Our Peace

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About Jesus, the Peace-Preacher/Maker

     He (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:17-18

     Merciful Jesus, I don’t usually think of you as a “preacher,” yet this Scripture presents you as the one most worthy of that title. What is Christmas? It’s you, Jesus, coming as near as possible to us in your incarnation… ultimately, to proclaim and proffer the peace for which we are most desperate.
    It’s not the naïve peace I idolized as a college student in the 60’s. It’s not the self-centered peace my conflict-avoidant personality craves in the chaos of sticky relationships. It’s a peace which required your perfect obedience and your atoning death—a peace by which you destroyed the hostility between God and us… a peace by which you’ve reconciled God to us and us to God.
     Indeed, Jesus, you are our peace.  You are the preacher of all preachers and the peacemaker of all peacemakers. Apart from you, we never would have gained access to the Father… we never would have been able to cry out, “Abba, Father.” We bless and adore you…
     Now, in your resurrection glory, you’re the one who’s constantly preaching the gospel of peace to us by the Holy Spirit… through the widest array of preachers imaginable. Forgive us when we credit mere men (preachers) with the task you alone can accomplish. For only you can apply the gospel of peace to hearts dead in sin and trespasses (Eph. 2:1-7) And only you can apply the gospel of peace to hearts, like mine—hearts that are prone to wander… prone to believe the counterfeiters and hucksters’ cries of “Peace, peace!” when they offer relief, but not peace.
    Jesus, you don’t just preach the gospel to us as individuals, but also as people who share in a wide array of broken relationships. You didn’t just come to reconcile us to God, but also to heal our relationships with one another. You’re committed to destroying all kinds of hostilities and reconciling all kinds of people. In the Body of Christ… in our marriages and families… in our communities… even with our enemies. For some of us, this promise represents timely news, disruptive hope, and costly obedience. Grant us grace, Jesus, grant us big grace.
     Jesus, most powerful Prince of Peace… you who one Day will reconcile wolves and lambs, leopards and goats, and calves and lions… give us the desire, the humility and the strength to live as a people of peace. As far as it’s in our own power (Rom. 12:18-21), and as far as the power of the gospel will take us… let us live as agents of your reconciling love. So very Amen, we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.