“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”

Evidence of growth: Journaling is a big deal for many believers in their walks with God.  It helps them see where they’ve come from.   I do that in a little different way.  A while back we decided to rearrange my office in our home.  To do that required us to empty out our nearly six-foot high, legal-sized filing cabinets full of important papers that preachers, teachers, pastors, and mission agency leaders (all that’s me) can collect over time.  In one drawer measuring almost 3 feet long I have most of my speaker notes dating back decades.  (I started preaching in my 20’s.)  So in my effort to downsize the mountain and upgrade the quality of my collection, I thinned out this historical paper trail.  I could hardly believe what I saw and read.  “I actually spoke with these notes?” I muttered to myself.  “Boy, this is awful!  How did I ever use notes like them?”  I pitied the poor folks that had to listen to me back then.  No way I could use notes like this anymore, so into the ‘circular file’ they went.  But it was an indication of the growth that God had caused in my life, which was quite an affirming moment.

Aging is a funny thing sometimes.  On the one hand, our bodies get older, parts start showing fatigue and ache.  It just doesn’t work as efficiently or heal as rapidly as it use to.  On the other hand, the redeeming part is supposed to be the wisdom you accrue.  To God’s glory, I’m glad to say that I see at least some evidence of that for me.  As mentioned above, my Bible study time gets better and deeper all the time, my discoveries of new truths fresher, my “a-ha” moments more numerous.

One way I see this growth is my greater apprehension of context.  And we see that in today’s description: Lord of peace.  When the Bible connects God with peace, we know that he is more than simply a peaceful person.  Oh, he is that, for sure, but not just that.  We find terms such as the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6), the God of peace (Romans 16:20), and the Lord of peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16). Melchizedek, who is a type of Christ, being the king of Salem, is called “king of peace” (Hebrews 7:2).  If Christ were not these, and if Christ did not have peace, he could not give it to others (John 14:27).  But give it he does, because it is resident within him.  It flows through and is co-extensive with his character and being, along with all of his other attributes.

In Second Thessalonians, Paul used the term “lord” some 18 times, the next-to-last time associating it with peace. This is the only time in all of Scripture that this phrase is used.  Why?  The answer is in what kind of letter Paul writes.  Admittedly Second Thessalonians has more than its fair share of prophetic material.  Chapter one speaks of “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.  This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you” (vs. 7b-10).  The judgment described is not pretty, but necessary.

It carries on in chapter two: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming…They will perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (vs. 8, 10b-12).  More not pretty, but still necessary.

These prophetic events set up the nature of this letter, which is pastoral.  Lots of conflict in the world, conflict that won’t be easily resolved.  It will take divine power to eliminate cosmic rebellion.  Thus Paul’s reminder that “God chose you” and “called you” (2:13-14), his request for prayer that “the message (of peace) of the Lord may spread rapidly” (3:1), and the warning to avoid “every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us” (3:6).  With antichrists in abundant numbers (1 John 2:18), conflict will be on the rise for believers.  God wants to bring peace, but pagans won’t have it.

In a world of increasing hostility, are you a peacemaker? Are you at peace with the Lord of peace?