Peace in a perfect time to panic

In the first Toy Story film, Woody and Buzz find themselves far from their owner Andy's house. Stuck in a petrol station, Woody begins to despair that they will never make it back before Andy and his family move in two days' time. Buzz looks at Woody with a cool, calm gaze and says "This is no time to panic." Woody throws up his hands in the air and explodes, "This is the perfect time to panic!"

I don't know about you but I often find myself in situations where panic seems not only inevitable but even appropriate. What makes the scene in Toy Story so funny is that Buzz is convinced that he is the real Buzz Lightyear and the fate of the galaxy rests on his shoulders. To him, Woody's concern about Andy is trivial compared to his own quest. What we don't want to hear when we are in meltdown is some cool removed advice from someone so fixed on what is 'out of this world' that they are unmoved by our predicament. Perhaps Christians can be like Buzz at times. Not delusional, but all we can offer to those tied up in fear is some detached promise of another galaxy ie heaven.

So it's great news that Jesus offers us very real comfort and peace without taking away the tricky situations we often find ourselves in. In John's gospel, Jesus talks to His disciples before going to the garden of Gethsemane, where He would be betrayed and arrested. Jesus knows what is going to happen; in fact, in his gospel, John is at pains to reiterate that Jesus is choosing this path of the cross. Jesus is teaching and preparing His disciples not just for what is about to occur, but for their future ministry once He is risen and ascended to His Father. What I noticed is that Jesus repeats that they should not let their hearts be troubled (chapter 14 verse 1 and verse 27). In fact, they should have peace: 'peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.' (verse 27). Risen from the dead, Jesus says 'Peace be with you' in Luke 24:36; John adds this: 'as the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.' (John 20:21) What is it that links both sections in John's gospel that brings peace? It is the presence of Jesus Himself through the Holy Spirit.

If you're looking for a peace that is unshakable, you don't need to go on a retreat. You don't need to practice Buddhist meditation or yoga or become some kind of monk. That's the kind of peace the world chases, but the real peace that Jesus offers is so precious because it comes from Him being with us in all of our chaos. Jesus doesn't promise an end to all the things that make us panic and fear. He doesn't promise an end to war or pain or suffering or death until His second coming (see Revelation 21). Therefore we need a peace that is not based on circumstances, because if my peace is dependent on having a certain measure of health, happiness or success, then my peace will be fragile indeed. If my peace depends on my family, my job, my money, my status, my appearance or anything I possess, then it is not the peace of Christ. But if Christ Himself could face the cross with a holy peace that came from knowing who He was and what He was doing, and He offers me that same peace, then I can face anything.

The peace of the Holy Spirit
In John 14, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit 'Counsellor'. 'He will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you' (verse 26). This gives us the peace of verse 27. In verse 30, Jesus speaks of His enemy, 'the prince of this world', but says 'he has no hold on me.' That is what we need to remember: if we are in Christ the enemy has no hold on us either, unless we give him that hold through fear or sin. How do we combat fear and sin? Chapter 15 goes on: 'I am the true vine... Remain in Me and I will remain in you.' Sometimes with these well known passages we tend to just look them up as standalone statements, but to do that loses the significant context Jesus speaks into. He knows He is going; He knows He is sending us; He knows we need Him. His words in John 15 give us the key to how to live in Him and through Him and for Him. We need to obey Him and we need to love each other. We need to testify about Jesus, even when it means rejection and dangerous to our lives (chapter 16 verse 2).

But let's get back to Buzz. In some ways we do need to comfort ourselves with the fact that Jesus is coming soon and He is going to take us to be with him and He's prepared a place for us (John 14:2-3). But let's not lose the fact that He is with us now by His Spirit and so we are never alone. Jesus concludes: 'I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.' (John 16:33). I'm going to memorize that one and next time I have a perfect time to panic, I'll remind myself that is a perfect time for peace in Him.

A message for Jade Goody

It is a certain sort of privilege that the nation is able to follow Jade's struggle with cancer and watch as she gets married, builds up a trust fund for her sons, not taking for granted any of her days on this earth.

Jade said, after her wedding, that she was ready to go to heaven now.

I hope she is placing her trust in Jesus, because the Bible says that is the only way we can be sure of going to heaven. He is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to God except through Him (John 14:6).

Jade, I pray for you that you will know God's peace and forgiveness, and hand your life over to Him.

Your story teaches us all not to take a moment of our life for granted.

How to fix your greatest problem (Eph 2)

What is your big problem in your life right now? Perhaps it's money, given the recent financial climate of the credit crunch. Perhaps it's your job, or your relationship, or a long-term illness.

We live in a world where there are lots of problems. People everywhere are suffering, whether it's being a civilian in Georgia attacked by Russian troops, or a patient on the cancer ward. Many may look at the title of my blog 'Treasuring Christ' and think how irrelevant it is to their lives. But all the problems that we experience here on earth are symptoms of an even bigger problem...


The bad news
Every single person on earth has a debilitating condition. It makes you a slave, and it makes you unable to live a life of complete satisfaction and joy. It's called 'sin'.

Ephesians 2 opens with the verse 'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins'. What does it mean?

Well, a 'sin' or a 'transgression' is something that offends God. Such as... Ignoring Him. Rejecting Him. Deciding to live life your own way, without Him. Thinking He's nice, but not worth getting to know too well. Not worth giving up any time for, and not worth giving up certain aspects of your lifestyle for either.
You see, when we think of sin, we often think of murder, theft... And yes those things are sins. But they are outworkings of inner distortion and corruption. Sin is not just outward actions, but it is evil thoughts too. That's why no one can honestly stand up and say they have never sinned.

So what is the effect of sin? Death. Physically, all humans must die. Our mortality is the result of original sin in Eden (see Gen 3). Spiritually, sin cuts us off from God. He is holy and pure, and therefore a huge chasm lies between us and Him. We are spiritually dead before God, and there's nothing we can do about it.

You see, what the world calls freedom- choosing YOUR way to live- is in fact slavery to our own desires, and bondage (imprisonment) to sin and the Devil. What the world defines as a good life, the Bible tells us straight as it really is: being an object of God's wrath (3).

That is our greatest problem, whoever we are, whatever we've done. We're all sinners, and we're all separated from God for ever. Unless...

The good news
Unless it is possible to made alive again...
Unless the chasm can be crossed...
Unless there is a way for us to access God...
And there is.

'But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.' (4-5)

'you were separate from Christ... without hope and without God in the world. [But now Christ] has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.' (12, 14, 18)

We were dead- unable to move, unable to do anything to help ourselves. But God in pure grace, gave us life and forgiveness in Jesus. We did not deserve it; God did not have to do it, but He did- because of His great love for us. He sent Jesus to die on the cross, and in His body He took the punishment that should have been ours. He was a substitute, taking our place, so that if we choose to trust in Him, we don't need to be burdened with our sin anymore. We can nail our sin to His cross, and be freed from its power over us. We can receive God's forgiveness, and know Him personally, because Christ has made it possible for us to access Him. We have been rescued from slavery, saved from destruction, and shown mercy instead of righteous judgement- if we believe and trust in Jesus.

If someone rescued you from drowning, you'd probably respond very well to them! You'd be grateful and possibly even love them. Now imagine the rescuer was someone you knew you'd wronged. That's like us and God. That's why Paul emphasises the 'incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus' (7). This grace is completely unique! We have been 'raised' up with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms with Him (6)- there's no way we could ever earn or deserve that honour.

That's why this blog is called 'Treasuring Christ'. Jesus has achieved for us what we could never achieve for ourselves. He has given us amazing privileges, above and beyond what we deserve. Are you treasuring Him? Or are you tempted to think that He is irrelevant to your busy daily life?

Perhaps in our thinking we need to widen our perspective, to try to comprehend how BIG God is and how small, puny and weak we are. If His grace is incomparably huge, so is our sinfulness and our capacity to completely reject God and live life our own way. We shall love Jesus more if we appreciate what it means for Him to be 'our peace', destroying the barrier of our sinfulness, our inability to follow God's law. That is why Paul describes Jesus as 'abolishing in His flesh the law' (15)- He fulfilled the law's requirements so that we don't have to. And 'through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit' (18). In our sinful state, we can't access God. But through Jesus' purity, we can. God has made us part of His household (19) and given us His Holy Spirit (22)- blessings which are only possible through Jesus. We need to open our eyes to 'the incomparable riches of his grace' (7), instead of focusing on our problems.