Peace At His Feet
Ephesians 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
There are times in nature where we find ourselves suddenly thrust into an environment of peace.
In our ordinary lives, we inhabit a world of constant turbulence, where every sound and every sight fights for our attention. We move through landscapes of metal and concrete, clashing together in a chorus of harsh, grating noise. The faces around us appear warped, split between smiles that sell and scowls that perform, each one hinting at the unseen agendas shaping them. Each individual seems like an island unto themselves, moving through the space out of sheer necessity, intent only on reaching their destination and completing their tasks.
In contrast, when we enter places untouched by human hands, we encounter harmony. The calls of animals, though still competing, mingle in a way that pleases the ear—forming a music richer than anything a composer could arrange. The plants, each striving for its own place, weave together a landscape that resembles paradise, where no single part overwhelms the rest. And in this environment filled with countless living beings, individuality does not isolate; it integrates. Everything depends on everything else, and all become one.
As we enter these havens of nature, we carry with us our hectic, manufactured homes. Through prolonged exposure, the world we created infects our minds, transmuting itself into our thoughts and dictating our pace, robbing us of a sense of peace and replacing it with an obsession for efficiency. As we walk, with our treadmill-like thoughts, operating at a speed that threatens to throw us off if we do not keep pace, we momentarily look up and are raptured into a state of awe as we witness a scene of beauty human hands could never replicate.
This experience is enough to cause even the most jaded and institutionalized city dweller to take pause. A trip deep into nature becomes a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we continuously meditate on. We fearfully recall the memory of our adventure, as we sit in our cubicles under LED light, hoping that its beauty and majesty have not faded to the point of forgetfulness, where the calm brook passing over stone, or the sound of the birds as they skirt and hop through the brush around us, we are unable to recall. Some make chasing these experiences the goal of their life. They sell their possessions and become nomadic. Forsaking the 401 (k) and retirement package, they seek to find their place in a system that they are not designed to inhabit, and, while the highlight reel of their adventures produces envy and is the subject of fantasy novels, the harsh reality of their day-to-day life testifies that the peace we so desperately desire is not found in an external destination.
God created animals and humans differently. What is good for the goose might very well be good for the gander, but you are not a goose. As foolish as it would be to cover yourself in feathers and beat faux wings against the wind, expecting to take flight with the group, and find citizenship in their community, is it to enter into an environment that is not created for you and expect to be fulfilled. Humans were created in the image of God, imbued with His attributes, such as sociability, creativity, justice, and love. While those who worship the things created, rather than the Creator, might point to aspects of nature and equate a false analogy, comparing the pattern of formation chosen by a flock of birds to that of a Rembrandt, the truth is that creativity is not within the capacity of animals, it is a skill possesed only by God and given as a gift only to humans.
Animals experience peace simply by being animals. When left in their natural habitat, they are in unity and experience harmony with the rest of the environment, which they are a part of. If we, as humans, are to obtain the peace we so desperately seek, we must return to our natural habitat as well.
That habitat is the feet of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus visited Mary and Martha, He sat in the living room and had fellowship with those present. Martha, being the host of the party, had much to do. Cooking, place-setting, entertaining, and all of the other responsibilities of a host fell on Mary and herself as their home was the one Jesus had chosen to grace with His presence. Martha, frustrated with the fact that Mary seemed to be shirking these responsibilities, came to Jesus with a complaint, saying, "Here I am, doing all of this work, and Mary is doing nothing! Tell her to come into the kitchen and help me." Jesus's response gives us the key to experiencing the peace that comes from inhabiting our natural environment:
He responded, "Martha, Martha, you are concerned about so many things... Mary has found the only thing worth being concerned about, and it will not be taken away from her."
As Martha heard these words and looked to her sister, she must have seen the look of someone beholding Mt. Everest or The Grand Canyon. She saw, in her sister, a peace and fulfillment that can be obtained through no other method. The varying landscape of Pantagonia or the harmonious theater of the African savannas paled in comparison to what Mary was beholding in that moment. Mary had discovered the one thing for which she was created, and, having pressed onward, forsaking anything else the world deemed as important, she had accomplished the difficult task of obtaining it. There remained for her no reason to travel to some far-off land, no need to trek for days into undisturbed places, no desire to seek out mysterious philosophies or rituals. From the tiny piece of real estate Mary had discovered, she would witness more beauty, intrigue, and wonder than the entire earth was capable of providing her. She had discovered her natural environment. The one she was created to inhabit.
Oh, to be Mary, or one of the disciples, and have the joy of touching Jesus. To hear his words and see His wonders...Yet, Jesus assured His friends that it would actually be BETTER for them when He left them! Despite the sincerity of their efforts, there was a limit to how tightly they could cling and how close they could position themselves to Jesus physically. He would eventually need to leave Mary’s home and continue on to others. When Lazarus, her brother, lay sick in bed and she sensed that death was imminent, she no doubt longed to inhabit that place she had found at the feet of Jesus, where even death would be unable to rob her of the peace provided...Jesus, being found in a different geographical location, made this unattainable.
When Jesus had ascended, though, and that rushing wind fell upon Mary in the upper room of Pentecost, she received a gift infinitely more valuable. The Holy Spirit of God now dwelt within her. Whereas space and time previously limited Mary's ability to draw as near to Jesus as she had desired, He now dwelled within her, closer than her very skin, and nothing would separate her from that "one thing" she had found...
You know the story of Pentacost and so do I... but you don't, and I don't.
The sins in our lives testify against us.
We find ourselves in an unpleasant situation and, when the counterfeit peace of inactivity is ripped away, we seek to soothe ourselves by becoming angry or complaining.
We experience dissatisfaction in our relationships, and we seek to alleviate the affliction through various sexual sins.
We are handed concerning news, and we attempt to reconcile the situation by reuminating endlessly, elevating ourselves, through pride, to a position only held by God.
We feel the burden of boredom and grasp for the most immediate distraction available to us.
Every sin in our life boils down to one mistake: seeking that from the world, or ourselves, which can only be found in Jesus.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. If you think you have experienced this peace, you haven't! Even if you have, you've lost it! Unless you make this "one thing" the singular goal of your life: to find that space Jesus currently occupies, and by force, cling to His feet, refusing to let go or move an inch, you will waste your life, and you will be miserable all the while. Moving from one sin to another, you will be like a body, disconnected from its head, an accumulation of impulses and movements without any direction or purpose. You will move, blind, deaf, and dumb, stumbling from one place to another, seeking but never finding. During the course of this wasted life, others may come to you with seductive words and compelling arguments, promising to offer you what you seek. They will lay out a plethora of wares from vacation packages to foreign cars and 10-step programs. Far from satisfying the desires of your heart, these things, which are less than nothing, will lead you down a path of destruction whose end is death.
If there is anything or anyone who serves to pull you away from the feet of Jesus, it would be wise to cut that thing off. In the same way that, upon seeing a snake underfoot who is poised to strike, you must swiftly, without hesitating, sever its head, so should it be with those things which threaten the health of your soul. If the signal emitted from your television does not draw you closer to God, cut it off! If the church service you attend points to anything other than His feet, flee! If your habits and hobbies serve any other purpose, they are your enemy! They seek to rob you of the peace which is only found in Jesus...
Go to the furthest reaches of the earth, ascend to the heavens, practice every virtue of asceticism, seek after angels, chase after visions, and all sorts of spiritual highs.... You will not find what you are looking for.
The peace you seek is not a hidden grotto or a cucumber eye treatment. It isn't a mojito on the beach or a life devoid of stress.
The peace you seek is a person.
His name is Jesus.
He is Lord of Lords, and His peace isn't a piece. He himself is our peace.
You either have all of Him, or you have none of Him. Unless a man is willing to lay himself down on the altar, and bind himself steadfast, unwilling to move, come what may, that man may have no part in Jesus. Such a man will never experience the peace that is only found in His presence.