Can there be peace for prisoners? Though the apostle Paul was a prisoner, he decided that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he would use his physical imprisonment to convey a spiritual truth. Perhaps Paul is proclaiming here that while he is a prisoner of Christ, his physical limitations will give rise to a new spiritual reality: the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Paul presents to us a key element of the fruit of the Spirit: peace. Let’s look at a fancy word that describes the theology of the Holy Spirit: pneumatology.
This passage of scripture from Ephesians offers us a puzzling paradox: Can there be peace for prisoners? To be a prisoner of the Lord is to keep unity in the Spirit through the bond of peace. We are God’s prisoners of peace. Being a prisoner of the Lord invites us to participate God’s spiritual work. Wherever God is at work, there is a unity of the Spirit in that place. As we are bound in Jesus Christ, who is our peace, we are freed up to participate in God’s Kingdom as peace makers. This process of becoming free in Christ takes faith, being faithful in the simple everyday tasks of living in this world for the glory of Jesus.
In July of 1944, theologian and soon-to-be martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words:
“I discovered later, and I’m still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness, I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.”
In this season of COVID-19, some folks might feel they are locked up, tied up, and tangled up. We might say we feel imprisoned. This season presents to us opportunities to be bonded in unity with family, friends, and co-workers in a different way. Living in this world is an opportunity to practice a unity of the Holy Spirit.