Seeking the Peace that Passes All Understanding: Part 2

Peace that Passes All Understanding

God does not like uniformity. Diversity is the language of God. Our diversity is God’s paint brush, mixing the colors of life that are a true reflection of our living Creator. In many ways, diversity is the biggest blessing of our existence. The richness of creation is a reflection of God’s interest in & love of all unique kinds of living things blended together to form a beautiful mosaic that is composed of different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, & different dreams that all reflect the very nature of God. God created a world of diversity not to separate us from our differences, but to teach us acceptance & love for each other & our uniqueness, paving the way for His peace to be manifested through our living. Rather than creating us all as clones, the divine Spirit who is God, has bestowed all of creation with clear diversity & with heartening & encouraging freedoms, including freedom from hatred & fear. We are created with unique differences in order to tell the world that there are no outsiders, that all are welcome; black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male female, gay or straight, all people are part of God’s mosaic of life. To recognize & honor the diversity of all of creation is to worship God & to live reflecting His spirit, for we are all God’s children, created in His image. The peace of God is grounded in God’s unconditional Agape love for all of creation. It is different than worldly peace that temporarily may calm the waters of conflict when people resolve differences from time to time & that comes & goes depending on the particular situation. Worldly peace is not based on love, compromise perhaps, but rarely on pure love for the other.

God’s peace on the other hand is grounded in God’s unending love for all people. It is an enduring gift from God that is not negotiated, but given freely as a grace-filled blessing. In the Gospel of John, we read that as Jesus prepared to leave this earth He said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, & do not let them be afraid.” His gift of holy peace surpasses all understanding. We cannot understand the blessed assurance of trusting in our known God that through Him, peace, harmony & equanimity will eventually come to this broken world. Though we cannot understand this peace that surpasses all understanding, through faith we can believe it, receive it, live into it, and reflect it out into the world. As God’s children we are empowered to be instruments of His peace in this world. We are told in the book of Hebrews that; “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is faith in our living God that will fill our hearts with His blessing of peace that when reflected will bring equanimity & healing to this diverse broken mosaic of life. Faith is the bedrock of hope, & hope is the fuel for all healing. God’s peace, the peace that we long for, & hope for, & that will heal this broken world, comes to us through faith. It is ours to receive, freely given. As the author of the book of Philippians invites his hears, we too are all invited to; “Rejoice in the Lord always, again, I will say Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy