“What Is Peace?”
John 14:23-27
A man in a morning exercise group I am involved in asked for prayer for his daughter.
He and his wife haven’t seen nor heard from her in 8 months.
Apparently, she suffers from drug and alcohol addiction.
He asked that we pray that she turn to Jesus…
…That she give her life over to Jesus Christ.
This is what he believes will save her, restore her to her right mind, give her peace and bring her back to them.
He prays for this because he has experienced the peace of Christ in his own life and has seen it transform the lives of others.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is sometimes referred to as “The Gerasene Demoniac” or “Jesus restores a Demon Possessed Man.”
It’s about a very troubled man who lives naked among the tombs in a graveyard.
He cuts himself with stones and terrifies the people because he is completely out of his mind and unpredictable.
Jesus comes along, heals him and the next day we find him sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and I’m quoting from Mark 5:15: “in his right mind.”
He then begs to stay with Jesus and follow Him wherever He goes.
It never fails to amaze me how a relationship with Jesus Christ reaches across the boundaries of race, socio-economic class, intellectual capabilities, and educational status and brings peace to all who experience it.
I know wealthy, well-educated doctors and scientists who have experienced peace of mind and transformation of life through a relationship with Christ.
I also know folks on the margins and in very difficult circumstances who know the same peace through the same Savior.
Our human need for Christ knows no bounds.
I am convinced that we all need Jesus.
And our souls will never be at rest until we find rest in Christ.
Nearly all the speakers who come to give their testimonies at our Wednesday Evening First Recovery Meetings every week, have found that a relationship with God through Christ is the key to their ability to stay off drugs and alcohol and get their lives together.
The Apostle Paul talked about “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,” guarding our hearts and minds “in Christ Jesus.”
And then he encourages us to focus our minds on: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, and anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.
And the God of peace will be with us.
Recently, I decided to stop looking at Facebook because the angry rants, fights over politics and put downs were bringing unrest to my soul.
I am able to focus more on the good things. It has made a positive difference.
No matter what the world might say, there really is something to having a relationship with Jesus Christ, and continuing to cultivate that relationship through action, love, service to others, worship, prayer and I could go on and on.
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning from John Chapter 14 Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time when He will no longer be with them physically.
It is the night of His arrest.
Judas has already left to tell the authorities where they can find Him.
Soon He will be falsely accused, mocked, spit upon, tortured and left to die an unimaginably painful death while nailed to a cross.
In the face of all this Jesus instructs His followers to obey His teachings, and He promises that after He is gone God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will come and make their home in them.
And if they remain in God as God remains in them they will have the strength to face every trial this life can throw their way.
“Peace I leave with you;” Jesus promises, “my peace I give you.
I do not give as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Peace.
This is Jesus’ parting gift on the night before His execution.
“I do not give as the world gives,” Jesus promises.
The world gives us simple beauties: the full moon on an early morning, the feeling of a loved one’s hand in ours, a strong cup of coffee before a day of work.
But so often, the world gives trouble, disappointment, and fleeting relationships with people who hurt us or leave us.
“The Message” paraphrase of the Bible says it this way: “I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft.”
Yes.
Jesus tells His huddled followers, and Jesus tells us that He does not give as the world gives.
He does not leave us the way we are used to being left.
Instead, He offers us the gift of peace.
And it’s not a peace that takes away our problems.
It is a peace that enables us to live full, productive and loving lives no matter what is going on around us.
It is an inner peace that comes from relying on the Christ Who makes His home in our hearts.
The Apostle Paul wrote from prison as he awaited possible execution: “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A long time ago there was a guy who, more than anything wanted to experience this peace.
And so, he sought to get to know God and know that God loved him, accepted him and had saved him.
He read his Bible.
He studied it hard.
He got to know all the “Thou shall nots…” and the “Thou shalls…”—the whole shebang!!!
He even went off to a really good seminary—one of the best—where he studied about God and the rules of the Church.
And then, he himself became a priest.
And he found a group of like-minded folks, who wanted to please God and experience peace.
They got together and formed what would soon be called “The Holiness Club.”
And “The Holiness Club” worked hard, trying to follow all the rules in the Bible to a tee.
They figured that if they just tried hard enough they could be perfect and acceptable to God, and thus, find peace.
But this was a frustrating thing to try and do because try as they might, they were just human beings with temptations, flaws, sinful inclinations, and so forth just like everyone else in the world.
They did a lot of things.
And their intentions were good.
But ultimately, they were left feeling defeated and alienated from the God they were trying to emulate.
And they weren’t at peace at all.
Eventually, the young priest who had set out to make himself the perfect Christian decided to give up.
He realized that he couldn’t achieve his goal.
And oh, was he depressed.
And oh, did he feel like a failure.
He had really hit rock bottom.
He felt that he would never, ever be able to measure up to the high standards of God as written out in so many pages of the Bible, the Old Testament in particular.
One night a friend of his invited him to go to a special Bible study.
And he didn’t want to go.
He’d been to enough Bible studies to last a lifetime, thank you very much, and see where they had gotten him?
But his friend was persistent.
So, reluctantly, he went.
And this Bible study, well, it wasn’t an incredibly academic affair.
It wasn’t like his seminary classes.
There was no highly educated scholar upfront using high and lofty words.
Instead, someone was reading something what someone else had written.
It was something that a man named Martin Luther had penned some 200 years earlier—a commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans.
But as the down-and-out priest listened to these monotone and straightforward words —something started to stir deep in his soul.
And an epiphany started to come upon him.
His heart started to beat faster, and he felt perspiration begin to form on his skin.
And then something unique happened.
This man who had been reading the Law in the Bible and trying to follow what it said for so long experienced something he had never experienced before.
And the best way he had to describe it is this: he said that he felt his heart become “strangely warmed,” and for the first time in his life, he did believe that Jesus Christ had died for his sins—even his—and had forgiven him and saved him from the law of sin and death.
He then, spent the rest of his life growing in his new relationship with God through faith in Christ and sharing it with others.
This man’s name was John Wesley.
He went on to lead the most significant Christian revival the world has, perhaps, ever known.
The Methodist Church is a direct result of God’s actions in and through his life.
As are many, many other churches—arguably the majority of protestant churches in the United States and the rest of the Western world.
The problem John Wesley and many others like him face is the supreme mystery of life: how can we get into a right relationship with God?
How can we find peace?
In Wesley’s case, as is the case with all who experience the peace of Christ, this peace found him.
All he had to do was accept it and then cultivate it.
It is a free gift from God by grace through faith.
Do you know this peace?
Many years ago, I was going through an extremely difficult time.
My whole world seemed to be falling apart and I had hit rock bottom!
But at Rock Bottom I met an old friend.
It was Jesus.
He was right there with me.
I immediately called up a friend and said the following: “Rock bottom isn’t so bad after-all because Jesus is here!”
I experienced the peace of Christ which transcends all understanding right in the middle of the worst crisis of my life.
That is when I started reading and praying “A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition.”
I would read it several times a day…
…before I left the house…
…and whenever the feeling of Un-peace started to threaten me.
I think of it as the prayer to perfect freedom.
And the key to it is that in praying it, you are entrusting and giving every single thing in your life to Christ.
You are trusting Him with everything and believing that no matter what happens in life—it will be alright because Jesus will be with you and that is all that matters.
Will you join me in praying the prayer together as it is written in our bulletins?
