Lenten Meditation for Today: Be an Instrument of God’s Peace… but How?
Every Sunday, at the end of the service, the celebrant sends us on our way with the directive to, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!” But how, and with what resources? In the collection of his sermons in the book “Strength to Love,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states: “Admitting the weighty problems and staggering disappointments, Christianity affirms that God is able to… provide inner peace amid outer storms. This inner stability of the man of faith is Christ’s chief legacy to his disciples… This is the peace which passeth all understanding.” And so, the key becomes faith in our Lord’s ability to provide us with the resources we need to be His instrument through peaceful thoughts, words, and a peaceful heart. We need only ask.
It is there. And once we’ve stepped out in faith, we can become instruments not only of peace, but also of love. The two go hand in hand. Dr. King points us in that direction when he recalls the story of the Good Samaritan and then goes on to say, “We cannot long survive spiritually separated in a world that is geographically together. In the final analysis, I must not ignore the wounded man on life’s Jericho Road, because he is a part of me and I am a part of him. His agony diminishes me, and his salvation enlarges me.” Our work toward building the Beloved Community continues with faith in Christ’s words and the conviction of the transformational power of a love that reaches out to affirm and unite us with all God’s children regardless of religion, class, race, gender, or national origin.
Readings for Today: