Peace Sunday – December 8, 2002
Second Sunday of Advent
By John L. Weeks
Pastor, Southeastern Christian Fellowship
Indianapolis, Indiana
Scripture: John 14: 23(Jesus replied,) "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace 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.
There are three aspects of peace that Christ brings to us that I want to talk to you about today.
Jesus brings us peace in three ways:
Peace with God,
Peace with each other,
Peace with ourselves.
Let’s talk about Peace with God first.
John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.G 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
These verses were revolutionary in their time and they still are today. God had done just about everything to get His people to come to Him. Four thousand years since he created mankind and in all that time, in so many ways, yet this is what it had come to. When Jesus said this to Nicodemas, Nicodemas had no idea the impact on the world that statement would have. In that statement, Jesus explained exactly how we could obtain a personal relationship with God. In having a personal relationship with God, we can achieve peace with God one on one. We are no longer dependent on an intermediary such as a prophet or high priest to intercede for us. This is not new to us, but at that time, it set the world on it end.
When Christ first came back to appear to the disciples, what was it he said most often? “Peace be with you.” In the verses from Isaiah that we used last week, twice, he used the word peace in reference to the coming messiah. (Prince of Peace and Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.) Zechariah prophesied about Him as He who would put their feet on the path of peace. Simeon in the temple said that he could now rest in peace after holding the baby messiah. Everything surrounding just exude peace.
Let’s now look at how He brought us Peace with each other:
Jesus proclaimed peace frequently and taught peace. Listen to this scripture:
Luke 6:27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners’ lend to `sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Love your enemies? Do good to those who hate you? You have got to be kidding! That’s what I first thought. What ever happened to “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord!” Oh wait, I guess that is the answer. Vengeance is the Lord’s isn’t it? Not mine. Not yours. Not the heathen next door. We are commanded to forgive and forget. We are commanded to pray for them because what is the best possible out come for our enemies? How about reconciliation with God and with us. How cool would it be if Saddam Hussein accepted Christ and called President Bush and said, apologized all over himself and told him where all of his weapons were?
Don Richardson spent several frustrating years among the Sawi tribe in New Guinea. He had come from America as an anthropologist/missionary, hoping to bring the Christian message to a nearly stone-age tribe. But his message kept colliding with the tribe’s unusual beliefs.
Christian values of love and forgiveness had no appeal to the Sawi, for they held up deceit as the highest virtue. They saw no reason to change their patterns of cruelty and cannibalism. In fact, when Richardson told them the story of Jesus, only one incident sparked their interest: the story of Judas’s betrayal! To the Sawi, Judas was a genuine hero; he had shrewdly penetrated the trusted inner circle of disciples before turning against Jesus.
Every time Richardson tried to share Christ with the Sawi, the attempt miscarried. Finally, after watching the fourteenth bloody battle fought outside his home, Richardson reached the end of his patience. How could he ever break through to such violent people? He decided to leave New Guinea, despite the Sawi’s pleas that he stay.
Just before Richardson left, the Sawi and their deadly enemies, the Haenam tribe, staged an elaborate ceremony in front of his home. It was their final effort to convince the missionary to stay.
The entire village gathered to watch the event. All were silent except the Sawi chief’s wife. She screamed loudly as the chief seized their six-month-old baby from her arms and held him high in the air. The chief then carried his son to the enemy chief and gave him to his enemies. A member of the tribe explained to Richardson that the Haenam tribe would rename the baby and rear him as one of its own.
Richardson knew that no Sawi could be fully trusted, since any action might be part of an elaborate deception. But that memorable day he learned of the one great exception: the peace child. A chief’s giving his own son to his enemies--that profound, painful act would overcome all suspicion. By mutual agreement, as long as the peace child lived, no wars could be fought between the two tribes.
Something clicked in Don Richardson’s mind as he watched the spectacle. At last he had found an analogy--a parallel story--built into the Sawi’s culture that could convey the message of a forgiving God. He gathered members of the tribe around him and, with a pounding heart and dry throat, told them of God’s peace child. God had sent his own Son, Jesus, to live among enemies, to make peace with humankind.
Christ’s death, says Paul, the apostle, was not a new idea, an addition to the Old Testament law. Rather, it was the completion of the law, what the Old Testament implied and foreshadowed. Like the Sawi, the Jewish culture had its own "redemptive analogies"; and they all found true fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
The point here is that Jesus is God’s gift of peace not to vanquish our enemies but to reconcile with them – to make peace with them. A baby given to us as a child of peace.
One of the best parts of the peace that we have in Christ is that we can totally rely on Christ for everything. Matthew 6: 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
We can take our burdens and drop them at the foot of the cross and rest in peace that He will take care of them for us. Can there be any better peace of mind than that?
I’ll leave you with this scripture: Philippians 4: 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
