For Such A Time as This – September 24, 2020 – Dennis Lohr

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 To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,
 
This Could Be Important
My cell phone has died.  A replacement phone has been ordered.  I should have cell phone service by tomorrow sometime.  Until then, if you need to be in touch with me either email me, call the church office, or call me at home. 
 
Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text, or email it to me.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning. 
 
Thank You:
To all who call others to check in on them and to share our emails and devotions.
 
Today’s Devotion:
I have written today’s devotion.  I hope it encourages you to seek the peace of Christ.
 
Shalom,
Dennis
 
Scripture – Colossians 3:15a
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…
 
Thoughts
One of my favorite scripture readings is Colossians 3:12-17.  This morning the beginning of verse 15 caught my attention.  “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”  It was actually the word “let” that grabbed me.  Could it be that the peace of Christ is always available to me, if I just let it be?  How do I do that, I wondered?  How do I let the peace of Christ rule in my heart?  Or, since this text is written to a congregation, how do we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts?
 
I went looking.  The Believer’s Church Commentary states, “The peace of Christ embraces the good news that Christ is both our peace and gives peace” and that “peace is a good deal more than the absence of open conflict.  As with the Hebrew term ‘shalom,’ peace is concerned with wholeness in personhood and relationships.” It also states that the “word translated ‘rule’ brings with it the imagery of serving as umpire or arbitrator,” and that “the goal of this directive is that with the peace of Christ calling the decisions in each of the believers, they will be equipped as a community to deal with the differences and frictions that disrupt shalom.” 
 
I’m intrigued.  There sure is a lot to get upset about right now.  We are feed a daily diet of disagreement.  I doubt that letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts is about sweeping challenges and problems under the rug.  Perhaps, then, it is a choice about where we will find our center and how we will act, especially when things are tense.  Whatever this peace of Christ is, I think it is something to be sought.
 
Prayer
Peace of Christ wash over us.  Peace of Christ be our center.  Peace of Christ be our umpire.  Peace of Christ rule in our hearts.  Amen.
 

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