Peace: Philippians 4:7

In the 1960s, the word 'peace' became a kind of mantra, and the desire for peace was seen everywhere as the infamous "peace sign" emerged throughout the country. And those who were most commonly associated with the term and the sign were the hippies, a counterculture who rejected the mores of mainstream American life; particularly the idea that happiness resulted from materialism. But did they find peace? What is peace, and how does one know if peace HAS been found?

Let's discuss...

 At God Search, we talk about things that could matter, like...

Peace

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

Being at peace is a difficult determination. That is, it's difficult to tell if you really are, at that moment, at peace, or if the feeling that you are sensing as peace is merely a temporary passing.  Peace itself is defined as 'peace' in Greek, but the Hebrew definition gives us a more comprehensive definition and one that tells us that peace is more than simply feeling at rest or satisfied. In Hebrew, the word is Shalem, which equates to the words 'completeness' and 'soundness.' In essence, it's sort of like saying, 'I am complete. There is nothing more that I need. And because I am complete, I am sound in my condition of spiritual repose.'

Alexander Maclaren, a nineteenth-century Scottish Baptist minister, in his exposition on Philippians 4:7, refers to the great Mosque of Constantinople. (Modern-day: Istanbul, Turkey) There's apparently an inscription on its northern side that reads, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' Maclaren then talks about how for hundreds of years, people "...fought, and sorrowed, and fretted, beneath the dim inscription...." and he uses this as a kind of symbol of man's avoidance of the peace that God offers and that is so readily available. The author of peace is God, and God IS its author, because like so many other good and holy attributes, Peace IS God. Thus, there is no true peace outside of God himself. 

Ephesians 6:12 describes the fight that keeps us from peace: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The peace of God will not be experienced if we've been seeking anything but Him. Part of our wrestling is with ourselves, and while we will always wrestle this way in this life, there is a peace that is offered by Peace Himself, and that peace becomes a peace within ourselves, and the opposite of peace is unrest, and unrest comes from being pulled from back to front; left to right from various human impulses. MacLaren said, "There must be the harmonizing of all the Being if there is to be real rest of spirit."  

A young pastor named Steven Furtick said, "It is impossible to experience peace when you are expecting perfection." This is such an effective way to reference peace because so many of us think of peace as an experience attained as a result of relaxation, comfort, lack of concern in this life. It is the case that it is possible to exist in the midst of trouble while concurrently experiencing peace. If we aren't or haven't experienced peace, it isn't because peace isn't available but rather it's because of the greatest enemy of peace; ourselves. If we are going to live in peace, we must surrender our expectation of perfection.

So...did the hippies find peace? By and large, I think not, because the hippies sought peace ineffectively. They sought it solely by giving up materials and demanding an end to war and violence. While these are certainly good things, they are worthless without the author of peace; without Peace Himself. God IS Peace. 

In his closing, Alexander MacLaren said, "The reason why this world is so full of excitements is because it is so empty of peace, and the reason why is is so empty of peace is because it is so void of God."

And that's today's talk. I hope that at least something I've said has been impactful, meaningful, worthy of contemplation. Please subscribe to my channel, and be sure to comment if you feel so compelled.

Thank you for listening. See you soon.

Take care.


Sources

https://www.britannica.com/topic/hippie

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7965.htm

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/philippians/4-7.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMHAg8SuVuc


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