Jesus, peace, disruption and the unshakeable kingdom

 

Take heart. Yes, you will have trouble and disruption in this world. Don’t let your hearts be troubled and don’t be afraid. I have overcome the world. I am leaving peace with you. I do not give peace as the world gives peace. (Some words of Jesus from the book of John)

We cannot hope to have peace that only means calm and quiet in our world, with no impact on us, just a smooth ride or a little bubble of peace. Maybe even predictable and no surprises. Nothing to rock the boat. That kind of seeming stability that is mostly unrealistic too, is not peace.

The reality is that Jesus said – ‘in this world you will have trouble!’ Trouble does not equal stability most of the time. The author of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 12 - Don’t expect the life of the kingdom to be safe, there’s going to be a whole lot of shaking going on! Indeed, to enter the kingdom and begin to walk the way of Jesus is the first step of a walk on the wild side. Let us therefore be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. But when the world rocks and shakes, he will be our peace in the midst of it. (Phil Togwell, Lectio devotional)

There is a way to real peace when there is trouble, but it has to have the added ingredient of justice – as in making things right, before you can start working towards peace. We say ‘peace’ in English and it’s translated as ‘Shalom’ in Hebrew. Peace speaks to tranquility, security, free from persecution of our identity or oppression by another person or authority structure.

Shalom has a deeper, fuller and richer meaning. It speaks into universal flourishing (freedom, equity, seeing the image of God in each living person), societal harmony, wholeness, health, completeness, safety, open doors and extending welcome. Shalom speaks to making things right, fair and good for all. We desperately need shalom in our world right now. Jesus is the Prince of peace, the Prince of Shalom. He offers everything to us as described above.

Jesus did not come to the earth and speak about the bubble of peace with no impact on our lives or the world around us. Jesus did not support the status quo at all (in regards to anything contrary to the kingdom). He disrupted it completely. Taking the peaceful route doesn’t sound like it should have disruption in it, right? Here are some ‘not so calm and quiet’ descriptions of God - a roaring lion, a rushing wind, a consuming fire, his voice shakes the earth - those are pretty strong statements about a God of the greatest strength. Thank him that when we turn to him and put our trust in him, he gives us stability in the unshakeable kingdom, even when our personal and communal world shakes.

When it comes to violence we don’t easily put Jesus in the mix, but we did see one act that maybe surprised some people in the moment, and even today we still discuss it because it stands out compared to so many other actions – when Jesus overturned the tables in the Temple. He was angry that God’s house was being used for something that took away from what it was meant for. He didn’t actually have a problem with selling things and making money, although there was huge exploitation taking place in many of those transactions. He was never happy with people being exploited. I wonder what exploitation he sees today on the earth that he would flip the tables over again? The lion roar, the hurricane wind, the blazing fire, the thundering voice and the violent shaking would be noticeable to all. He is not quiet in the heavens over what happens here on earth, especially when it’s about injustice and exploitation of others.

I read something in a devotion the other day that was so encouraging.

To back up a bit – I had been reading from the Lectio 365 App and it was in John 2 where Jesus flipped the tables and spoke about rebuilding the temple in 3 days. The comment in Lectio said this – ‘it certainly got people’s attention as a piece of prophetic theatre. Jesus wasn’t against trade per se. He was making space in His Father’s house for the real business of the house, which is prayer and in this particular Temple court, the inclusion of non-Jews in the worship of God.’

 In the Lectio 365 App it suggests you go back to the text and look for something you may not have seen before, or to look for something that stands out. And suddenly the Spirit reminded me and I looked at the phrase, ‘I will rebuild the Temple in 3 days’, and of course Jesus was not talking about the physical temple in front of him, he was talking about his body - This was going to be the change from the Old to the New covenant. From a building (Temple) to a body (Temple). From only Jews to all people. His death and resurrection encapsulates all that. It made all the difference to our world. His body would be destroyed (death) in a very violent way. That’s what happens when you disrupt status quo and call for a new and different way to those who might want to hang onto the status quo and its form of peace - peace with no ripples, nothing going wrong etc etc. We can think we are happy like we are and that we don’t need to change. This current situation serves us quite well, even if others are being exploited by our actions. But that’s not what Jesus is about.

His body resurrected (life for all, all inclusive, no-one left out – that’s the New Covenant)

Only God can do all that in 3 days through the most powerful acts on earth. The most disruptive acts on earth. It was violence on display on the cross for peace everlasting. It was justice. It was righteousness. It was making things right like no other power can. Take heart I have overcome the world. I am with you. You are not alone. Be strong and courageous. It is all possible through Jesus.

But the New Covenant brought about a new way of doing things. And we still seem to be struggling with Jesus words where he says over a number of things ‘You have heard it said, but I say’. He changed things completely. He didn’t die and rise again for us to still be hanging onto the Old Covenant (he completely fulfilled the law, but he also ushered in the new with his death and resurrection.)

So, violence and peace. How do they fit together? Sometimes standing up for something that is right and just is going to get you misunderstood and having people very angry at you, have you cast aside or even killed. But if we are standing for what Jesus says, then it’s so worth taking that risk. The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to all those who trust in him. Nahum 1:7

We often hear the phrase - ‘let’s just keep the peace…and keep quiet!!’ ‘Let’s not rock the boat, because we could just make things worse’ (for ourselves and our family, community or even our country) or people could turn on us and take revenge. ‘Let’s play it safe because we don’t like risk and uncertainty or feeling unsafe.’ We could get canceled, lose our jobs, our reputation or maybe even our lives (even when we are standing for humanity and what is good and right). And yet that’s exactly what he calls us to do and he showed us how. He doesn’t play it safe when he sees injustice and things that go against what his kingdom stands for. He spoke up, he called people to more, he reminded people, he challenged people and he loved and cared for people.

“Those who have been silenced and harmed have a right to be loud and angry. Anger makes us more human and loving. Anger reminds us that we matter and that we deserve liberation, protection and care.” Stewart Dante

"Tend to that fire that burns within you for justice." Chris Yi Suh. God's perfect justice.

Dehumanization and oppression are acts of violence against people. As a result of this violence, we all need to be rehumanized. We cannot control other people or make them think they are less than human

Injustice makes God angry. It should make us angry too. It should cause us to act and bring an end to the injustice. God is not ok with us being ok with injustice. He doesn’t want us to be passive about it. It is the most loving response to act to make things right. Sometimes we need to stand up in spite of the consequences that might follow. Undoing injustice is not a peaceful or easy process. When something has been happening for a while and there’s a normalization of it and especially if it is benefiting certain people, there is going to be pushback. Jesus also faced opposition. It’s going to be a battle and a fight. It could get messy. Moses played a pivotal role in history. He would not have been around had it not been for his mother acting, by faith in God, but against the wishes of those in power. (Some could call this an act of civil disobedience.) Moses was a part of God’s story in leading the Israelites to their freedom from being enslaved in Egypt. They received pushback after pushback in respect to their requests for their freedom.

We need courage for the journey, we need to be steadfast in standing up for what is right and for what needs to change. Our faith in following God and his ways (which are often counter cultural) has to be unwavering. Our strength of heart, mind, body and soul will need to stay the journey and be replenished along the way.

“…until I discovered that politeness is not rightness, that anger is not always hate, but hurt, and to be loving is to be fiercely angry at injustice.” J.S. Park

We know our weapons of warfare are different, but we have to engage with them. They have the power to demolish strongholds and change hearts to change situations. And we also know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. He uses everything, the good, the bad and the very ugly.

We need to call things what they are. Our language matters. Let’s not be people who ignore ‘the elephant in the room.’ We need to be salt and light offline and online. We need to realise that online is real life - what we say there really does matter and it causes impact - let’s make it positive impact. Jesus also promised to be with us always, so we don’t do this alone.

‘The church is people who show up with proximity.’ Terence Lester

Jesus showed up with proximity. He came through the incarnation as a baby and he moved into the neighborhood with us. He was willing to be seen with the people that not many were keen to sit with. He gave us so many different instructions as to how to treat people better than ourselves. He always moves to the margins, to those who get outcast by society. He got close, he still comes close. He wants us to get close to the people that others might not be keen to associate with. To show up and be there.

He will always disrupt the status quo (especially if it is harmful towards a particular group of people) and he will ‘rock the boat’ and not keep quiet, he won’t just keep the (false) peace or play it safe if justice is at stake/if things need to be put right. Can you just imagine Jesus deciding each day - “should I act justly and love mercy today?” We are thankful he cannot go against his very character which is filled with justice, love, mercy and peace. As a world full of people from every nation, we should not go to bed with unfinished business. This kind of anger when it is left to fester turns into impulsive actions, bitterness and unjust actions. We should rather Stop! Think! Talk! Sort it out!!

His kingdom is not here or there (it does not have a building or piece of land), it is within us (we are his temple and it moves with us wherever we go). It is on display for all to see by the way we live and by the way we treat people.

“…summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:9B and 10