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For instance, on the one hand Jesus promises to his disciples that he
will give them peace,
a peace, he says, that the world cannot give,
a peace that that the world cannot take away.
A peace, in other words, that passes understanding.
In passage after passage we see this promise made or alluded to
I Corinthians 7:15 says that God has called us to peace.
Galations 5:22 tells us that peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit
working in our lives.
Ephesians 2:14 states that Christ himself is our peace,
and time and again God or Christ is referred to as the Lord of Peace.
With all the peace being mentioned in scripture,
one would think that the Christian life would be a rather peaceful
endeavor.
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and to use a phrase I’ve already used several times,
On the one hand, I want to do what is right,
but on the other hand,
I often end up doing the exact opposite.
I am miserable,
and I am powerless to overcome this dilemma,
this problem on my own.
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and tenuous cease fire in an ongoing war between right and wrong.
The same sort of thing can be said in answer to the second question
as well.
Is Christianity easy or hard?
On the one hand, in today's gospel reading for instance,
Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light?
But on the other hand,
the demands and costs of discipleship can be quite high,
and Jesus doesn't pretend that they aren't.
The same Jesus who said he had easy yokes and light burdens is the
same Jesus who told his disciples that in order to follow him they had
to pick up and carry a cross.
This same Jesus also said that if somebody loved family more than
he or she loved him,
then that person wasn't worthy of being his disciple.
And if you want to hear more about the cost of following Jesus,
you can read about the rich young ruler.
Jesus told this young man that he had to sell all that he had and give
it to the poor before he could be his disciple.
Is Christianity easy?
Is it something we can slip right into without giving a thought as to
how painful it might actually prove to be?
And are we more likely to experience more or less peace when we
follow in Christ's footsteps?
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Can we who follow Jesus expect anything different in our lives?
How do we answer the questions for today?
How can we reconcile these seemingly disparate views of being a
Christian?
It won't work.
It never has, just ask Paul.
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And then,
and only then,
will we have the peace Jesus talks about.
Then and only then,
will we find the easy yoke and the light burden.
Then and only then.
will we ever see any true change in our human nature and in our day
to day living.