Advent: Embodying Peace with a Non-Anxious Presence

John records in the sixteenth chapter of His Gospel Jesus saying this in verse 33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” “In me, you may have peace.” not in the absence of tribulation, but in the presence of it. For those of us who are in Christ, we find in Him a peace that surpasses our own understanding and holds fast despite whatever chaos is swirling around us! Jesus Christ is our peace, but what do we do when we are anxious? What do we do when we have fear?

As we look around us, it’s not hard to find the tribulation that the Gospel of John speaks about, we are bombarded with it. It’s not difficult at all to find an endless supply of things we should be afraid of or the latest thing that we should be outraged by! The list keeps growing by the minute! The peace and acceptance of Christ’s Kingdom for the believer often seem drowned out by the outrage and cancellation of the culture of the surrounding culture. Sadly, this insatiable appetite for outrage and cancellation has even infiltrated the Church! What then, are those held by Christ to do? 

David writes in Psalm 120: 6, “Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.” I feel that, in my bones! Is there any better way to describe news, social media, or almost any interaction that we regularly find ourselves participating in? What is fueling this outrage and desire to cancel everyone who thinks or responds to something different than we would? Fear, but not in the way that you’d think! Fear is universal to the human experience. To fear is not to be weak, or to lack faith, but to be human! Sounds a bit different than the way I’ve heard fear talked about in the Church, yeah? Anyone familiar with the catchy cliches such as, “365 times Scripture says do not be afraid, that is one for each day of the year.”

The problem with a culture within the Church that doesn’t make space for us to have fear is that many of us just pretend that we don’t have any! Jesus’ invitation is, to be honest about our fear, and express that fear in a loving relationship with Him. Peace then isn’t the absence of fear, but the ownership of it! When I can welcome my fear and be honest about it, fear will lead me to faith, trust, and wisdom. When I have a self-contempt for feeling fear in the first place it almost always manifests itself in outrage or control.  The pathway to faith goes through fear, not around it.  Outrage culture, and cancel culture isn’t fueled by fear in and of themselves, but by the avoidance of feeling the pain of being afraid. When I’m constantly chasing down the next thing to cancel or express outrage for, that doesn’t seem very peaceful, does it? It isn’t at all, it’s exhausting! 

Jesus regularly showed up in the moments of His disciples' fears offering His presence as a means to attend to the pain of those very fears. One of those instances takes place during a turbulent storm as the disciples were fishing. Jesus shows up and says, “Do not be afraid, it is I.” For years, I’ve experienced that as condemnation for them being afraid, but the older I get and the more attune I become to the human experience the more I realize that Jesus isn’t condemning them for being afraid of the storm, but was inviting them to find their peace in Him right there in the middle of the storm. Many of us can’t fathom owning our fears because we’ve been deeply conditioned to avoid them at all costs. We’re not receiving Christ’s invitation to peace in His presence, because we’re not receiving our fear as a part of the human experience.

When Dallas Willard, a Philosopher and prolific author on Spiritual Formation was asked during an interview to describe Jesus using just one word. He dramatically paused for a period of time uncomfortable for most in the room, and said “relaxed”. If you had one word to describe Jesus, how would you describe Him? I’m not sure relaxed would be my answer, but hearing this story of Dallas Willard describing Jesus as such has captivated my imagination and curiosity from the moment I first learned of it. Relaxed, there is an ease to the word. Relaxed, there is an ease to the word. Relaxed, there is a sense of peace that comes from simply hearing the word. The more I have thought about it, that is precisely the best word that I can think of to describe Jesus. 

While outrage and cancel culture are fueled by the toxic impairments of avoiding fear, the life and ministry of Jesus were peaceful. Jesus knew who He was, knew where He was going and knew to whom He belonged. When Jesus was standing before Pilate with His life on the line He saw no need to defend himself responding to the question, “Are you the King of the Jews” with a simple, “You have said that I am.” As we navigate a world full of competitive comparison, outrage, and cancellation at the mention of anything disagreeable may we remember the way of Jesus? A life lived and a ministry fulfilled from a deep place of security and not insecurity. 

If we’ll embody the peace of Christ in this way, we’ll do so from a deep place of security in Christ. An embodied experience of knowing where we came from, knowing where we are going, and knowing to whom we belong. If we’ll be relaxed people we’ll have to spend time relaxing in the relaxed presence of Christ. If we’ll engage within an extremely anxious culture in a transformational way we’ll have to do so through our transformed and transforming presence. A Non-Anxious presence cultivated from time spent with a Non-Anxious Jesus. 

For me, this is cultivated in Silence as a Spiritual Discipline. Time set aside each day to relax in the relaxing presence of Jesus. Showing up, surrendering everything to just be with Jesus. What would it look like for you to set aside 5 minutes each day or several times throughout the day to receive the peace of Christ in your body? I’m not talking about showing up with a list of requests or demands, nor am I talking about showing up seeking clarity, direction or the wisdom offered to us in Christ, but just being there with no agenda. For many of us, silence is the peak of our anxiety. The Holiday season amplifies the distractions and it becomes even more simple to never be alone with Jesus or with our own thoughts. We bounce from thing to thing, from podcast to podcast, and from event to event. How is that working out for you? Is it bringing you the peace that your soul craves?

It wasn’t for me, so I decided to try another way. Relaxing in the relaxing presence of Jesus continues to provide the peace that my soul craves. Relaxing in the relaxing presence of Jesus has grown for me into a place of deep security, from which I can explore my own insecurities and fears with honesty and hope. I’ve found that peace, comes from befriending my fears, not avoiding them. I truly believe the faithful response to the anxieties of the world and within my own soul, is the slow and steady cultivation of a Non-Anxious presence. How might Jesus be inviting you into the cultivation of Non-Anxous presence this Advent Season?

Submitted by: Matt Korte