Could I get an indication of who here desires conflict, fighting, feeling uneasy?
(What no one? I thought there would be one or two)
Most people desire peace.
Having God’s peace in our hearts is something God wants all of us to have.
Listen to Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
In other words peace should dominate our lives.
Peace should dominate the way you live.
And so what is your image of peace?
Close your eyes for a moment.
And think about what is peaceful for you.
Maybe it is a beach with a moderate temperature with the waves gently rolling in.
Sun not too hot and the wind not too cold.
Perhaps it is a quiet bush walk.
Or time alone in front of a log fire with a warm coffee and a good book and calming music.
Or knowing exactly what is going to happen next.
Maybe it is simply no conflict.
What else are you thinking about?
Now these are all great images of peace.
And when we experience them we should thank God for those experiences.
It is God who gives us everything good in our lives.
But when the scriptures talks about peace
When God talks about bringing peace that is not what He is referring to.
In John 14 verse 27 Jesus says very clearly to us
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Today’s readings give us an insight to what God is talking about when he is talking about peace.
Imagine being part of a group of people who are oppressed.
Who are on the outer.
A bit like a Collingwood Football Club supporter.
People who have a foreign ruler,
with strange ideas and understanding of life.
Some of which conflict to your own values.
That is the situation the Jews of Jesus time and many years before were facing.
The Romans are ruling them.
The Roman leaders expect to be seen and treated as gods.
They live and encourage living that is not only in conflict to God’s approach to life, but is even offensive.
They have little respect for the God of the Jews.
So no wonder the Jewish people had been holding out for a leader to put them in power.
They are waiting for a Messiah.
Someone to save them.
Someone to take them from being oppressed to being respected.
Ever felt like that?
Ever felt oppressed or slightly on the outer.
As Christians we should.
In 1 Peter 2 verse 11 we are reminded that we are foreigners and strangers in this world.
Thing will constantly pop up that are not consistent with the Christian life.
And when God’s values conflict with how society believes things to be then we are being oppressed.
When you feel you can’t mention God in certain situations then you are being oppressed.
In some circles this is changing…
Some major surveys show many young people are open to talking about and exploring Jesus and spirituality.
But they also have conditions.
In short this means in our discussions with people under 45, we need to focus on Jesus.
As Christians though we should not be surprised when there is opposition to Christianity.
Because as humans our nature is to exclude God,
to live life without relying on God.
And so not only will we experience opposition with others.
We will also experience that in ourselves.
There will be conflict between what we want
and how we believe things should be
between what God desires and how He sees life.
Ever had the situation when you have had a disagreement with someone
or you have done something that someone else doesn’t agree with
or they have done something you don’t agree with.
And what happens?
They seem to avoid you or you hope you don’t bump into them.
That is exactly how we react on some issues with God.
At times we avoid God speaking to us on some issues instead we try to make excuses of why we don’t have to listen to God.
Fortunately though Christ is in us
and has been influencing us so it is not on every issue.
I want you to look at your life for a moment….
On what issues and values are you consistent with God
What issues and values in your life are consistent with the Ten Commandments,
Where are you consistent with Jesus’ instruction to make disciples
And Jesus’ instruction to love God and love others.
This is where Christ is ruling in your life.
This is where you have peace with God.
But just as importantly what issues and values are you not so consistent with God.
What issues and values in your life clash with the Ten Commandments,
Where are you clashing with Jesus’ instruction to make disciples,
And Jesus’ instruction to love God and love others.
This is not just where the world is ruling your life but also where Satan is ruling your life.
And when this occurs there is no peace with God.
In Romans 12 verse 2 we hear
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Our problem is that at times we are tempted to choose the world’s approach to peace, rather than God’s.
And when we do this the result is we will not have complete peace in our lives.
Our peace will be short lived.
The fact is we need Jesus to create that peace.
Like the Jews we too are waiting for the Messiah.
But unlike the Jews we are not waiting for the Messiah to come the first time.
He has already come and hung on the cross for you and me so that peace with God is possible for you and me.
But we are waiting for his return so we can experience and live a life of total peace.
The sign for the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah
was the peace bringer
was Jesus riding on a donkey that had never been ridden.
Now there were two ways for kings and leaders to ride into town.
One was on a big horse.
Emphasising I am in charge here, if you don’t like it stiff.
The other was on a donkey,
which highlighted that the leader came to bring peace.
And around 500 to 800 years before hand the prophet Zechariah announced that this was the type of leader Jesus would be.
Listen to Zechariah 9:9-10
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
So no wonder they were enthusiastically shouting,
Hosanna which literally means Save us!!
They could see that the peace provider was in town.
Like wise for us to recognise God’s peace
We need not to rely on just how we feel peace should look like or occur.
But the scriptures.
What God says about peace.
Because as we have already mentioned,
On some matters we are at peace with God.
But on others for true peace to be in our lives there maybe some conflict.
As we open up scripture God confronts us,
about who we are really following.
Ever had those times when you read a passage of scripture and thought bang….God must have been watching over my shoulder and seen what I had been up to…
And God also will confront us as we mingle with each other
He is both welcoming us,
but also confronting us about who we are really following.
And as we read scripture, worship together and have fellowship together we will discover that peace comes in the person of Jesus.
Not only does God confront us with our problems, sin.
He also confronts our problems, our sin
in the person of Jesus.
That is the way he brings peace to our lives.
God doesn’t just say you are sinner in this or that area of your life.
Now fix yourself up.
He helps you identify your problems.
And he also gives you solutions to your problems.
For a number of years I had a phobia of going to the doctor.
I would walk in.
And no matter what I had come for.
The doctor would say I was too fat.
And that is true…but at times that is all he said.
Now that doesn’t help when you have a cold or flu for two weeks straight
and you want some help with that.
But when doctors not only identify our problems but also offer a solution to them then a feeling of easiness comes to our lives because they care.
And God is not only on about highlighting our problems, but also giving us a solution
And this occurs in two ways….
God’s solutions help us deal with specific sins and problems of our lives now.
Now this may take time.
And the end result of this is that when God helps us with specific sins, our relationships others improve.
But more importantly God gives us the solution to deal with the problem that sins create between us and Him.
God takes the initiative to create a solution so we can have peace with Him.
And that solution is Jesus Christ.
Jesus on the back of the donkey into Jerusalem was the beginning of the final leg of the journey for that solution.
Jesus was about to do something radical for a leader.
He was about to give up his life so His followers.
So that you and me could have life.
Listen again to how Paul explains this to the church in Ephesus
This time I am reading from the NLT bible, Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
Now how many leaders do you know who would do that.
Would give up something so others could benefit.
How many leaders do you know would give up their life so others could have peace.
That is what Jesus did for you.
This is the story of Easter.
God creating peace between you and me.
God creating peace between you and Him.
God’s peace is about first of all us being in peace with God.
And this is only possible if Jesus is our leader.
That we rely on Him to remove the power that sin has.
And secondly peace comes to us and through us by us following Jesus and His commandments
of loving God and loving others
and of making disciples.
This is what ultimately brings peace
And when we have this peace we can deal with the other troubles in the world.
There is a marvellous picture of a new born chick in a nest.
Looking very content with its mum.
But as you pan out from the nest you see all around it is chaos and danger.
The branch which the nest sits is limp.
There is lightening.
The branch is part way down a cliff…and at the top of the cliff is howling animals
But the chick is at peace tucked under its mother’s wings.
Likewise we gain peace by relying on Jesus.
And when we do the rest of life is put into perspective and no matter what is occurring around us Jesus is giving us peace.
AMEN
