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Nothing But Net
I don’t know if it’s irony or not but I think this verse is completely salient today. Right now. Just look at the state of the global economy. Previously comfortable lives are being turned upside down. We as a nation have overspent and under saved for a generation and now we all have to pay the price of a deflating, hyperextend economy. I recall a song Ben Fabie sang by Weezer simply titled Peace. Google it and read the lyrics – I find them simplistically profound. Not to say that the peace of Christ isn’t exactly what the world needed before this recession began, but I think it is precisely the prescription that would bring us all back to Him.
But how?
The analogy that keeps ringing in my head is the comparison of an athlete to the best player in his sport. Specifically when the premier player is in ‘the zone’. When I think of the peace of Christ I think of a dude who has the ultimate amount of concentration, focus and determination. He is not concerning himself with the lease payment on his BMW or the zero down variable rate mortgage he bought that is about to bankrupt him.
Do such ancillary thoughts even enter the mind of our savior?
Perhaps the level of peace that is embodied in the peace of Christ is beyond our comprehension. I believe it is. But the possibility of it being immeasurable and infinitely acute should not stop us from reaching for it every day.
We as Christ followers are the millions of kids on the playgrounds trying to become Michael Jordan in Game One of the 1992 NBA Finals when EVERY shot he took was dropping in; like throwing rocks into an ocean. Do you remember him turning to the bench while shrugging his shoulders and grinning as if to say, “Are you watching this? This is crazy … I can’t miss”. Jordan didn’t have that moment by chance. He was focused. He was without distraction. That’s the level of the peace of Christ, and I want it.
Lehr,
You have a beautiful family. Eli is one of the kids I look for around the guitars after Sunday worship.
Hoops! My wife Gayle loves Michael Jordan. She’s from Wilmington, NC where Jordan played high school ball at Laney and she’s a Tarheel fan. March Madness is about the only time she gets to watch basketball (except when three of our kids played) but if North Carolina is in the tournament, she will scream like a girl every game. She’s more fun to watch than the game itself.
In Wilmington, in the Cape Fear Museum, there’s a Michael Jordan section and even a Michael Jordan Discovery Gallery. What Jordan has to do with a beaver lodge and Venus flytraps I don’t know, but it is there. Why?
It’s a pretty well known story that Jordan went out for Laney’s basketball team in his sophomore year but at 5′ 11″ he was “too short” to play. Between that year and his junior year he grew 4 inches. He had no control over that, but the one thing he could control was his devotion to excellence. I read some place that Jordan would practice 1000 shots a day – that is ** making ** 1000 shots a day. Truth or myth either way, here is the epitome of commitment to excellence demonstrated by Jordan in the thing he was called to do. His calling sure wasn’t baseball with the Scottsdale Scorpions, was it?
We are called to peace. We’re supposed to be totally focused on the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” Where does it come from? If I am that devoted to Christ, focused, and “in the zone” for Him, if I am totally committed to excellence in Him, willing to take the time to hit 1000 spiritual baskets a day – whatever that means, then His peace naturally follows. I need some practice.
You got me all wound up about b-ball, too.
Lehr,
Great job with this. Your message really spoke to me this morning. I especially love this part:
“Perhaps the level of peace that is embodied in the peace of Christ is beyond our comprehension. I believe it is. But the possibility of it being immeasurable and infinitely acute should not stop us from reaching for it every day.”
Too often in life when something seems overwhelming or beyond our understanding, we will turn our backs and head in the other direction because of the apprehension that comes with dealing with the unknown. But, as you say, it so important for us to keep plugging away and striving each day to better understand the peace that is available to us in Christ. Thanks again for the reminder.
Christ’s Bondservant
Make me a captive, Lord,
And then I shall be free;
Force me to render up my sword,
And I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms
When by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms,
And strong shall be my hand.
My heart is weak and poor
Until it master find;
It has no spring of action sure—
It varies with the wind:
It cannot freely move
Till Thou has wrought its chain;
Enslave it with Thy matchless love,
And deathless it shall reign.
My power is faint and low
Till I have learned to serve:
It wants the needed fire to glow,
It wants the breeze to nerve;
It cannot drive the world
Until itself be driven;
Its flag can only be unfurled
When Thou shalt breathe from heaven
My will is not my own
Till thou has made it Thine;
If it would reach a monarch’s throne
It must its crown resign:
It only stands unbent
Amid the clashing strife,
When on Thy bosom it has leant
And found in Thee its life.
George Matheson
“Let the peace of Christ rule” that is, let God’s peace govern our hearts. If we want to experience God’s peace, we must surrender our lives to Him. “Thy will be done.”
Lehr, loved the thought of MJ hitting threes from all over the court! This could be the year if we could do something about that goat? (A Cubs fans will know what I mean.)
Thanks Lehr…love the power in the simplicity of the truth in this verse. The word that causes me to pause is “let”…like allow it to rule vs. make it rule in my life. I tend to want to DO something that will force the peace of Christ to rule in my heart, rather than just BEing quiet with Christ…pressing pause on my DOing and allow (i.e., let) His peace invade my heart and head. Thanks for making me stop and think and be.
(PS: Sorry I didn’t respond to or extend any of your sports analogies…I would just look a’fool!)
Your a good husband, parent and man Lehr……..proud to call you son-in-law.