Sharing Peace

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 3rd Sunday in Advent, the 13th of December, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

This morning, the 3rd Sunday in Advent, we lit the candle of peace, representing the peace of God, peace through God, a peace that surpasses all human understanding.

When Jesus was born, God proclaimed peace for all the earth, and by our biblical account, the night of His birth was indeed quiet and filled with peace.  But it doesn’t require much in-depth study of His ministry, His last three years on this earth, to see that Jesus did not enjoy much peace Himself.  Nonetheless, He did not let His own turmoil keep Him from offering peace to others.  Not even His death stopped Him from sharing peace.

And since His death was foretold at His birth, I’d like to look at an instance when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His execution, burial, and resurrection.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle John recorded in chapter 20 of his Gospel account, verses 19 through 23, and I’ll be reading this from the English Standard Version of our Holy Bible…

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

--John 20:19-23 (ESV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for proclaiming peace for the world on the night when Your Son became flesh.  Sadly, mankind is incapable of maintaining peace for very long.  Any peace the world offers is fleeting, temporary, here one minute and gone the next.  But the peace we will know when we finally come to You is a peace of the spirit, a peace in our soul, a peace that will last forever.  Thank You for Your peace, Father.  Please help us share this gift of peace with others.  Help us reach out to them and show them Jesus so that they too may know true peace.  And Father, please protect us from the devil’s tricks and his forces of evil at work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day.  May Your peace settle upon us and still us while we share this time together.  This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Duke University did a study on "peace of mind."  The factors they found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are:  1) the absence of suspicion and resentment.  Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.  2) Not living in the past.  An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression.  3) Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change.  Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.  4) Force yourself to stay involved with the living world.  Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress.  5) Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal.  Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune.  6) Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues -- love, humor, compassion and loyalty.  7) Do not expect too much of yourself.  When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.  8) Find something bigger than yourself to believe in.  Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness.

Did you notice that most of those factors leading to personal peace were things not to do?  Don’t hold a grudge, don’t live in the past, don’t waste time on things you cannot change, don’t isolate yourself from others, don’t indulge in self-pity.  But the last factor is the best, and it’s a thing to do.  Do find something bigger than yourself to believe in.  And family, there is nothing bigger than God.  Believe in His Son Jesus, and enjoy everlasting peace.

Christmas is a time for sharing.  We share gifts and meals and time with our family and loved ones.  And many of us share those things with others, even complete strangers, and especially those with greater needs than our own.

God shared His own Son with us at Christmas.  The Prince of Peace came into our world.  An angel announced that birth and made a proclamation for God.  Listen to how the Apostle Luke described this in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, in verses 13 and 14…

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

--Luke 2:13-14 (NKJV)

Not only did God desire that the earth be at peace, but that man enjoy goodwill, kindness, friendliness.  There’s actually two parts there, two pieces, two roles to be played.  Only God can set the world at peace, but it’s up to us to spread goodwill and kindness, to be friendly with one another.

God want us to share the peace He offers.  And that offer comes to us through His Son Jesus.  God tried to make peace with all mankind through Jesus.  Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 1, verses 19 and 20 of that letter…

19 for God wanted all of Himself to be in His Son.
20 It was through what His Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to Him — all things in heaven and on earth — for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by His blood.

--Colossians 1:19-20 (TLB)

By His sacrifice upon the cross, Jesus cleared a path so that all things, all people, might easily come to God the Father.  By His blood, Jesus made peace with God for us all.

Peace.  Even those of us blessed with God’s peace in this life too often find that peace interrupted.  All the madness going on in the world around us - the diseases and violence and storms – all this can shatter the peace in our hearts.  But God’s love for us and our love for Jesus will replenish that peace.

And no matter what happens around us, it must not keep us from sharing God’s peace with others.  We need to remember what Jesus said during His Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes.  The Apostle Matthew recorded Jesus’ words in chapter 5 verse 9 of his Gospel account…

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.”

--Matthew 5:9 (NKJV)

Peacemakers – those who make peace with others.  Right now in this old world, we seem to have enough troublemakers.  We need more peacemakers.  We need more people sharing the peace that God gives through Jesus.

And that means we need more people believing in something bigger than themselves.  We need them believing in Jesus.  And we need to help them come to that realization, by showing them how much He has done for us.

As believers, we enjoy God’s peace now, in this life, and will live in endless joy and peace when we join God in paradise.  Let’s share the peace that we have now and our hope for tomorrow with others.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God, the Prince of Peace.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, Your proclaimed peace to the world on the night Your Son was born as a man.  Through Him and His sacrifice, You open the way to Your home in heaven.  To those who believe, You offer eternal peace.  Thank You, Father, for Your great gift of peace.  Please help us share that peace with all others.  Help us to share Jesus and His love with those who do not know Him.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so… [* pause *]

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth to reconcile us with our Father God, to make peace between Him and us, to offer us His peace.  You came so that we might have a chance of everlasting peace in paradise, but only if we accept You as Lord.  Please help us to truly be Your humble servants, loving others and sharing Your love.  Help us be peacemakers.  Forgive us, Jesus, when we hesitate to step out of our comfort zone and tell someone just what You mean to us, what You have done for us.  Help us to carry Your peace into a world that so needs it right now.  Give us Your heart for loving others, just as You love us.  Strengthen us, Jesus, through these trying times.  And Lord, please heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain faithful and obedient no matter what we go through.  May our focus be more on the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.