My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27.

Yesterday I read in the book, Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up In Christ, by Eugene Peterson, that Jesus is our peace. Watching the news later that night I understood better why there is no peace in this world that does not truly know Jesus, our Lord, God the Son. Peterson wrote in Chapter 6: First, Jesus is a person. That means that peace is personal. It is nothing if not personal. There are no other ways. Peace cannot be achieved in impersonal ways. It is not a strategy, not a program, not a political action, not an educational process. Jesus is always relational, never a disembodied idea, never a bureaucratized arrangement. Peace doesn’t come into being by fiat. It requires participation in the ways of peace, participation in Jesus who is our peace.

And this morning in our Friday Retreat meeting, we experienced the love possible with Jesus right there with us. One of our group prayed that God would answer his prayer not as he expects. Isn’t that how God is? Not as we expect? Think of all the ways Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit – acted throughout Scripture in ways no one expected. That’s why they were so surprised. Do you expect God to answer you when you pray? Would you be surprised if He did answer? How about instead of praying for our will, which we expect God to do – we pray for His will, which is so much better. Unexpected! Our peace in Him.

And in our psalm, Psalm 57, David knows that God is personal. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me – God sends forth his love and faithfulness. v. 2, 3. God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. When we think God is impersonal, we act badly. How else to explain the heart of humans bent toward evil? I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts – men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords…They spread a net for my feet – I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path – but they have fallen into it themselves…v. 4, 6. Up and down always. The rhythm of the psalms. We cry out from wrongs we have no power to correct – and God is there. Awake my soul!…I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies…Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth…v. 8, 9, 10, 11.

God is always here and He is our peace. Only in His faithful love will you find the peace and hope you long for. We can’t change the world and end the violence but God will. In the meantime, we can trust God. We can experience His Presence here with us today and believe me, He is personal and He helps us to open our hearts to one another! He knows every part of you. And…He loves you. I love this verse written in The Message translation by Eugene Peterson: But me he caught – reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved – surprised to be loved! Psalm 18:16-19.

I stood there saved…surprised to be loved…unexpected? You bet! And loved we are! And when we share our love for our God with one another, amazing things happen to us. Jesus is our peace.