Rabbi Schneider - The Only Way to Find Peace
Let's begin by talking about the benediction or the declaration of God's goodness of our lives, which has to do with God's peace, the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body; and be thankful". So many times we look for the answer in our circumstances. People think they're going to feel better about themselves, if they're promoted if the world recognizes them, right? I mean, you look at humanity today, and it's been the same ever since the fall, we think that our answer is in something outside ourselves. That's what happened to Adam and Eve when they ate of the tree. They were cut off from their center where God is and instead, they became self-conscious and flesh conscious and they lost contact with their core. They suddenly felt ashamed and naked.
So in desperation, they tried to solve that sense of nakedness and shame, we read about it in the book of Bereshit or Genesis, by running from themselves and from God. And then they tried to cover it up with the fig leaves, the things of the world. And so mankind today, apart from God, is doing that same thing in a much more sophisticated way. We come to a place in our life as we enter into puberty where somehow we feel that things are just not right, that something's off, something's wrong. I'm not complete, I'm not fulfilled. I'm not all I feel like I should be. So what do we do too often? We run or look to the world for that answer. We look for identity in things and in positions. Of course, at the end of the day, it's a complete lie because it all collapse as you can't take any of it with you.
Regardless of what position of fame you may achieve, it's going to end. The greatest football player, his career ends. The most beautiful model or actress, her fame ends. It all fades away. Nothing's permanent. The body begins to wrinkle, people begin to struggle with physical challenges. It's all for nothing. It's a complete and total deception. As this concept that I'm describing now relates to peace, because remember, we're looking at the verse here "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts," the concept that I've just shared about everything in the world being temporary relates to this specific concept of peace right now in the sense that many times we think that peace is found if we can control everything around us and if we just have all the chess pieces in place, and we have the perfect home, and the perfect child, and the perfect mate, and the perfect dog and the perfect neighborhood.
If we could get all those things in place, that somehow we're gonna have peace. And we all that have lived long enough, and are self-aware enough have come to a place where we've realized it's a lie. Because the world is so dangerous that even if you have everything in place today, you're afraid that something's gonna fall apart tomorrow, because it's very possible that something will fall apart tomorrow. Oftentimes, the things that affect us, beloved ones, most in life are things that we weren't expecting to happen.
I remember a few years ago I was riding my motorcycle home one day from the studio here, and I'm turning into my driveway. And as I'm turning into my driveway, someone in back of me that I didn't even know was there, he wants to come behind me very quickly, he decides as I'm turning that he's gonna go around me. He hits me on my motorcycle. I would have never thought that as I was driving home from work that day someone was going to hit me on my bike. Fortunately, the damage that was done to me was minor, but it sure shook me up. And I had some pain for it made me realize how temporary and uncertain things are. Tragedy can strike anybody at any time. And I don't want to put fear in anybody. We're protected in the love and the power of God. But I want us to understand that peace is not found in everything in the world going right.
And the things, again, that oftentimes affect us most in life are things that we weren't expecting, things we didn't plan. Who thought Coronavirus was coming? No one was expecting it. Maybe the people that specialize in immunology realized, wow, sooner or later a new virus is going to break out. But people were living their lives, no one was expecting anything. So we can't really find lasting, true, deep peace in anything that humanity or the world has to offer us. If we really want to find something substantial. If we really want to get grounded. If we really want a drink of water that will not fail us, if we truly want to come to a peace, the Bible says, that passes understanding, we have to come into the peace of Christ.
So my question, beloved one, to you and I today is this: will we bring our thoughts and the projectory of our life back into focus, so that we're no longer seeking for peace in the world, but instead recognize that the only way to truly have peace is to build our house on the solid rock, who is Christ Jesus, who is Himself the Prince of Peace? That way even when you're hairs are gray, and your career is ended, maybe your spouse passed away, whatever it is, even when your hairs are gray you'll still have peace, because the peace that you have will be unshakable, unmovable, and can never be taken away from you.