Sermon 6-29-08

Peace is the central theme in all of today’s readings. In the Old Testament reading, the prophet Hananiah speaks words of peace; and God is quick to point out that if a prophet speaks peace, then peace had better occur or the prophet is a false prophet.

Old Testament – Jeremiah28:5-9 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. He said, “Amen! May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true.”

Our second reading from the Book of Thessalonians is addressed to God’s people, to believers in Jesus Christ and tells us how we are to behave. The reading tells us that, as much as we can, we are to live at peace with one another.

Epistle –1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each others. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Well, we’ve just heard all about peace. But interestingly, in one respect Jesus says just the opposite. In the Gospel reading we hear the words of Jesus.

Gospel – Matthew 10;34-39 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; any anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Sermon –

If there was ever a confusing time when reading the Bible, it’s today! Let’s turn in our Bibles to John 14:27 and compare it to the first verse in the Gospel Lesson, Matthew 10:34; it’s interesting to compare and contrast those two verses. Jesus says in John 14:27 “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.” Jesus tells us He’s bringing peace! Now let’s read Matthew 10:34 which are also the words of Jesus “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” What do we do with these two statements? Is the Bible contradicting itself? Should we turn off the lights, lock the doors and go home? How can we ever understand any of this? What is Jesus saying? Did He come to bring peace or did He not come to bring peace? And life can be pretty hectic at times in our own personal sphere, there are all these uncertainties and problems - gas prices that won’t stop going up - where can we find peace? Can we rely on God to bring us peace? We hope so…! So what’s the deal? How do we find peace? We’re going to tackle all these questions today.

Are you ready for the answer to these questions? Did Jesus come to bring peace? The definitive answer is yes…and no! It all depends on who are and your frame of reference. And to help us understand, we’re going to talk about Frisbees. A Frisbee is a great toy; we have a lot of fun with them. But interestingly, a few years ago John Bose, the CEO of a company that manufactures Frisbees, sent some to Angola, a poor war-torn country. He thought it would be great if the people who were experiencing such devastation had some toys, something for the kids to play with. The people in Angola were very appreciative of his thoughtfulness and mailed him letters that said “Thank you so much for the Frisbees. We are so poor in our country that we don’t have any plates to eat off of; we have to eat off the ground. And now you’ve sent us plates to put our food in. And we don’t have containers to carry water, but since you’ve sent us the Frisbees, we can fill these plates full of water and carry it home with us.” Is a Frisbee a toy? It all depends on who you are and your frame of reference. If you live in the United States, a Frisbee is a toy. If you live in Angola, a Frisbee is a dinner plate and water container. It all depends on who you are and your frame of reference. Is a Frisbee a toy? Well, yes…and no!

God tell us there are three types of peace. The first type of peace is not necessarily an absence of war, political peace; it is peace between you and God. Remember the sermon we did a couple of weeks ago from Romans Chapter 5? What is God’s assessment of people apart from Jesus Christ? We are ungodly, and because of our sin, we are enemies of God and are objects of His wrath. Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no peace between a God who is offended by sin and us. That’s it! It’s that simple! The Bible says it! But the Bible does go on to say, and please hear this, that Jesus came to bring peace between a God who is offended at sin and we who are sinners, that’s why He’s called the Prince of Peace; that’s why when the angels announced the birth of Jesus in Luke Chapter 2, they said “Peace on Earth, Good Will toward men.” Jesus would live the perfect life in your place and my place, He would go to the cross and pay for all our sins and, and for those who believe that He did it for them, sin is forgiven. Jesus brought us peace with God.

So, first and foremost, for those who have confessed their sin, those who believe that Jesus is their Savior from sin there is peace between us and God. Just think about that. We are no longer objects of God’s wrath. We are no longer enemies of God. We are no longer sinners. We are declared holy and acceptable to God. God at peace with us, we are the objects of Gods’ blessings, God’s good will. That’s the peace Jesus brought.

Secondly, as the reading from Thessalonians says, those of us who believe in Jesus as Savior can live at peace with each other. We see that in this congregation. We had a congregational budget meeting last Sunday. For the first time our budget goes over a million dollars. You would think we would be arguing over everything under the sun, but there was no argument, there was peace. There was peace because Christians, those who believe in Jesus as Savior, those who read God’s Word, and because such a high number of people in this congregation are involved in one or more Bible Studies during the week and are empowered by the Fruit of the Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit works brings peace. Thank You God. That’s why we in this congregation can live at peace with each other.

But what do we do in those times when we are at odds with people? We do what God wants us to do. That’s one of the strengths of this congregation. A couple of weeks ago we were offended at Ken and Barbie. I don’t want to go into what they said and did, but all of us here at Trinity were offended at them. So what did we do? We talked to Ken and Barbie and Ken and Barbie said the magic words, “Please forgive us, we’re sorry”. And because we understand the forgiveness that Christ has provided for us, we said, “You are forgiven!” Then we said to Ken and Barbie, “We don’t do everything right all the time either; so, Ken and Barbie, please forgive us for what we do.” And Ken and Barbie said, “We also understand also the forgiveness that Christ has for us sowe forgive you. You’re forgiven.” We applied the principles of Jesus Christ to our lives. And there was peace.

But what would have happened if Ken and Barbie were opposed to Christ? Would there have been peace? There might have been a temporary false peace, but not real forgiveness; we would still be at odds with Ken and Barbie. That’s what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel Lesson when he said “Do not suppose I have come to bring peace to the earth, I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” Jesus is talking about dealing with unbelievers, people who are opposed to Christ, people who have not confessed their sins, who do not trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, who do not understand that Christ went to the Cross, died and paid for their sins to bring peace between us and God. God says there will be no peace in those situations. We’ve all heard the stories about what happens in the marriage of someone who starts a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and is growing in the faith. If the husband starts growing in faith and the wife is opposed to going to church, opposed to Jesus Christ, there will be no peace in that marriage. There are major religions in this country where you’re thrown out of the family if you turn to Christ. There will never be peace for the various countries in the world that are opposed to Christ. That’s why Jesus says in Matthew Chapter 24, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars on earth until the end.” There will always be people someplace who are opposed to Jesus Christ, opposed to the Bible, and opposed to God’s principles. There will never be peace as long as people are opposed to Christ.

So, did Jesus bring peace? You bet He brought peace – for those who know Him as Lord and Savior! For those who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior there will never be peace, there will be wars and rumors of wars. But now here’s some good news - we need some good news! In the midst of wars and rumors and wars, you can still have peace. In the midst of a difficult family situation, you can still have peace. If everyone else is against you because of your faith in Jesus Christ, you can still have peace. That’s how great God is; He gives you a bonus. Maybe we can illustrate the peace you can have with this insulated long underwear. It can be cold all around you but you can be nice and warm if you have insulated long underwear on. There can be war and turmoil and lack of peace all around you but you can insulated, you can be at peace inside if you have Jesus as Lord and Savior. No matter what situation you’re in, you can still have peace.

Thirdly, God tells us how we can find that peace in the midst of turmoil, tragedy, stress and all those things that try to suck the peace right out of us. One of the great peace passages, Philippians 4:4-7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” You want to use these verses in your life so to help remember, think of the word REPEAT and drop all the vowels. What’s left is RPT. The R is for Rejoice, “Rejoice in the Lord always. And then God says again, “Rejoice!” God doesn’t want us to miss that, if you want peace, rejoice in the Lord! The P is for Prayer. Rejoice, and pray; take what’s on your mind, take what bugging you, take those things that are sucking the peace right out of your life and give it to God in prayer. The T stands for Thanksgiving. That’s it – RPT - Rejoice, Pray, give Thanks – and repeat! And as you RPT , the promise in Philippians 4:7 is “the peace of God” will flow to you, it will become part of your life, His peace will be with you. God’s Word creates what it says, God’s Word creates peace, and it’s a peace that surpasses all human understanding. It’s more than a peace we can give our own mind. We can play mind games in a hectic time and attempt to calm ourselves down, breathe deeply and try to bring ourselves peace; but God’s peace is more than our mind can give us; it comes from outside of us, from God. It’s a peace that surpasses all human understanding.

God’s aware of where we are, He understands, He has us in that situation for a reason. So rejoice, take what’s bugging you and give it to God in prayer, thank Him for taking care of it, and God’s peace will be with you. You can be in the middle of a huge battle and still have peace when you RPT; that’s God promise to you. Rejoice in the Lord, Pray, take what’s bugging you and give it to God, and Thank Him. And RPT , repeat, as often as you need to because you’re going to be fine for about 10 seconds and then the turmoil of the world will suck the peace right out of you again. RPT as often as you need to and God’s peace will be with you.

So to answer the question, “Did Jesus come to bring us peace?” For you, the answer is, “Yes! He did!”

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