Peace at all times and in every way
Sunday 5th November 2023
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Peace at all times and in every way
What are we to make of the conflict in Gaza/Israel? It feels risky to venture any kind of opinion, for fear that even one’s choice of words may offend one side or the other. And this is a conflict in which one feels one has to take sides. To be pro-Palestinian is to be anti-Israeli, and vice versa.
Jonathan Freedland, writing in The Guardian, has a different and helpful perspective. He sees “the Israel-Palestine conflict as something infinitely more tragic [than a clash of right versus wrong]: a clash of right versus right. Two people with deep wounds, howling with grief, fated to share the same small piece of land.”
I find that helpful. There is right on both sides. People on both sides in the conflict have had wrong done to them, grievous wrong. And – it should be said – both sides have been guilty of wrongdoing. And that is true of more than the present conflict. Of course, to say that there is right on both sides will immediately alienate you from those who can only see it as a clash of right versus wrong.
And both sides want peace. It is just that many Israelis understandably feel they cannot be at peace as long as Hamas and others like them are on their borders. While many Palestinians understandably feel they cannot be at peace as long as they do not have a land of their own.
This desire for peace lies deep within us all, even if we define it in different ways. I am still struggling my way through Augustine’s City of God, and frankly there is much I do not understand. But from time to time I stumble across real treasure, and this was one of those moments: “… just as there is no man who does not wish for joy, so there is no man who does not wish for peace … For every man is in quest of peace, even in waging war.”
Surely that is what everyone wants, on both sides: peace? The big question, though, is whether it will ever be possible to find a peace which looks like peace to both sides in the conflict. We can and must pray for that.
Peace, of course, is something very close to God’s heart. There is peace at the heart of the Trinity, with Father, Son and Holy Spirit eternally at peace with one another. God created a world at peace, with human beings at peace with him, with one another and themselves, and with the rest of creation. It is we human beings who fractured that peace and began the centuries-long conflict with our Creator. Yet God still pursued peace through Christ, “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). He is rightly called “the Lord of peace” who grants “peace at all times and in every way” to those who come to him.
So, let us pray to the Lord of peace for peace in Israel/Gaza, and in countless other conflicts around the globe, and in our relationships, and even our own hearts.
Father, may we know the peace we have with you through Christ and by your Spirit, and may we be those who not only seek peace but also make peace wherever we can. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)