When a home is full of love, it is a place of peace, of comfort, of belonging. Are you at home, and comfortable with, God’s peace? Do you find a sense of belonging with the call of God to live in peace and be peacemakers in the world?

Isaiah 2:2-5
² In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.
³ Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.
⁵ Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Back in Isaiah’s time, Israel had the disease of unfaithfulness, of turning away from God’s wisdom to that of those around them. Isaiah prophesies that God is going to change that. God is going to change the direction of the people. The people would end up beating their swords into plowshares. 

God’s kingdom brings tools of peace into the world. His people take the weapons of the world and create tools to bless and encourage. Some might see this as an impossibility, but there is power in the blood of Jesus to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. 

But how does that work? Jesus shows us. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turns the law upside down, expanding upon it with the law of love. Murder is wrong, but Jesus goes further, saying that even being angry with a brother or sister is subject to judgment. Committing adultery is wrong, but even having lustful thoughts is like having adultery in your heart. 

It really boils down to loving others. That is taking the weapons of the world (debate, name-calling, ranting about what you think is true, obstinate refusal to listen, etc.) and turning it around to love. It’s about respecting those who are different than you. It’s about listening to those who disagree with you. It’s about overcoming evil with good. 

So how do we become at home with God’s peace?

• Pray to be in tune with the Holy Spirit
• Ask the Spirit to show you how to love someone who is on the other side of wherever you fall, whether it be racially, politically, or religiously.
• Ask the Spirit to show you who is in need of your generosity today. Your generosity is a tool of peace.
• Ask the Spirit to show you how to express unity with others.
• Think about your words before you speak. Your words matter, just as our actions matter, and they build our culture, either for good or bad.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. If we proclaim him king over our lives and live in his kingdom here on earth, we want our words, our actions, our very lives to proclaim him as our Savior, our Prince of Peace.

Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to transform you into an instrument of peace? 

This post is based on the notes taken of John Ketchersid’s sermon at the Spirit of Unity Church on November 18, 2018.