I recently read of a couple who retired in 1980. They were alarmed by the threat of nuclear war, so they undertook a serious study of all the countries of the world which would be least likely to experience war. They wanted to be sure they spent their last years in peace and security. They studied and traveled all over the world, talking to people and garnering as much information as they could. Finally they found the place which seemed the most out of the way spot where they could live in peace. The Christmas of 1981, they sent their pastor a card from their new home — in the Falkland Islands. As you may know, these small islands off the coast of Argentina, which seemed like paradise, were turned into a war zone early in 1982. Argentina’s then military government decided to invade the islands and were defeated by Great Britain in the conflict now recorded in history books as the Falkland War. The war lasted 72 days and claimed nearly 1000 casualties. Obviously, the couple did not find peace in the Falklands.
Where is peace? One thing is for sure, it is not in the places where we think it is. Isaiah prophesied, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). On the first Christmas day: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13-14). What did it all mean? Such a commotion over such a small child born in an obscure village to humble parents. Such a powerful promise about one who appeared so powerless. He would never sit on a throne or lead an army. He did not begin a bureaucracy or leave behind an impressive and well-organized group of followers. In fact, history knows very little about the lives of most of his apostles. To the dismay of many, he did not advocate the overthrow of the government which held Israel in captivity. He came bringing peace of another kind and another dimension. He said, “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).
In a culture which is trying to medicate it’s way to peace, the message of Jesus has never been more relevant. But the peace Christ gives does not come in the ways that we might think. It comes in unexpected ways — ways that for many seem weak and unacceptable. I want to point out three simple ways to peace this morning, that if you follow them, will bring peace to your mind and heart. You may continue to have conflict on the outside, over which you do not have control, but peace will come to your heart. They are simple ways, nothing really profound, but powerful in their ability to give peace. Where do we find peace? First, We find it through humility. It is so hard to have peace when you are trusting in yourself, because you can’t do everything and you are not in control no matter how much you want to be. If you want peace, you have to stop relying on yourself and trying to figure things out on your own. You cannot be full of pride and full of God at the same time.
Joanna Chu told me an interesting Chinese proverb this week. I didn’t know this, but all Chinese proverbs are told by speaking only four Chinese characters — four words. This parable is called “Frog-Well-Sky-World.” The parable’s meaning is that a frog in a well can only see the sky above him, and he thinks that small circle of blue sky is the whole world. He believes he sees and understands the entire world — Frog-Well-Sky-World. Typical of Asian thought, it is a proverb about the importance of humility. You are a frog in a well, and you can only see and understand what is available to you. Don’t be so proud as to think you know everything. Peace comes when you realize that you don’t understand it all and you are not the center of the universe — even if you are the center of the well.
Your worth is in who you are in God, not in what you have accomplished. The Bible says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Remember that God is the Creator and you are his creation. Or as the Psalmist put it: “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3). Remember that there is a God and you are not him. Stop acting like you are in charge of your life and recognize the ownership of God over your life and the world. When you walk in that humility, you walk in the peace of understanding who you are and where you fit in the scheme of things. When you walk in pride, you have no direction because you are walking in spiritual blindness, and disaster is stalking you. Proverbs says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). The Bible warns: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall ” (1 Corinthians 10:12). I have peace because my self worth is grounded in what God thinks of me. I don’t always have to worry about what others think, because my approval comes from God. Arrogance is unnecessary when you experience God’s acceptance. You don’t have to prove anything, and you have deep-down peace.
Keith Cox tells the story of Ozymandias: “The Romantic poet Percy Shelley masterfully betrays the Achilles heel of human power in his ironic poem Ozymandias. The title of the poem comes from the reported inscription on the largest statue in Egypt in the century before Christ. It read, ‘I am Ozymandias, king of kings; if anyone wishes to know what I am and where I lie, let him surpass me in some of my exploits.’ Shelley crafts his poem around this bit of information, except he slightly alters the inscription and considers the great statue after centuries have passed. As Shelley writes it, the statue is now torn in half so that the legs stand as two pillars erect in the desert dunes, and the body lies half sunk in the sand. The inscription reads, ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair ’ But all that is left of Ozymandias’ mighty works is the desert sands. Shelley bitingly describes the scene, ‘Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.’ Ozymandias’ monument to his great works turns out to be a monument to his laughable pride. The irony is rich. His statue proclaims to the sands that all his works have withered away like, the sands.”
Where do we find peace? Not in our gand accomplishments and pride, but in a humble spirit. The second place we find peace is: We find it in believing. You cannot have peace if you will not put your whole faith and trust in God and his Word. You have to believe in his reality, his truth and his promises. The problem with our culture is that it promotes the idea that really intelligent people do not believe; they only question. We have been taught that it is not honest if we do not consistently doubt. And so we have come to the place where we cannot really be sure of anything, and everyone’s beliefs are as good as anyone else’s. But you cannot entertain unrelenting skepticism and have peace. You cannot be a lifelong cynic and have peace. At some point in time you have to come down and plant your feet in what you believe to be true. You have to eventually say, “I may not understand everything, and I still have questions, but I place my whole trust and faith in God and in his revealed Word.” Without that there is only frustration and despair. You will never be sure of anything. If you are going to wait until you understand everything before you have faith, you will die in your doubt. You don’t have to understand everything, in fact you can’t, faith is what goes beyond understanding. The Bible says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Peace and faith go together. It is not that you never entertain a question, for as Frederick Buechner exclaimed: “Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.” Doubt does not bury faith, it gives birth to faith.
You have to believe there is a God who has made the world and that he is your Creator. You have to believe there is a purpose in it all and that God has a plan. You believe that God’s promises are the result of his plan. And you also have to believe that there is such a thing as truth and that God has revealed his truth to us in the book we call the Bible. The Bible is a book which contains what we call “revealed” truth. It had to be revealed, because we could never have figured it out on our own. We are the frog in the well, and God has to inform us about the things we cannot see. There is mystery in the Word of God, of course, because much of the truth there is beyond human understanding. But the truth revealed there has transformed the lives of millions of people throughout history.
Fyodor Dostoevsky was 25-years-old when his first book captured the hearts of the Russian people. His fame quickly went to his head, and he began to drink too much and party wildly. It was in that state that he did something that altered the direction of his life. After drinking too much, he began criticizing the government. He was not only arrested but sentenced to death. Fortunately for him, those in power showed mercy and commuted his sentence to ten years of hard labor. So on Christmas Eve, 1849, Fyodor Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia, as he described it: “like a man buried alive. . . nailed down in his coffin.” But Dostoevsky was about to meet God and learn that he could bring about good even in the harshness of Siberia. As he arrived in that desolate region, two women slipped a New Testament into his hand, and when the officer’s back was turned, whispered to him, “search it carefully at your leisure.” As he poured over the New Testament in the Siberian labor camp, he discovered the beauty of the parable of the prodigal son — the parable that would influence all of his future writings. It revealed to him the marvelous mercy of his heavenly Father. He would later write from Siberia: “One sees the truth more clearly when one is unhappy, and yet God gives me moments of perfect peace; in such moments I love and believe that I am loved; in such moments I have formulated my creed, wherein all is clear and holy to me.” That life change led him to write novels after his release that have influenced millions of lives. When Dostoevsky surrendered his mind to Christ, he found deep peace. The struggle was over and he began to experience life in a way that he had never done before. The same will be true for you.
Where do we find peace? In believing. The third place we find peace is: We find it in surrender. But we need to do more than just surrender our minds to find peace. We must surrender our wills as well. I talked with someone this week who said, “You know, I was in the church my whole life, and I have believed my whole life, but I never got it that you had to surrender and obey.” There are many people like that who feel that as long as they are religious and believe in God, that is all there is to it. They don’t get that it involves surrendering your life to God and living in loving obedience to him before faith comes alive. They think it is like a scale where God says, “Well, on this side they believe in me and go to church, so I’ll just forget the stuff on the other side.” At some point belief must result in surrender. And this is the hardest part. More people stay away from God because of this than for any other reason. They are willing to believe in God, IF they do not have to obey him. They rebel against his authority in their lives — even though he is their Creator and God. But if you think living for God is difficult, try living without God. It is a hard and grinding way. The lessons learned are learned with bitter tears of regret and grief. Jesus tells us: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). There is a yoke, but it is not like the cruel yoke of disobedience and rebellion. It is Christ’s yoke, and as we surrender to it and place ourselves under it, we see that it is a double yoke, and Christ is there with us helping to carry the load. Whatever burden we bear is nothing compared with the isolating bondage and slavery we experience in a life away from God.
The prodigal son thought that it was oppressive in his father’s house. There were rules to follow, and he had to work and accept responsibility. It seemed unbearable to him, until he left and went far away from the father and lived a dissolute life. The bondage there was cruel and left him starving, in great distress and living like an animal. The Bible says, “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you’” (Luke 15:17-18). If you are going to have peace you have to admit that you are wrong. You are going to have to give in to God. You have to come to your senses. You have to wake up to the fact that your life is not working, and that it is in fact being ruined by your refusal to surrender your will to the will of God. You do not have peace because you believe one thing and are living another. The Bible describes those who refuse to surrender to God when it says: “Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:16-18).
The Bible says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:5-7). This describes the life of the prodigal son before he came to his senses, but he discovered the wonderful reality that as soon as you surrender and turn your heart toward home, the father runs to meet you and greet you with an embrace.
Gordon McDonald tells this story: “A Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States came out of the crowd today to say something kind about the lecture I had just given. She introduced herself using an American name. ‘What’s your African name?’ I asked. She immediately gave it to me, several syllables long with a musical sound to it. ‘What does the name mean?’ I wondered. She answered, ‘It means “Child who takes the anger away.”’ When I inquired as to why she would have been given this name, she said, ‘My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry. But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway. For several years they were ostracized from both their families. Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept the anger away. And that’s the name my mother and father gave me.’” McDonald concluded, “It occurred to me that her name would be a suitable one for Jesus.”
Yes, when Jesus came, he was the child who took the anger away between ourselves and God. God’s wrath melted, and our anger at God was over. He brought us together. He was the child who takes the anger away — or as we know him: The Prince of Peace.
Rodney J. Buchanan
December 12, 2004
Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
Where Is Peace?
(Questions for December 12, 2004)
1. Share some of the struggles you had with peace before you became a Christian. After you became a Christian.
2. What is eating at the heart of our medicated culture? Think of the lives of some of the people you know.
3. Read Luke 2:13-14. What all was included in this promise on the first Christmas day?
4. Read 2 Chronicles 26:16. Why does pride keep peace from our lives? Read James 4:10. What is God’s promise in this verse?
5. How do we humble ourselves? What is involved?
6. Read Jon 14:27. How is the peace which Jesus gives different from the world’s peace?
7. If we are going to have peace, we have to believe. What are the basics which are necessary for us to believe?
8. Why is it difficult for us to surrender to God? What is involved? Why is this important?
9. Read Matthew 11:29-30. What did Jesus mean by this?
10. Read Luke 15:17. What does it take for us to come to our senses?
