please watch this video which shows the inside of a church
that has been destroyed in the fighting in Homs. I have friends whose parents went to this
church, they grew up and married in this church and it carries many dear memories
for them.
for those of you who go to church on Sundays and gather in
the church on other days of the week for choir practice and Bible studies,
youth groups, service...take a moment and imagine walking into your church and
finding this...
as we go about our lives let us remember the Christians in
Syria and Iraq and the Middle East, continue in your prayers for them, for
their protection, for humanitarian aid to reach them, for an end to the
fighting…
let us be thankful that we, in the west, can go to church
and feel that it is a safe place, let us not make our churches unsafe by
gossiping about others and fighting over trivial matters, let us honor the holy
space with hymns, prayer, gentleness and welcome to all who desire to come
closer to the peace of our Lord...
all around the world, people are fighting, killing,
destroying...God, please make me an instrument of your peace...let every word
that comes out of my mouth be gentle and humble and to the purpose of
increasing your kingdom…
for how can I ask you to bring peace to Syria if I can't even speak peacefully? If I don’t
even have peace in my heart, in my family, in my work place? As long as husband and wife, brother and
sister, father and daughter, cousins, friends, church members, colleagues and
teammates fight, gossip and hurt one another…how can we expect enemies,
competitors, political parties and countries to forgive, make peace and join in
the glory of God’s kingdom?
I always hope that if you are able, you will donate some
money to an organization that you trust to help the Christians in the Middle
East and I ask also that you never cease in prayer. But today, it is on my heart to ask something
further…
“ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he
is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love
God whom he has not seen. And this
commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his
brother also.” -1 John 4:20
it is my opinion that this earth will not know peace until
we have the peace of Jesus Christ in our hearts and that peace and love
overwhelms everything else in our human nature…peace doesn’t just happen
because political leaders sign a document or draw new borders or pay reparations…peace
begins in the heart of a human being and flows out into a relationship, a
family, a community, a church, a country, the world…
“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree
with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with
you.” -2 Corinthians 13:11
peace is bigger than all of us but it begins within our
small hearts and in small ways…I ask that you think and pray about this…after
sending money and praying, how can we also be giving of our hearts which are the
truest and most valuable building blocks of peace?…how can we then, each of us,
contribute to a dimming hymn of peace in our world…who can you forgive? Who can you love more? Who can you reach out to? What can you give?
as my friend from this church has so wisely pointed out to
me, if you observe the above video closely, you will notice that beneath the
rubble, the Bibles and hymnals are still in their places…and for me it is the
ever present reminder that Jesus promised us peace, but not peace as the world
understands it, for He warns that there will be persecutions and troubled times…He
promises us, only and beautifully, the peace of knowing Him and being loved by
Him…and despite the condition of our countries and even our churches, as long
as we are willing to go back and pick up those Bibles and hymnals...to read God’s
word and sing to Him, to tightly clasp our hands together and hold that space in our hearts and in our world for God without compromise…He and His
most precious peace will never leave us…
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them
be afraid.”
–John 14:27
“I have said these
things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.
But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
-John 16:33
