Peace isn't the absence of belonging

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. 

(Mother Teresa)

Who do you belong to? Go ahead, answer that one honestly. There are some of us who will declare boldly, with swift commitment and assured confidence, that we belong to Christ alone. I have to challenge that one a little this morning, though, because most of us live as though we we might not 'totally' belong to anyone other than ourselves. Yup, me included. There are just times when I think we all struggle with remembering there was supposed to be this ongoing exchange of our will for his throughout our lives. We don't just do it once and then it is a 'done deal'. It is a daily exchange of 'power and authority'. We yield to his power and authority moment by moment - remembering there is no greater freedom than is found in being submitted to his will and purpose.

But now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him. Christ did this for you when He gave His blood on the cross. From now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family. (Ephesians 2:13, 19)

We belong to Christ - no longer far away and an outsider in his family - but that carries some responsibility we may not have considered before. What is that responsibility I refer to? Glad you asked! As a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we have a responsibility to each other. We live 'in the midst' of family. As such, we cannot any longer consider ourselves more important than any other in this family. Do you know what the opposite of being a citizen is? It is being an alien - one who finds themselves in a position of viewing God's plans and purposes as 'foreign' to their lives. An alien in this sense is one who has not undergone this 'exchange' of will and purpose -  there is still this desire to live for self alone.

I wonder how many of us forget we are responsible for the 'peace' or 'lack of peace' we maintain in our society today. As Mother Teresa reminds us so well, we sometimes forget just how much we belong to each other. We get all involved in our little world and forget to see the bigger world around us. We are responsible for each other - let that one sink in a little bit this morning. We cannot ignore the one next to us, no matter how hard we try. We cannot turn blind eye or deaf ear to the cries of the needy, hurting, or 'less lovely' members of our community, my friends. We may try to - but God will bring us back to the place where we remember we are 'citizens together' in this community! Just sayin!

Where do you belong?

3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith. 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. (Romans 12:3-5 ESV) 

I don't know if you have ever considered "belonging to one another" before, but in light of this reminder from the Apostle Paul, let us spend some time today just exploring what that may "look like" in our everyday life. One of the first things that comes to mind if I truly realize I belong to someone other than myself is that my normal focus on "me" is going to need to change! It has to be about someone other than me all of the time! That may not be the most popular concept to put our there to begin with, but it is so very true. We don't belong to ourselves and therefore, "me" needs to take a backseat if we are to be successful in this relationship thing. I think this may be what Paul was trying to describe when he reminds us not to think "more highly of ourselves" than we ought to think. 

Next, we face the challenge of figuring out where we "belong". Honestly, this is an age-old question faced by every kid growing up in this world - setting out to "belong" or "fit in" somewhere. For those with minds that function on the "braniac" scale, this may be with others in a group who also enjoy digging into those books, learning new things, considering the possibilities and probabilities of certain happenings, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those who have bent toward learning - but not everyone will relate to this group. There are others who function on the "socialite" scale - finding it very easy to make all kinds of friends and be involved in many different groups all at one time. I am not one of those - but those I do find my "fit" in life with are pretty important to me. Regardless of your "fit", you look to find a "place" with others who meet some need you have on that "relational" level. To figure out where we "belong" is a really big deal.

Lastly, we all serve each other - finding a purpose in fulfilling some "need" within the group we find our fit within. Sort of like a glove contains five smaller "tube" spaces to house the five digits on our hands, we find our fit in some "nitch" within the group. When we do, we realize a "good fit". When we don't find that "nitch", we start looking elsewhere to find it. We all need to serve one another in some fashion - even though we may not realize it at first. We might just think others are put into our lives to serve "us", but there is no fulfillment in being served until one also learns what it is to serve another! Just sayin!