12.18.2011 Jesus as the Prince of Peace

SermonAudio

Isaiah 9:6 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. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Father, thank You for this time we are together this morning – looking forward to this celebration of Your coming. It is a reminder of Your love for us – that You became a man that we might have life and be reconciled to God. This morning, we pray for Carol Moore’s niece, Terry, that You would bring her back to health. Be with her, bring her back to health. As we look at Your word, bring us peace, in what can often be a chaotic time. We ask that You would help it to be a time of peace. Teach us from Your word now – in Your name we pray.
Isaiah 9:6 was made more famous through Handel’s Messiah – and we’ll look at Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Luke 1: 78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, 79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace."
But did Jesus bring peace? Not like we might expect it – it was a life of conflict in many ways. It led to a brutal death, and His followers did not know peace.
Luke 2: 10 And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "And this [will be] a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
And we go back to Charlie Brown – and we think of peace in terms of world peace – no conflict, no war, no violence. But it is much more than that.
3 aspects of peace – geopolitically – it is the absence of war – but we have seen so much war – that this rings like a prayer – that there would be peace on earth.
The next would be relational peace. Conflict in relationships would cease. But at Christmas, is that the way it tends to go? And in stores, there is no peace for shoppers says the Lord – I think that is in Psalms.
The third is inner peace – absence of stress and anxiety – that is normally how we define it. When the Bible uses the word peace – shalom – it means a lot more than what we have just said.
Shalom refers to all of what I just said, but also, being blessed and favored by God – it encompassed many things including peace and contentment – wealth – the good life – in every part of your life.
I’d like to go through these three that we’ve looked at – and how we can become people of peace. It was said that Jesus would bring the Way of Peace. In evangelical Christianity, we don’t think of that as often. The Way of Peace – a life lived to promote peace. Some may shy away from that (ooo- it might be considered liberal!)
First – Geopolitically – peace on earth – there is little we can do about peace in the Middle East – and even in our own country, we have little control over war and violence. So how do we live a life of peace in this way? Because we are called to it? The first – it is simple, but how often do we do it? Is to pray for peace. Ask God for peace. That is God’s desire. That is the starting point. The second aspect is to pursue a life of peace. It is a result of proper actions and behavior. It is true of individuals and nations. We look at Jesus and ask – how did He pursue a life of peace? He pursued justice and compassion. It is pretty clear – He was constantly doing acts of justice and compassion – healing and freeing people of demonic possessions – feeding people. Crowds would come and be healed.
In healing people, Jesus was always bringing people back into the community.
Zech. 7: 9 "Thus has the Lord of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'
Over and over – God puts these together – Justice, mercy, compassion
Micah – do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. You can’t walk humbly with God unless you love justice and mercy. The reality of it comes out in how much that fills your heart. Not how much you read your Bible, how much you pray or how often you attend church. But we have to make this real in our lives – so I urge you to begin developing a passion for justice and mercy in this world – pray for that as well. Second – begin reading things – to help you understand what is going on in the world and how you can engage in these types of ministry. Then find small steps to take where you have genuine opportunity. It is like everything else – it starts with small things – opportunities to pursue justice and mercy and compassion. There will be small ways for you to begin doing this.
We talk about someone being involved in evangelism and you don’t stick them in front of a large crowd – it starts small.
Look for something you can have a passion towards – and it needs to be close to home. It is not just going to a soup kitchen – although that is good – but there are so many needs that are out there. Single parents – addictions – opportunities to engage. It needs to be something that is passionate on your heart. That is how it starts – people begin to engage.
Cindy and I have been reading a book – a woman theologian – who talks about the need for women – justice for women – and she has been at it for a long time – and it opens your eyes up to see that there are things that God would have us begin to engage in these areas. Find something close to your heart and then ask God, How can I engage in these areas of justice, mercy and compassion. Some have fostered children – it is a great way and it is not easy. But find what is dear to your heart.
As we enter 2012 – see how you can do that. It might be doing mission work – going overseas. I was with Terry Lewis this week – and he goes every year to Honduras – this is his 15th year of going down there.
Galatians 3: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
This is the divide of the world in that age – first, Jew to Greek, Slave or free, male or female. We still have the racial/religious divide – status divide – slave or free – rich or poor, educated, or not educated – and the gender divide – even here but especially around the world. Paul calls for unity in the community and equality in Christ.
IT starts small – even in our own lives. Break the racial divide – Has anyone seen The Help? There are some rough spots in it – but it is important to understand the racial divide in America. It has not gone away. It is not as bad as it was in the 50s and 60s – but believe me – it is still there. There was a survey – religious people – the more conservative you are, the more likely you are to not want other races in your neighborhood. Something to think about.
Second – peace in relationships. This one hits us the most – it is just a reality – there are struggles in relationships – and often in the very best of families and the best of marriages. The best marriages have to continually work at it.
Romans 12: 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
Peace in relationships is a lifelong commitment to working things out.
That should be the motto of marriage – a lifelong commitment to working things out.
In most workspaces – people would rather NOT work anything out – they would rather be mad and talk about one another behind everyone’s back.
So there is not peace.
Jesus spoke about this often – peace and relationships. Jesus spoke in a unique way about forgiveness. The disciples believed in forgiveness – I’ll forgive my brother seven times – but they didn’t get it – it is a way of life – constant and continual – be a person who forgives.
Second – Jesus shows that peace in relationships requires selfless sacrificial service and love.
You will not have peace in relationships until you can set aside self and love someone else. That is what love is – it will be seen in the willingness to serve.
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.
We need to do this out of love that others might experience what God calls people to.
Third – inner peace. A lack of anxiety and stress.
Phil. 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Inner peace is learning to live a life of trust – we need to cultivate a life of trust and dependence on God. It doesn’t just happen – it must be cultivated each time the trial and circumstance comes into life – and at that moment to turn to God and trust Him in the circumstance – and then doing that EACH time something comes in to destroy your peace. It is a cultivation – a daily work process. For some it is a lot harder than others. Everyone has their area they struggle with and for some, anxiety is it. But the solutions lie in developing trust and dependence on God.
Finally, John 14: 27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Peace is only found in Christ. Jesus speaks of something that goes beyond the ‘no stress’ peace – but Philippians refers to it as beyond understanding.
Billy Graham refers to it as peace WITH God. It begins by having a right relationship with God. It begins with our faith in Christ – without that, there is no peace – it can’t be achieved by good behavior or religious activity – and as we celebrate Christmas – that is what is needed most.
Christ came to give us His life – and the story should never lose its drama for us. It is amazing what happens. I have read a lot of Christmas stuff – and there is a lot of good stuff that is out there – but when you read the story and begin to understand all that was going on – and all the characters – (Rudolph, Lester the Donkey – okay, sidetracking here, Rob). But as you look at each character – Mary, Joseph, Herod, Shepherds, etc – a KING is born. I was struck by this this week – I was reading about the crucifixion – Pilate put on – King of the Jews – do you know what that said? What that meant? Why did Pilate put that there? He couldn’t crucify Him for any other reason but that He claimed to be the one king – versus the only king – Caesar. He enters the world in a way that is incredible – we get this serenity thing going on – and it was anything but that! One author said – Christmas is the perfect storm – and that is probably the best way to think about it – all of these storm systems coming together to radically change everything forever. And that is what we celebrate – let’s pray.