us from what is essential, his presence. Or in the words of today's gospel, his peace. And that is the only thing, the only necessary thing, for us to experience a deep and fulfilling life. Think about the apostles in this scene in scripture. Okay? They're huddled in a room, they're afraid of death. And Jesus doesn't pop in and tell them, "Hey guys, don't worry about this. Y'all are going to be fine. I'm back! We're good now." You know? No. Instead, Jesus breathes his life, his peace, into them. And, in the same way God breathed life into this world at the beginning of creation, he breathes new life into them. For the apostles, it was a peace that didn't change their circumstances or the danger they were in, but within them, deep within them, they became something new. They became a new creation, capable of walking through any storm, with the only thing they truly needed, the peace of Christ. Ever since that flight, I've known, without a shadow of a doubt, that St. Paul's phrase, "All things work for the good of those that love God," that that phrase was going to challenge me more than any passage in all of the Bible. And yet, I knew then, just as I know now, that, "Gosh, if I lived it, I would be radically better husband, father, son, leader, citizen than I am right now." It's a hard lesson, though, right? It's a hard lesson. And it's a hard lesson because what it says to us, is that the amount of peace I have in this life, it's equal to the amount of trust I have in God. Okay, I'm going to say that again, but I'm going to put you in that. Okay? The amount of peace you have in life is equal to the amount of trust you have in God. Trust in what? Trust that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord. May the peace of Jesus be with you today, and all the days of your life.