Advent December 22
In Making Room I wrote about peace and quoted from Peter Kreeft’s before I go:
But unless you are already at peace with yourself, you can’t practice the road to peace that is forgiveness. Instead, you will project the war you have with yourself out onto the other. Thomas Merton says we are not at peace with each other because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God. That’s the whole problem of conflict in two sentences.
Does this ring true for you? It does for me. Committed Christians are the most peace-filled and content people I know. I’m not saying that there aren’t many Christians who are full of an angst and sorrow. I’m saying that when I meet a person who exudes peace it is almost always a safe assumption that they know Jesus.
The CSLI devotional addresses the portion of Messiah that says “beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” The author of the devotional tells us that an early criticism of Messiah was that Handel had it performed in secular venues. “Some felt the only suitable place to perform Messiah was a church.” Would Messiah be the widely prized treasure it is today if it was only heard in churches? Probably not, thankfully “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace” was sung all over!
It’s thought-provoking. Do I sometimes keep my own testimony of God’s grace and goodness inside Christian circles? How can I increasingly point others to the gospel of peace?
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15
Digging Deeper:
If you’ve been listening to the excerpts of Messiah, do you have a favorite?
Who is the most peace-filled person you know? How do you explain it?
How can you preach the good news to those around you more intentionally?