Reconciliation through the Cross

The One Word That Brings Peace

One has only to google the word "peace talks" to see how prevalent is the longing in the world for peace. This is certainly not unique to our day and age, although the rising threat of terrorism and nuclear war makes the need so much more critical than it has ever been. North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, Russia... the list of countries and places that need peace seems endless.

But the lack of peace is not merely a geo-political problem. It is an individual problem. Nations can't live in peace, because individual people can't live in peace. The road rage exhibited by the man who jumps from his car and beats another driver senseless is simply a microcosm of what happens between countries who threaten to blow each other up.

But will peace talks really help? As recently as last week President Obama expressed confidence that he and the United States could get Middle East peace talks back on track. But they have been on and off the tracks for 60 years! What will be different this time around? If peace could be achieved by talk, the world would have been at peace long ago. Buddha, who lived during the years when ancient Babylon (present day Iraq) was brutalizing the world, rightly said: "Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace."

One word that brings peace ... What is that word? As strange as it may seem, the word that brought peace was a violent word, a bloody word, a cruel word. The word that brings peace is the cross. "It was the Father's good pleasure" wrote the apostle Paul "... to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:20) How could a bloody piece of wood, the symbol of inhuman torture ever produce peace? The thought that a brutal injustice of one party against the other could ever bring the two sides together, defies all logic. Yet that is exactly what happened. How? The apostle Peter described it in these words: "This man (Jesus), delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again..." (Acts 2:23) The cross made peace because man's act of hatred was at the same time, God's act of love. What they did in hatred, He had foreordained in love.

But how does this work in a world like ours where "ethnic cleansings" and centuries of hatred for one's enemies fuel the fires of conflict? CrossWorld's work in the Balkan countries of Bosnia and Kosovo provide an answer where two community centers have been the means of reaching out to people whose lives have been torn apart by hatred. Every summer for the past several years, teams have been going there to run English Camps for children as a means of building bridges into both Muslim and Orthodox Christian families. The animosity runs deep between these two groups yet through the patience and love demonstrated by followers of Jesus, the walls of hatred are being broken down. This was clearly in evidence in a camp program in Kosovo where the Serbian Orthodox minority was fearful of allowing their children to enter the Muslim-dominated area where the camp was being held. Young translators of both Orthodox and Muslim backgrounds were chosen and trained to assist our workers with the camp. After several days of training, one young lady of Muslim heritage remarked: "I never realized how much they (the Serbs) are just like us." On the final day of the camp, the parents of the children were invited to the closing ceremonies, and to the wonder of our team, Serbs and Muslims sat side by side in the bleachers.

Yet that is just the beginning. The message of the gospel is such that one day, not only will former enemies sit side by side in gymnasium bleachers, but they will worship side by side for all eternity, giving glory to the Lamb who made eternal peace, not through idle talk, but through the blood of the cross.