“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.” Luke 12: 49-52

All wisdom comes from God. Whenever I hear wise words being spoken, they tend to find their way into the most intimate part of my being and then they linger there for a while. They wait for my response. They cannot become part of me until I allow their light to expose my vulnerability. The tough sayings of Jesus are words of wisdom. They require something on our part. Honesty is indispensable. We have to confront the difficult questions that these words pose to our souls. The first and foremost is whether I want peace in my soul. Of course, the conventional answer would be a resounding “Yes”. Who wouldn’t? However, these questions go hand in hand with the admonishment of Jesus when he advised us to count the cost before agreeing to something. This is the other problem. Many a time we say, “yes” without thinking about the consequences and then the powerful words of wisdom remain barren in our souls. They cannot bear fruit unless we are willing to pay the price. They eventually just whither away. They become dead words.

Peace is not cheap although there is an imitation out there. This is the emotional sensation that gives us an illusion of relief. We don’t need God for this kind of “peace”. Drugs can do the job. The peace that Jesus offers changes who we are. Our circumstances might remain the same but our eyes are opened to see something greater and permanent in this world of instability. If I want peace, then I have to change who I am. Not just a part of me but my entire being. This is the beginning of the conflict. Normally, we are comfortable with who we are. We just want our circumstances and the people around us to change so that we can have peace of mind. However, the Prince of Peace wants to bring something genuine and eternal into my soul, requiring a radical change in how I see and understand the world and the people around me. This is where the conflict begins. We, as human beings, resist change.

In the streets, we strive to bring peace to the lives of the children and teens abandoned there. However, we cannot truly transmit peace unless we change our views and understanding of eternal peace. We live in this world that values security and stability. Jesus lived in it without any security and stability.

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Luke 9:58

He was very much like our homeless youth. We have less in common with Jesus than these children have. In the past few days, the local temperature dropped drastically and we had a hard time trying to keep warm in our apartment. Just imagine how the children and teens must have felt sleeping under the bridge? Nevertheless, they refused to go anywhere. They preferred the warmth and comfort of each other than sleeping in a “cold” shelter with complete strangers. On the other hand, we would lose our minds if we were forced into their situation. We realized that for us to have peace and comfort, we need lots of material things. Whenever we imagine a secure and peaceful life, it is one based on many material comforts. The children and teens have nothing but each other and they are satisfied with this. They also trust God to keep them safe. Our apartment building has a staff person to ensure we are safe and sound. We say God protects us but we have a complex security as a backup plan. We don’t trust God completely like the children. Of course, we can argue that we are wiser than the children. However, Jesus was more like them than us. Therefore, how do we share about God’s peace to these children? It appears like they sense His peace in a more profound manner than we do. Maybe they are God’s agents of peace for our lives.

This week we met with Felipe. He was discouraged. He has been working in a job for almost 8 months. He has never missed a day and has done everything he was told to do. He did not even skip work when he was feeling ill. Today they told him that they received an anonymous complaint that he wasn’t doing his job. They were not able to give anything specific. Most likely, it was all made up, just one of the unjust tactics used in many businesses. Felipe is reaching the one year mark which means he qualifies for some benefits. His manager told him that he would be fired if they receive another complaint. The young man did not understand. He has always sought to do everything right. However, this is the reality we live in. Mary and I are relatively safe from these harsh situations. Unfortunately, Felipe and the rest of the young teens will face this their whole life. The only advice I could give to Felipe was not to retaliate. We cannot fight fire with fire. Felipe is going to suffer injustices like these many times and he needs to be prepared for it. This world does not belong to us. It belongs to another kingdom. My words may seem like something weak and fatalistic. Nevertheless, they are the only words that I could conjure up. We told him that we will deal with what comes together. He met us with his 6 month old baby. The baby smiled throughout the whole time. He had the peace of God which passes all understanding in his smile. We sensed God’s peace too. However, unlike the little baby, we knew that something will change in our lives. We have made a commitment to Felipe. He was relieved to know that he was not going to be abandoned. He doesn’t know what we can do and we don’t know what we can do. However, God’s peace reigns supremely in our hearts and we know something eternal will come out of it.