“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4, ESV)
The year was 1969. The Vietnam War (conflict) waged with devastating loss of life on both sides. The anti-war movement was in full swing. It was in 1969 that a musician and songwriter named John Lennon wrote the lyrics to “Give Peace a Chance.” The mantra of this song was this, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” Unfortunately, the mantra had no substance. Giving peace a chance requires a foundation for peace. No song written by a famous person, no desire by war protestors, and no government agencies are sufficient bases for peace. Not even the United Nations, which replaced the failed League of Nations, could stop the war.
The only foundation for lasting peace is the Lord. Isaiah records that a time is coming when the Lord shall establish His kingdom on earth, a time of righteousness, justice and peace. In this kingdom, there will be no more weapons and one people will not war against another. Isaiah delineates the reason for this peace in the preceding verse.
“many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3, ESV)
Peace is only possible when people seek the Lord and they walk in His ways. In the new kingdom where the Lord reigns in righteousness, justice and peace, the people will live by Christ’s timeless principles, and this will result in perfect peace.
In life, we encounter conflict on every scale. We encounter it on a global scale, with wars between nations. We encounter it in a local scale, with gangs, crime, bullying, etc. We encounter it in our homes with disobedient children, rebellious teens, and domestic disagreement. We see it in the workplace between employees. We even see it in churches, between parishioners, between pastoral staff members, and between parishioners and leaders. Why do we have conflict? Why do we lack peace? We have conflict and lack peace when we do not walk in the ways of the Lord.
What are these ways of the Lord that will bring peace? Well, to enumerate them would involve a thesis of sorts, but let me state that these all stem from the attitudes of the heart. To achieve peace, Christ’s love must reside in the person seeking peace. The Spirit must be in control and the flesh mortified. Apart from this, there will never be peace. This Spirit filled walk will manifest itself in a plethora of characteristics. Primarily it will manifest itself in agape love, producing a desire for peace. It will manifest itself in humility, forsaking the prideful ways of self-justification for the sake of peace. We see the perfect example of this in the Lord’s own actions while hanging on the cross in that He did not seek retaliation but humbly provided the path of peace to sinners who were responsible for his crucifixion.
It is clear from Isaiah’s premise that the key to lasting peace is to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is quite paradoxical that those who were calling, “Give peace a chance,” by their own anti-Christian lifestyle were actually working against the only possible foundation for peace. Their words were on target, but their actions were not. Could we be guilty of the same thing today? Could we be saying let us make peace, but not walking in the Spirit. Therefore, when peace eludes us, perhaps we should first examine our walk. Does our heart match our words? If it does, then our walk will also match our words.
Renewing the Heart 