I. I have to begin with a little story that came across my e-mail this week about a "haunted car" in Lousianna. (1) This story happened about a month ago in a little town in Louisiana, and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it’s said to be true. This guy was on the side of the road hitch hiking on a very dark night in the middle of a storm. The night passed slowly and no cars went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.
Suddenly he saw a car slowly looming, ghostlike, out of the gloom. It slowly crept toward him and stopped. Reflexively, the guy got into the car and closed the door, then realized that there was nobody behind the wheel. The car slowly started moving again. The guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running. The guy saw that the car was slowly approaching a sharp curve. The guy started to pray, begging for his life; he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and he would plunge to his death, when just before the curve, a hand appeared thru the window and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend.
Paralyzed with terror, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally, the guy gathered his wits and leaped from the car and ran to the nearest town. Wet and in shock, he went into a bar and voice quivering, ordered two shots of tequila, and told everybody about his horrible, supernatural experience. A silence enveloped everybody when they realized the guy was apparently sane and not drunk. About half an hour later two guys walked into the same bar. One says to the other, "Look, Boudreaux, Dats dat idiot dat rode in our car when we was pushin it in de rain."
Are things always as they seem? (2) "If someone were to come and ask you, “WHAT IS PEACE”, how would you answer them? Peace is one of those things that everyone wants, but no one has a real clear answer of what it is or how you can get it and keep it." Peace is often something illusive, something that must be misunderstood. We talk about Peace in the Middle East or in Israel and yet "peace" doesn’t seem attainable. The dictionary first (3) defines peace as "the absence of war". At first I thought that this was a good definition because then that means that everything short of all out war is still peace. Minor disagreements, still peace! Little household dispute... I mean not a "war", is that still peace? But then you look up "war" and discover (3) it is 1) "any major armed conflict" (I guess its not war if your not armed), but you also find 2)any struggle or fight; 3) the science of military operations (I’ve know people who are good at this); and 5) to be in a state of strong opposition."
So we may well be in and out of war from moment to moment, not to mention the spiritual war within our souls, and yet the character of a Christian includes "peace". But yet what is peace besides the absence of war? Included in its definitions is (3) 2) "an agreement that ends war; 3) a state of harmony among people or groups; (I like this one) 4) freedom from disorder in a normal community (what do you do if you live in an abnormal community?); 5) freedom of the mind from fear, anxiety, or annoyance; 6) silence; or 7) holding one’s silence (peace).
We have these seemingly loft definitions of "peace", yet it is still confusing, if not bewildering at how to attain it. (2) "Someone once said that “Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.” [Lloyd Cory, Quote Unquote]
Wow, we are suppossed to have peace, as the character of a christian and I can’t keep from being at war with my tennis shoe strings that won’t stay tied!?! By definition is seem hardly attainable, and yet it must be. The word for "peace" that is used both in Galatians 5:22 and Col 3:15-17, is (4) "eirene" (i-ray’-nay), which might literally mean "to join", to bring two sides together; to "join" two enemies, but looking deep within its meaning, it implies "to set at one again".
Paul in his letter to the Collossians deals with the heart of this matter in "forgiveness". the NLT (New Living Translation) says "you must make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive the person who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." (vs 13) And above all "putting on the clothing of love". Peace then is perhaps really a state of "setting at one again", being forgiven, and forgiving, joining together with Christ, and through the grace of God, with others.
Someone said (5) "it is the willingness to waive one’s rights rather than be concerned for personal gain...included in this is the ability not to become frustrated and enraged but to make allowances for others’ shortcomings and to tolerate their exasperating behavior."... "The solution..." to a lack of peace is offered "...is bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Bearing with others involves fully accepting them for who they are with their weaknesses and faults, and allowing them worth and space. The motivation and grounds for the all important ability to forgive others lie in the readers’ own experiance of forgiveness. Knowing oneself to have been forgiven by Christ should release the generosity required to forgive others." (5)
Because you have been set at one with Christ, and have found peace of mind in Christ, you are thereby able to offer that peace to others. For certain, people are going to make mistakes. People are going to wrong you, some even hurt you or you have hurt them. BUT the true Character of Christian behavior is "peace" that comes because grace, and love and forgiveness prevail. (2) [as quoted in The tale of the Tardy Oxcart] “Peace is that calm of mind that is not ruffled by adversity, overclouded by a remorseful conscience, or disturbed by fear.”
(2) Pastor Chris Talton tells about Paul’s letter to the Church. "The church that Paul was writing to, the church in the city of Philippi, (Phillipians 4:1-9) did not have peace... One of the main reasons for this lack of peace in the church was two women that were fighting with one another. There names were Euodia and Syntyche. We have no record of what they were fighting about, but whatever it was, it had separated their friendship with each other. I read this week of two unmarried sisters who lived together. Because of a slight disagreement over an insignificant issue, they stopped speaking to each other. Unable and unwilling to move out of their small house, they continued to use the same rooms, eat at the same table (separately), and sleep in the same bedroom. Without one word. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves, separating a doorway and fireplace. Each could come and go, cook and eat, sew and read without crossing over into her sister’s domain. Through the night each could hear the breathing of the foe, but because neither was willing to take the first step to reconciliation and forgiveness, they coexisted for years in grinding silence.
The situation was creating enough of a problem that word had gotten all the way to Paul in prison about their conflict. Paul knew that this was something that he had to deal with because he knew how destructive fights between individuals within the church can be to the life of that church. This situation created great pain for Paul. Look at what he says in verse 1. He describes the people of this church as brothers, the ones he longs to be with because of his love for them. He calls them his source of joy and his crown. And he calls them his friends. Paul had begun the church at Philippi. Most of the people in the church had been saved as a result of Paul’s teaching. That included these two women that were now fighting.
The people there were a labor of love for Paul, and now, it looked like things might fall apart because of some insignificant argument or offense. Have you ever been there? You’ve put your heart and soul into some project or person, and something so small that it goes unnoticed or ignored gets in the way and destroys everything that you have worked for. I read about a man who backed his bright, shiny new Cadillac out of the driveway and headed for the freeway on his daily commute to work downtown. He was busily shaving himself as he drove – a normal operation for him. I suppose he had his radio on, and he was listening to the news and traffic reports as he made his way to his office. Witnesses say that suddenly he reached up behind his neck and slumped over the wheel. The car swerved and went over an embankment, and he was killed. An autopsy was ordered. When he examined the body, the physician noticed a small pinprick behind the man’s ear. Apparently, a wasp had flown from some part of the car and had stung him, temporarily paralyzing a particular area of the nerve and blinding him with pain. He slumped over the wheel, lost control of the car, and died. (p. 180 Tales of the Tardy Oxcart) Little problems kill. (Heb 12:15 NIV)
See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root [or root of bitterness] grows up to cause trouble and defile [or destroy] many. When you allow bitterness and anger to go on and on without dealing with it, you will not only destroy yourself; you will destroy many others right along with you. Take care of problems between yourself and others while they are small before they have a chance to grow into bushes that are entrenched in the ground. Paul not only told these women to fix the problem that was standing between them, but he told them how. He told them to “agree with each other” (NIV).
The NKJV says, “be of the same mind”. One translation has “to mind the same things”. These women could not change what had happened. That was an impossibility. But what they could change is how they felt about the situation and their attitude toward one another. They had to change their mind about who was at fault about the situation that they created. They had to change their mind about who was going to be the one to seek forgiveness and restoration. They had to change their mind about the character of the other person. “That woman is so cantankerous! It’s no wonder that she makes me so mad! She always wants her own way because she thinks that her way is always best! She’s so stubborn!” When we can’t have our own way, we start to attack the person rather than dealing with the situation. They needed mind surgery.
And then Paul reminded them of something. He reminded them of all the work that they had done together in the past. They had faithfully served their Lord and their church by working to bring other people to faith in Jesus Christ. There were people in heaven because of how these two had worked together in the past. They had worked side by side with others as well for the same purpose. They had seen many receive forgiveness from the Lord and be released from their past, but now these two were unwilling to forgive one another and receive release from the bondage that they had created for themselves. They had forgotten all that and had gotten sidetracked onto unimportant issues. They had forgotten that their number 1 priority was to win people to Jesus. All that other stuff really wasn’t that important.
"One day, a father took his son and one of his son’s friends on a fishing trip. They got to their camp sight, and everything was just perfect. The weather was warm but not hot, the lake was calm, and they had a level campsite. They raised their tent, cooked their dinner, and went to bed anticipating several days of great fishing. When they awoke the next morning, they discovered that a cold front had come through during the night. It was now in the low 40’s and a cold wind was blowing. They stayed in their tents most of the day and occupied themselves telling stories and playing silly games with one another to make the best of a bad situation. They went to bed that night hoping that things would be better the next day. The next day was more of the same. Only now, it began to rain. Once again, they tried to wait it out and occupy themselves in the tent. But by the end of the day, everyone was on edge and angry at one another. They decided to pack up and head home. They discovered that when fishermen don’t fish, they fight." (unknown)
So lets fish, and not fight! Lets forgive and have peace! Let us overlook faults and not criticize! and let us live by true character of a christian "to be at one" At One with God; At one with each other; at peace!
(1) source/author unknown
(2) Pastor Chris Talton, "How Can I Have Peace?", www.sermoncentral.com
(3) Webster’s Desk Dictionary
(4) Strong’s Dictionary, Greek #1515
(5) NIB, Vol XI, pp. 674-648
