Ahhh, springtime – that time of year when we remember what it is like to bathe in the beauty of a warm sun and enjoy mild to hot temperatures during the day. Oh, but when those nights hot up – then everything changes! We get to school and people are muttering about sleepless nights. And they’re slightly cranky, a bit “off their game”. And, the kids … so hard to get to school … unsettled in the yard and in class. But, holidays are coming soon – let’s “hope” we can all hold out. And still, there’s plenty to do, lots of classes, activities, end-of-year events, celebrations, finishing up 2018, setting up 2019. Plenty of opportunity to succeed, which means failure is close by as well. Opportunities to fear, and opportunities for hope, grace and mercy. As a community of Jesus followers, we know what God’s victory looks like. Or do we.
“Blessed are the peacemakers – for they will be called children of God”. Matthew 5:9 (NIV)
The Bible is full of stories of victories against the odds – of younger brothers who become kings, of women who are given essential roles in the story, of tiny armies that defeat massive ones. The pattern is summed up in the life and teaching of Jesus, who defeats sin and evil by dying, rejected on a cross; who is the King of Israel, but comes riding on a donkey, and is crowned with a crown of thorns.
Is this really a picture of peacemaking? Sometimes, we mix up peacemaking with peacekeeping. Peacemaking is not avoiding the hard times, it’s not pushing to one side the consequences of dysfunction, of disconnected or disconnecting relationships. It’s stepping into the situation, with God’s heart, seeking to live in the light of his grace as it extends into our lives.
But what if we fail? What if we get it wrong? Busyness, hot weather, too much to do. All are possible parts of the recipe for failure. In staff devotions recently, we paused for a moment to consider God’s purpose in those ‘fail moments’ – to consider the way God uses those parts of our humanness that most frustrate us and those around us, in order to bring us closer to him and his way.
“Failure is a beautiful gift wrapped in an ugly package. With a redemptive view, it is an opportunity to experience grace in new expressions and on new levels. Perhaps it’s time for us to stop being afraid. Here’s the problem with that. When we obsess and fixate on success, fear escalates. And when fear is present, true freedom is absent.
“Paul’s letter to the Galatians was all about freedom. The cross has freed us from the bondage of slavery. This is freedom language. The hope of the Christian story is that because the tomb is empty, the pressure’s off. But so often, we choose to live as if the tomb were still occupied.
“Our big mistake is to fear failure. Because we fear it, we don’t talk about it, acknowledge it, or provide safe spaces to process it when it happens. We avoid it. When we experience it, we cover it up. We cut off the supply valve of grace, and stunt people’s spiritual maturity in the process. Certainly, grace is awkward, painful, inefficient, and messy, but the good news is that it is worth it. It is impossible to grow without vulnerability. And naming things has a way of changing things.”
And finally, here is a story of peacemaking (of seeking victory, of dealing with failure on a grander scale) to finish with – an example from within our student body, worth cherishing and honouring for the Godly beauty it embodies. It’s best summed up in the letter of thanks we received from a local pastor.
Dear (25 names listed here),
Thanks so much for the lovely meals you have cooked to fill our frozen food bank to distribute to those in need. We live in a broken & crazy world where bad things sometimes happen to good people & the kindness of others around them is the very thing to pull them through. As Christians, we don’t only just offer kindness, but also hope in Jesus. We pray that as meals are distributed through “New Community Ringwood,” people would see a glimpse of God’s love and care for them, by these meals you have so generously cooked. Thank you for being the hands of Jesus, to people you may never know or meet. I want to thank you on their behalf.
educating 4 life, too 
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