Do you know what has the greatest influence to steal my peace? I have lost my appetite for following news media and the dozens of video links that get sent to me every day. I can only tolerate about 20 minutes per week.

After all of our researching, fact-checking, hearing prophecies and whistle blowers, I find no peace for my soul in any of it. My greatest need is not to know all the hidden agendas and how evil the world is. That is not news to me.

I've lived long enough and read history enough to know that wickedness abounds in the hearts of people everywhere. I have lived my life with the understanding that all of my entitlements can be taken from me and that I will not likely get out of this world alive.

But I have faced those fears and come to a disposition that keeps me living today with peace. When I enquire of the Lord about what to do, I am brought back to the mission of God. Not my mission for God, but God's mission for the world. Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost and to reconcile the world back to God.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIRV
⁷ Treasure is kept in clay jars. In the same way, we have the treasure of the good news in these earthly bodies of ours. That shows that the mighty power of the good news comes from God. It doesn't come from us. ⁸ We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. ⁹ Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out. ¹⁰ We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies. 

Did you get that? No matter how bad things get, Jesus is inside us. We carry the death of Jesus in us, and you cannot kill a dead man. It’s okay if my life is taken from me, because in my alignment with Jesus, I have already consented to replacing my mortality with immortality.

Death is not victorious. I live my life in the light of the true King of Heaven that conquered death itself. God’s idea is that the one who is pushed hard from all sides, bewildered, and knocked down will be undefeated in death.

I no longer live in the shadow of death; I live in the light of the resurrection.

What kind of church is God building to respond to the world’s lack of peace?

You and I are God’s dwelling place. We are His house of peace. We have heard the angelic declaration of peace on earth and good will to all people. Into the chaos and darkness of poverty and oppression, Christ is born. Now that’s news I can listen to all day long.

Advent reflections shared by Kevin Rogers, Mission Canada Urban Ministries Coordinator.