Peace has a Name
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
“The day before yesterday, I had been asked by colleagues to come help out at a local hospital. Later on that evening, there was a loud screech followed by the explosion. When I went out of the operating room to see what had happened, I could see the courtyard of the hospital was on fire. The ambulances were on fire. The cars were on fire. And the palm trees were on fire. The courtyard, which had been lit up by the fire, was just full of bodies and bits of bodies.
After the explosion, the wounded started coming in and I went to the emergency department. There were scenes of absolute pandemonium. Dead bodies everywhere, people screaming, people with amputations. It all has me feeling extremely pessimistic. There is no humanity here. There is no humanity for those dying and no humanity for the children. When will there be peace?”
This is a quote from a doctor taken a month ago in Israel. And roughly 2700 years ago we get a similar message that Israel was in conflict. But God, through a prophet named Micah proclaimed that peace would come. At that time, the nation was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Micah warned both that they would be taken into captivity and as a result, much unrest and war would color their future. But that one day, one would come who would be their peace.
Micah 5:2–5 (CSB)
Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from ancient times.
Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return
to the people of Israel.
He will stand and shepherd them
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.
He will be their peace.
2700 years ago Israel was in turmoil, and today, we see that Israel’s turmoil remains. So, what was this peace Micah promised?
Let us be clear about what this peace is not, before we discuss what it is.
Jesus tells us in Luke 21:10
Then he told them, “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Jesus said that it was not social peace. That war will certainly come. And in Luke 12:51
Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
Jesus said it was not peace on earth. People never quote that at Christmas, btw. If it is not social peace or world peace, what is it?
In Ephesians 2, we are told that we were dead in our sins, but that God made us alive in Christ. Again in Romans 8, Paul says the mind set on the flesh is death, and the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. The flesh is hostile to God, leaving us unable to submit to him.
And like Pastor Lyndale states all the time,
Romans 5:8 (CSB)
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners (or enemies), Christ died for us.
The peace Christ came to bring is peace between man and God. Before Christ, we were all at war with God.
The peace promised is not a social utopia. It will not be accomplished by our political leaders, or by us trying harder. Our peace is Christ.
In the great hymn, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” Charles Wesley wrote this truth, “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” In union with Jesus we have peace, we are children of God, with a room in his kingdom and a spot at his table. Jesus is peace, and the Bible says that we are in him. So we should be at peace.
But how did you come in here today? This can certainly be a chaotic season. A season of buying and giving gifts. A season of working overtime to afford those gifts. A season where most are calling on you to give a little extra. A little extra time, and effort, and money.
WE TEND TO CELEBRATE THIS SEASON AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR PEACE.
WE TEND TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON OVER ITS REASON.
This is a season of extravagance for the world. But the church helps us to appropriately view our seasons by what is important on God’s calendar, and not what is important on the world’s.
For the church, this is the season of Advent. Which means arrival or coming. The four week period when Christians historically celebrate the first coming or advent of Jesus, our peace.
The first advent was anything but extravagant. He came in the night, born in a manger, or the equivalent of a lean to, where we keep goats and livestock partially sheltered here in Texas. The parents that were chosen for him were poor, and scared, but they trusted the promise, which was “Do not be afraid, you will give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob (or Israel) forever and his kingdom will have no end.” Something David, or no one before or after him could ever say. All of our kingdoms come to an end. No matter how we fight to keep them.
Look at the Roman Empire. It was the mightiest the world had ever seen and today you can go tour its ruins while we’re talking about Jesus in Weatherford, TX. His kingdom never ends.
Or every TV show on right now. I know it is not family friendly, but Yellowstone? The whole dang show is about how worry, trouble and fear follow those attempting to sustain an empire. An empire that they took from someone else. Our empires are maintained by worry and trouble and fear. God’s in maintained in hope and peace and joy and love. Jesus gives us peace with God by making us heirs of his never ending kingdom.
Jesus says in John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
The world brings us trouble and keeps us living in fear. The number one command in the Bible is do not be afraid, said 366 times. How? Remember and return to Jesus, our peace.
We are living in the time between the first coming or advent and the second. What many theologians call the already, but not yet.
We see it in 1 John 3:2
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
We are already his, but what we will be has not yet been revealed. So we live in this broken world with pain, heartache, sadness, and sorrow. Until he returns to make all things new. The already, but the not yet.
In Micah 5, the word peace is the Hebrew word shalom. It is so often interchanged with rest in Scripture. In Hebrews 4 we are told that there is a permanent Sabbath rest for God’s people. But those who refuse to enter this rest will have no peace.
When we trust God we have access to shalom. Shalom means fullness, or wholeness, or completeness. Our world is broken and its relationship with God is broken. But he promises wholeness or shalom or peace to those who believe. By faith we can enter his rest and be fully restored in him. Jesus gives us peace with God by literally completing us. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians:
He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.
The greek word translated here as bring everything together has also been translated as summing up under one head or recapitulate. This word is the phonic opposite of decapitate. So here in Ephesians Paul is telling us that the mystery of all history has been summed up under the head of Christ, and all without Christ, are running around with their head cut off.
Now doesn’t that make sense when we see people mindlessly searching for meaning and comfort. They are without their head, incomplete, without rest and without peace. Because peace has a name, and his name is Jesus. Long before his arrival, he was promised by the prophet Micah, to be born in the little town of Bethlehem. A town that we see in the passage is small among the clans of Judah.
Why did God choose Bethlehem to give us Jesus, our peace?
Why does God use the church now to reconcile sinners through the peace of Jesus? Paul says it well in
Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption —in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
God chose Bethlehem then, and he chooses the church now, because we are weak, insignificant, messy, and viewed as nothing so that no one can boast in his presence. It is only in our weakness that we can be made strong. Only in our humility that we can be untied as the body of Christ to push back darkness In our world.
This is why we are at church and this is why we must plant churches. Because every corner of every part of every city in the world is enemy occupied territory. And it is at the gates of hell that Jesus will build his church. Gates are for keeping people out. We’re looking to kick those gates down. We’re on offense and darkness is on defense. God changed the world in Jesus, and Jesus commissioned his church full of messy, insignificant people to transform hearts, households and communities in enemy occupied territory. Let our boast be in the Lord.
He did not come to bring political peace or world peace.
He came to bring peace with God through the blood of his cross.
Jesus gives us peace with God by making us heirs of his never ending kingdom.
Jesus gives us peace with God by literally completing us.
And Jesus gives us peace with God right now in our chaotic and confusing world.
Because he has made our dead hearts alive, we can experience inner peace. We can actively fight for justice and peace in our hearts, households, communities, and the world because we know that peace has already won, even if he is not yet fully here.
So, how can we as the church experience this peace right now?
Like good Baptists I want us to look at this through 3 C’s. Commitment, Community, and Commission.
Commitment Phil 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Commitment to your faith and belief that Jesus is Lord. He does not make empty promises.
And Commitment to prayer. Do not worry, the most oft repeated command of the Bible! But in prayer, ask God, and his peace, which we can’t even understand, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ.
Community Ephesians 2:14-15
For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.
We must be in community. In community, Christ is our peace, and he has torn down all walls of division between us, so that we might be one. The body of Christ is a community like no other. We are one in His Holy Spirit. This community helps us to see Jesus better, reminds us of our need to pray instead of worry. And it is the only community that truly results in peace.
Commission Matt 28:18-20
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We are co-laborers with Christ on his mission to make disciples of all who would see him as beautiful. He tells us that all authority is his, therefore we can trust when he commands us to baptize, and teach others all that he has taught us. In these things, he will be with us always.
We are fellow heirs of his never ending kingdom.
We are completed in him.
We can experience peace and rest right now, by remembering and returning to these truths. Through:
Commitment to faith and prayer.
Community with the body of Christ.
Commission, remember the work he has called you to, and remember he is with you in it.
We were dead to sin. Living by our feelings, and driven by our desires. But with his life he came to give us peace. He has paid a great price for us to have this peace.
But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
Why do we attempt to earn this free gift of God? Because we are in enemy occupied territory. And where sin reigns, peace cannot. But it won’t always be so.
He will settle disputes among the nations
and provide arbitration for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.
House of Jacob,
come and let’s walk in the Lord’s light.
Conclusion:
The first advent of Jesus has already passed. His second advent has not yet been. The already and the not yet is a time to praise the Lord Jesus for coming in weakness and need, hunger and thirst, sorrow and pain, torture and death, and knowing that he will come again in power and judgment to kill death and make all things new. He has given us peace with God. He has given us rest. Let us make every effort to enter this rest.
Tell your family, friends, coworkers, mailmen, and all who are in your sphere of influence what he has done. You are a light for Jesus in this world, and where you are darkness cannot be! Tell them who he is.
Tell them that today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. But enter his rest. For it is only found in him.
Do you believe that? Then remember and return to his free gift, and praise our good, gracious, merciful and loving God that he gave peace a name, and his name is Jesus.
LET’S PRAY
Jesus, help us keep our eyes on you, our brother, our savior, our king. You are the incarnation of divine love. The expression of our father’s intimate compassion. You are beauty, goodness, gentleness, and mercy. In you all can be found. Outside of you nothing can be found. Why should we look or attempt to go elsewhere? You have the words of eternal life. You are food and drink. You are the way, the truth, and the life. You are the light that shines in the darkness, the lamp on the lamp stand, the house on the hilltop. You are the visible manifestation of the father’s holiness and you are the perfect image of God. In you and through you, we are able to see the heavenly father, and with you I can always find my way to him. O Holy One, Beautiful One, Glorious One, be our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Guide, our Consoler, our Comforter, our Hope, our Joy, and our Peace. All that we have, all that we think, all that we do and all that we feel. It is yours. Please accept it and make it fully your own. In Jesus’ name. Amen