Tag: peace

We Want Peace, But God’s Word Divides

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(Luke 12:49-53)

The debate will never be resolved. Sports analysts and fans will never be able to agree on who are the greatest players or teams in any given sport. The problem goes back long before weeding through and sorting out statistics. The problem starts with the definition. How does one define “great”?

Does greatest mean the most championship rings, because there are plenty of players who were not superstars, but who had the privilege of being shuffled around and playing on multiple championship teams. Does greatest mean the best statistics? If so, which statistics matter the most, and what if someone has great statistics but no rings? Does greatest mean record-holder in any given statistical category? What if a player dominates in only one statistical category, but is mediocre, at best, in others? And what about sports where different players play entirely different positions – a great lineman on the football field cannot be compared to a great quarterback by using the same metrics for greatness. It’s impossible to nail down the greatest, because it’s impossible to agree on the definition of greatest.

Part of the reason Jesus’ words from Luke 12 are so striking is that we’re not naturally on the same page when defining the word peace. Just as rabid sports fans will become rather unruly when discussing who is the greatest, should it surprise us that issues are also going to arise if no two people are able to agree on a definition of peace? How does one define it? Absence of conflict? Tolerance? Complete agreement? Indifference? If two people cannot even agree on a definition of peace, then it is really difficult to imagine how peace could be achieved.

How does the world define peace? The world has its own version of peace, but it isn’t easy to come by. Peace, as our culture has come to define it, is what happens when you agree with me on a matter. So for peace to exist between two individuals, each requires that the other side shares their same opinion. It isn’t acceptable anymore for someone merely to keep their opinion to themselves or choose not to get involved and just let others do as they wish; no, peace will only come when you see things my way and are willing to let go of your “wrong” opinion on a matter. How likely do you suppose it will be to achieve peace with that understanding?

How do believers define it? We talk about it. We sing about it. The Bible discusses it, but that doesn’t matter too much if you have your own working definition of peace. I think we know that peace doesn’t mean that Christians will get a pass on problems in life, but still we find ourselves struggling perhaps more than we should when the going gets tough. We still slip into that transactional understanding of our relationship with God: so long as we do the things Christians are supposed to do – go to church, pray, read our Bible – that sort of thing, then God will keep the trouble off our radar and his favor flowing freely, and for the most part, we’ll be at peace. 

Or we may have a rather simplistic, hardly-scratch-the-surface understanding of peace. Peace means Jesus has forgiven my sins. This is true! But knowing it and living and breathing it are different things. If I don’t live in that peace that flows from the forgiveness of sins but shelve it instead, how much will peace really characterize my life?

When we take a hard pass on the peace of Jesus in favor of pursuing the perfect partner, do we wonder why we’re restless? When we put our family and kid schedules in place of the peace of Jesus, are we surprised that stress and chaos carry the day? When we worry endlessly about money and focus on our possessions, where does peace have a place at the table?

Are you ready to consider how God defines peace? What does his Word reveal about his definition of peace? Try this on for size: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 4:25-5:2). Paul here gets right at the root of the problem by pointing out the reason Jesus had to be delivered over to death: our sins. Our sin smacks God in the face and undermines any sort of relationship with him. It is a wrong that must be made right, but as the wrongdoers, we cannot help ourselves because the only thing we’re capable of is smacking God in the face again and again with our sin. How can peace exist in such a scenario? It can’t!

Jesus had to bring it. By his death then, he righted the wrong of our sin, making payment in full, and because of Jesus’ resurrection, God determined that we are no longer guilty, since all of our wrongs have been righted in Christ. We now stand in grace, not guilt. 

So the peace we have with God is like this: imagine two circles. One circle is guilt. The other circle is grace. While in unbelief, we stand in the circle of guilt, because of our sin. But when we come to faith, believing in Jesus and what he has done for us, we embrace that God says we no longer stand in that circle – the circle of guilt. Instead, we stand in the other circle, the circle of grace. So peace with God means no guilt, just grace. 

Let’s now revisit Jesus’ words to us, the hard truth he expressed in Luke 12. “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (v.51). When we consider the words of Isaiah 9:6 (where Jesus is referred to as the Prince of Peace) and the rejoicing of the angels at Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ words here certainly appear to contradict them! 

But let’s apply the understanding we just gained from God’s definition of peace from Romans 4. Even though Jesus was delivered over to death for the sins of all people, allowing God to declare all sinners not guilty, those who don’t believe it remain standing in the guilty circle. However, those who believe all that Jesus has said and done as their Savior stand in the circle of grace.

Now picture that. Two different circles – one of guilt and one of grace – are filled with only two different categories of people: those who believe and those who don’t. What is the result? Division. There is a division between those who rejoice in the peace Jesus came to bring and those who refuse it. 

So did Jesus come to bring the division? Yes, because he was responsible for bringing the peace that would be rejected by many in the world. So the division is Jesus’ fault in the same way that it is dad’s fault for taking the whole family out for ice cream. One child was in a pouty mood and stubbornly decided he didn’t want any. However, after seeing everyone else enjoy theirs, suddenly he determined it wasn’t fair that everyone else got some and put up a stink about it. That division wouldn’t have come if dad had not taken the family out for ice cream! So, in that sense, yes, it’s dad’s fault.

When the division of which Jesus speaks comes into the picture then, it stems from those who don’t want the peace he came to bring, but then decide it’s not fair that others would want it or have it and puts up a stink about it. And, as Jesus described, this kind of division goes deeper than just a group of Christians and those outside in the unbelieving world. It often hits home and we experience the division right under our own roof. 

And Jesus knew that division would happen. Jesus didn’t look forward to it, but he knew it would happen. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but he knew it would happen. That’s what he meant when he lamented, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!” (v.49-50). Jesus came to save sinners, and he knew the grueling payment that was required of him to make that happen. But he also knew something else that would be equally agonizing: in order for sinners to be saved, they must first acknowledge they need saving. The refining fire of repentance needs to do its work. But many will refuse to acknowledge their need for repentance over any wrongdoing or sin against God. That’s why wherever Jesus is, division is right there with him.

And wherever the church is doing the work Jesus entrusted to it, division will result, just as he promised. Not only is this a hard truth because it hits close to home for many of us; it’s a hard truth because it is an undeniable reality of the ministry of the church. We are called to bring peace, yet God prepares us for the hard work of ministry by telling us that our efforts will result in division. We experience that kind of division as we live out our faith and seek to bring peace to others in our own personal mission field. That division will result when certain teachings turn others off and away from a congregation. That division will happen in a school ministry when the values or beliefs of families don’t always align with the mission of the school. Ministry involves many challenges, so Jesus warns us that we can count division among those challenges as we proclaim peace. 

But as long as we proclaim peace by his definition – peace that comes from being justified (declared “not guilty”) and peace that means standing in grace – then we have nothing to worry about. Jesus himself proclaimed peace and he was rejected. Those following in his footsteps will not be surprised to experience the same rejection. And we will have thick skin when we do. Why? Because we know and believe God’s definition of peace, and that through Jesus, that is exactly what we have. About that there is no doubt and no debate.

Prince of Peace

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(Isaiah 9:2-7)

One of the simple things in life that brings joy to just about everyone every time it is shared is the announcement that a couple is expecting or a baby has been born. I know of at least one friend whose family gathering this Christmas will include his daughter sharing the news that they are expecting. Whether it’s the shared anticipation of a couple who is expecting or the exciting news of the baby’s arrival at birth, it’s the kind of news that just makes us happy. 

News of a birth also means wanting to hear all of the details. When was the baby born? How long was labor? Boy or girl? How much did it weigh? What’s the length? These curious questions are a natural follow-up to news of any birth, as we want to get to know a little bit more about the baby.

We heard a baby announcement today from the prophet Isaiah. While we aren’t used to such announcements being given any further out than about nine months at the most, Isaiah shared his announcement some 700 years before the due date! And, he didn’t wait until the baby had been delivered to share the details, but declared them ahead of time. His words today, and the words we’ll look at for the next two Sundays of Christmas, will provide us with the necessary information to answer the question raised by the beloved Christmas hymn, What Child Is This? 

So just who is this Jesus whose birth is celebrated across the world by people of every nation and language? He must matter a great deal, for who else’s birth has been cause for such universal celebration every year ever since it happened?!? That fact alone deserves our attention, doesn’t it? Regardless of what anyone believes, isn’t this birth worth looking into if so many people all over the world have celebrated it for so many years?

What, then, does Isaiah tell us to provide insight into an answer for the question, What Child Is This? Quite a lot, actually! Isaiah tells us he’ll be a beacon of light in a world steeped in darkness. He will be a source of joy. He will bring victory. Then, we get to verses that have served as the basis for some of the most beautiful music ever played or sung; words that have inspired so many in the world of music and the arts; words that have filled hearts with hope for 2,700 years – the words of Isaiah 9, verse 6: “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.” While each of these designations could provide sermon upon sermon or even series upon series, on this day we will give our attention to just the one title that answers the question before us, the title, Prince of Peace. 

To be designated as the “prince” of something is to say the one bearing the title is considered to be the authority in that field or area. The dictionary describes the title as “a man or thing regarded as outstanding or excellent in a particular sphere or group.” So what does it say about Jesus that his birth announcement 700 years before his arrival did not merely associate him with peace or describe that he might bring in a season or period of peace, but that he himself is the prince of peace? It means that any understanding of peace apart from Jesus is either an inadequate or incomplete understanding of what peace is, for he is the prince! A person cannot, therefore, have peace apart from the One called the very Prince of Peace!

But sadly, that doesn’t stop the world from either pursuing peace in all the wrong places or simply flat-out avoiding the things we perceive to be disrupting it. We do have phrases that incorporate the word peace, like “peace of mind,” being “at peace” with a decision, or “making peace” with someone. In one way or another, each of these expressions has to do with something that is unsettling or causing tension or conflict. To achieve peace, then, is to settle the matter, ease the tension, or eliminate the conflict. The result should then be peace. 

Another solution is to simply avoid the things that are unsettling or cause tension or conflict. But with a few rare exceptions avoiding such things isn’t a real solution. It may perhaps buy some more time toward a solution, but the act of avoiding is itself no solution, and very often only exacerbates the problem. This happens especially when avoiding is paired with some attempt at escape like substance abuse or any of the other escapes we explored back in our October and September sermon series. 

If any of these supposed solutions for peace worked, then how does one explain why our world is as unsettled as it’s been in any of our lifetimes? If these solutions worked, then do so many express the feeling that things are getting worse, not better? Shouldn’t we be “at peace” and finding “peace of mind” if we’re finally addressing climate change, calling out privilege and racism, if “our guy” is finally elected President, if individuals are free to identify as whichever gender they prefer, if… the list goes on. But how come all this “progress” hasn’t resulted in more peace? Why is drug and alcohol abuse on the rise? Why is depression debilitating more and more? Why are suicides so regularly in the news? Where is the peace? Is this what peace looks like?

The answer is “no.” This isn’t peace. Peace isn’t found in the absence of COVID or conflict; it’s found in the presence of Christ. Remember, Isaiah already told us what peace looks like! It’s not just Isaiah, either. Peace and God go hand-in-hand throughout all of Scripture. Micah, another prophet at the same time as Isaiah, said this when describing Jesus in a birth announcement of his own: “And he will be our peace” (5:5a). The apostle Paul, who wrote a good chunk of the NT, frequently referred to the God of “grace and peace” in the greeting of his letters. Another writer in the Bible wrote, “Now may the God of peace… equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20). Peace and God go hand-in-hand!

So just how did Jesus secure this peace that all the progress in the world cannot provide? “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [the Son], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). Jesus came not just to be born in a manger, but to die on a cross. His very life was the price for our peace with God. Someone had to answer for our sin that separates us from God, or heaven would have been permanently shut off to us. God had communicated through Old Testament sacrifice that payment for sin was required. Jesus made that payment for us. Since we are no longer in debt to God for the payment of our sin, then we are at peace with him.

And the added bonus that comes with this peace? When you have it, it won’t ever run out. It isn’t a passing peace or a fleeting peace, but a permanent peace, as Isaiah shared in his announcement: “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end” (v.7a). This kind of peace won’t end. That also means your circumstances won’t change it. The things that happen to you can’t diminish it. Wherever you are, God’s peace through Jesus is with you – even if you’re in jail, like Ruffino Fernandez. 

It was in jail that Ruffino came to faith in Jesus after hearing the Word of God during a seminar. Being so positively impacted by the Word of God in that seminar, he attended another the next time it was offered, explaining, “The teaching and love in these seminars has meant so much to me. I wanted to learn more before I left [prison].” Later, a third such seminar was announced, and Ruffino was very eager to attend. The problem? It was set for the same day as his release from prison, meaning he would miss it because he was being set free. So what did he do? He asked his parole officer for his release from prison to be delayed until after the seminar! (Source: Prison Fellowship fundraiser letter dated July 24, 1984, signed by Charles W. Colson.) Who would do that? Why would anyone do that? Because the prison walls made no difference at all to someone who knew the Prince of peace. Whether held inside the walls of a prison or released into freedom, it didn’t matter – he had peace either way. And because of Christmas, because God made good on Isaiah’s baby announcement and gave you the gift of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, you have peace, too.

In Good Hands

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Photo by Geetanjal Khanna

Nothing has changed.

In light of tanking retirement portfolios, closed schools and businesses, travel bans, and a combination of other steps like social distancing being taken to flatten the curve of covid-19, anyone who states that “nothing has changed” may sound a bit like he’s had his head stuck in the sand for too long. Or, it may just be that he’s had his head stuck somewhere else – in the Word of God:

“But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hands.”
(Ps. 31:14-15)

Nothing has changed. Our times were in God’s hands long before anyone had ever heard the word “coronavirus,” and our times will be in God’s hands long after we’ve forgotten the word altogether. What does that mean? While many in the world are crippled with fear, we live confidently in faith. Faith assures us that we belong to God. No virus can change that – not even Satan himself could change it! God’s perfect love for us in Christ Jesus drives out all fear. Rest easy. You are in good hands – God’s.

Shield or Security Blanket?

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Photo by Pawel Czerwiński

There is nothing greater than forgiveness. 

In and through Jesus Christ, forgiveness is free, it is full, and it is forever. One cannot tire of the practice of reflecting on forgiveness and rejoicing in it every morning and every night. To know and be mindful of forgiveness is to find contentment, freedom, peace, and security in this life that otherwise escape us when we look for them anywhere else.

The question is, do you view this precious and powerful gift of forgiveness in Jesus more like a shield or a security blanket? When we come across a difficult call to action in the Bible that challenges us in our faith (like this or this!), do we quickly crawl under our security blanket of forgiveness, diminishing Jesus’ guidance for our lives because we haven’t/couldn’t/won’t ever be able to do the hard things to which Jesus calls us? Or, is forgiveness a shield that allows us to forge ahead boldly, straining and striving, testing and trying our faith through those challenging calls to action, confident that forgiveness will shield me from my own failures?  

Forgiveness is something special. It is something that ought to lead us to exercise our faith instead of excuse it. Why? Because forgiveness frees us from the fear of failure. 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:1 (NIV)

Forgiveness doesn’t lead to questioning, but to confidence. I don’t have to ever question my status before God when I fail in trying to carry out the tough stuff, because I am confident of my status before God no matter what. That is the difference forgiveness makes. 

To know forgiveness is to begin to grasp what Jesus had in mind when he said “I have come that they may have life…”; to live in that forgiveness is to experience what Jesus meant by adding “… and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Want to have life in Jesus to the full? Then see forgiveness less as a security blanket under which to hide and more as a shield behind which to forge ahead in faith.