Last week, we began a new series entitled: Batteries Not Included. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting play with your new toys and finding out the package had this hidden line - batteries not included. Last, Sunday morning was a perfect example of the excitement of Christmas morning and realizing someone forgot to pick up the batteries. After a lot of scrambling by the tech team, the service finally did get everything up and running.
Jennifer started this series by enlightening us all to the very real effects of COVID on our mental state and especially for those who have always struggled with thinking a little differently than “norm” (if there is such a category.) She normalized the labels and in so doing provided anyone hurting, hope. Hope, in the understanding we are all created in God’s image and therefore worthy of his love, peace and joy so when your batteries run low this season, remember Jesus in breaking into our reality was the beginning of hope for us all. If you missed it, please check it out on the Facebook video page.
With that being said, today, I would like to open another gift of the holiday season: peace.
Did you know a recent survey asked what most Americans would want after love and relationships, the answer was peace. In a society like ours, where we have more creature comforts than almost any time in the history of mankind, yet we seek the most elemental - peace.
Many people equate peace with calmness or stillness. If you're at peace with something you're good with it, right? No issues. So in a society that has overdosed on political correct statements and compromise, why are people still so in need of a peaceful life?
Nivine Richie states this in her blog,
When asked, “What’s wrong with the world today?” many will point to volatile stock markets, corrupt governments, disappearing rainforests, poor diets, lack of healthcare, broken families, overcrowded schools, and more. The world tries to fix these problems by doing good: feeding children, building wells, regulating markets, conserving wildlife, funding charter schools, and thereby achieving a type of peace.
The world’s peace tries to fix the symptoms of sin but fails to see how the root of the problem is the sin-disease itself, something that can only be healed by Christ—not by money, regulation, or reform. Dealing with the symptoms of sin but failing to diagnose the sin itself is not new. In the Old Testament, the false prophets treated sin “lightly” and proclaimed the problem “solved” when it wasn’t:
They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).
Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash. (Ezekiel 13:10)
In contrast to the world’s compromise of peace, biblical peace has a much greater meaning and affect on one’s life. God doesn’t ignore our sin—he heals it, making his peace a different kind of peace from what we find in the world.
A number of years ago now, a mentor was trying to help me come to a deeper understanding of what it meant to have the peace of the Lord in my heart. We would talk and talk. I would try harder to not judge others. I would try to be more patient with people. I would keep silent when I wanted to scream. He kept coaching, encouraging and giving me all kinds of mental exercises. And then, it happened. A peace beyond my own understanding fell. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. He was so gracious when I called to ask what was happening. I now knew what was meant by the word peace and what is required.
The traditional advent scriptures for today outline this for us. If you have a bible, open it to Mark 1:1-8. We will be covering only eight verses this morning. May God give us ears to hear, minds to comprehend and soft hearts to receive your message.
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
It’s in the promise of those last eight words. “he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Real lasting peace only comes with a baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians) and the reason the birth of Jesus is so important to all of us. Without His inbreaking, living, dying and rising the Spirit would have continued to be given to only a select few. However, on the day the Spirit swooped into our reality (the day the church has marked as Pentecost), we all were given a new experience, an even greater connection, that can and does power us through the hills and valleys of this life.
Jesus says, “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” (John 14:27). When Jesus meets his disciples after the resurrection, he continually says to them, “Peace” (John 20:19,21,26). Under these circumstances it is obvious that the term “peace” is extraordinarily full of meaning.
The Old Testament Hebrew word for peace, šalôm (SHALOM) has a wide range of meaning including the notions of totality or completeness, success, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, security and well being. The vastness of the definition is why we need to look at the implications for us today.
In the New Testament, shalom is revealed as the reconciliation of all things to God through the work of Christ:
“God was pleased . . . through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19–20).
The Shalom experience is multidimensional, complete well-being with ever increasing power as one’s relationships are made right — with God, with(in) oneself, and with others.
With God: God can give us peace with himself or remove it (Psalm 85:8; Jeremiah 16:5). We must be willing to accept the help being offered. Jesus is God’s remedy for all your disturbance - his actions, his teaching and his words are to be a guide to our surrender.
You never know God is all you need until God is all you have. - Rick Warren.
With(in) Oneself: Shalom consists of not only outward peacefulness but also peace within. Those who trust in the Lord have inner security; therefore, they can sleep well (Psalm 4:8). God gives “perfect peace”
Peace within oneself is not the absence of suffering. It's a deeper sense that all things will be okay. It may not be as I want it to be. It won't be as bad as I think. But in the end, I will be given what is needed to be ok. I hear Paul’s words, I have to learned to be content with a lot or a little (Philippians 4:11-13)
With Others: Shalom doesn’t mean only reconciliation between warring factions or nations (1 Kings 5:12). It also refers to socially just relationships between individuals and classes. Jeremiah insists that unless there is an end to oppression, greed, and violence in social relationships, there can be no shalom. (Jeremiah 6:1–9,14; compare Jeremiah 8:11).
Herein lies one of the aspects I am most excited about at The Center. We have one of the most accepting reputations in the area. When people are in need, they come to the Center to heal and experience the peace of others.
They come to heal from a culture of isolation in exchange for real community.
They come to heal from consumerism by learning to serve others.
They come with their addictions and find the support of like minded individuals.
They come with their family problems and find others who have traveled their roads who can give experienced advice.
They come with their spiritual hurts and resentments only to hear, we’ve been there too.
They come to heal their hearts and find His true peace that comes through a deep abiding relationship.
