Live Long and Prosper
Notes
Transcript
Candle 2: PEACE
Candle 2: PEACE
Reading 1: Good morning, today is the 2nd Sunday in Advent. The light of the candlesitself becomes an important symbol of the season. The light reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life, and peace. We are reminded that God’s peace comes to us not as the absence of conflict, but rather in the midst of it. God’s peace is a state of mind and heart that says, “No matter what comes my way, I can rest securely in the hands of Jesus.”
Scripture Reading:
Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
Reading 2: The Scriptures just read highlight 2 other aspects of peace: Stillness and silence. The thought being put forth in those two texts could be rephrased as “Calm down and see that I am here. I am with you. Even in the midst of the worst storm possible, I am present. I will still the storm in your soul until all is silent and a great calm will overwhelm you.
That is peace. To know that when the storm rages around us and the voices inside our head seem so loud that we can’t bear it anymore, Jesus steps into the scene, and His voice slices through the noise and stills our hearts and mind.
“My peace,” Jesus says, “is here for the taking. This morning, will you receive it?”
Now we’ll light the 1st and 2nd candles as we watch this short video to help remind us of the stillness and peace that the Holy Spirit brings.
Peace Video: I Have Overcome
“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.
Peace without truth is a false peace;
it is the very peace of the devil.
J. C. Ryle
What Is True Peace?
What Is True Peace?
Shalom is used 237 times in the OT.
Most people understand Shalom to mean simply – peace, but it means so much more than that.
In fact the OT blessing given in Numbers 6:24-26 reflects the fuller understanding of what this term means.
“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
To best understand this, we need to better understand the term for peace, shalom, and then we’ll look at Isaiah 8:19 - 9:7 for the practical application.
But first, we’re going to examine Shalom through the eyes of a famous actor.
Live Long and Prosper
Live Long and Prosper
Who knows where that saying come from?
Spock, “Live Long and Prosper”, was a wish or a blessing upon someone and was often a term Spock used as a greeting or a goodbye.
There is an iconic scene in Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan. After stopping the reactor core from exploding, he stands up and does his Vulcan sign and says: Live Long and Prosper. Let’s watch a little video clip from that and hear from Leonard Nimoy why the hand sign was used.
Play Video
As crazy as it sounds, Live Long and Prosper is a hand gesture and phrase that has its roots in Hebrew.
It’s interesting that Nimoy referenced Shaddai, Shalom, and Shekinah and three words connected to the Hebrew letter shin.
El-Shaddai means God-Almighty and is first referenced in Genesis 17:1-2
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
Shekinah - is God’s glory as seen manifested in a cloud. And always signaled His presence among His people. First referenced in Exodus 19.9
The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
Shalom
If you combine these three terms you get: In the presence of the Almighty God there is peace.
So, interestingly enough, “Live Long and Prosper” was summed up in one Jewish term, Shalom. Shalom was the normal NT word used as a greeting or to say goodbye. In Hawaii, they say Aloha in a similar way.
5 Main Emphases of Shalom:
5 Main Emphases of Shalom:
Shalom is based upon the promises of God and is founded upon His order of things and permeated, then, by his blessing.
Shalom denotes a relationship in addition to a state of being.
It’s like the relationship dictates the state of being.
Shalom is a gift of Yahweh
shalom - wholistic existence of well-being because of being in a right relationship with God.
Shalom is usually associated with groups rather than individuals.
Peace, then, has just as much, if not more to do with harmony within a community, than personal quietude, although personal quietude is included.
This harmony of community allows people to develop and increase, free and unhindered.
“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
This was directed toward the community as a whole, and yet the pronouns are all singular.
God blesses the individual by blessing the whole. God blesses the whole by blessing the individual.
The Lord turning His face toward you means that you are in a right relationship to Him. It meant to be pleased with and feel affection towards.
The terminology had the functional equivalent of “to smile”
Peace is the smile of God reflected in the soul of the believer.
William Hendriksen
May you be in a right relationship with God so you can be in a right relationship in community. May God’s blessings flow out of that right relationship through you into the community around you, so that all can be shalom.
Shalom is conditional.
God can and does withhold peace from individuals.
“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Shalom is eschatological at its core.
The now, but not yet.
Shalom is God’s gift now, but its fulness is still firmly in the future.
Shalom expresses the central thought of salvation in the Old Testament. Past, present, and future.
If we fail to see shalom in eschatological terms, we relegate peace to the human socio-political realm and strive for “peace on earth” only.
shalom is a future eschatological hope, not a practical political possibility for the present.
Politics will never get us the true peace we are seeking.
If we fail to see shalom in future terms, we also end up interpreting everything as a material blessing for the present.
This is where the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine goes too far.
God wants us whole now, but shalom is not your best life now, your best life is still to come in Heaven.
If we only focus on shalom in the present, we fall short of shalom which brings back the opening verse:
“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.
That being said, since we do live in the now, but not yet, we can experience glimpses of that wholeness.
It’s why we are encouraged to treat our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit.
It’s why healthy eating and exercise is good.
It’s why fellowshipping with other believers is necessary.
shalom is the realization of the full potentialities of all creation and its ultimate reconciliation and unity in Christ which will only happen when we get to Heaven.
Now let’s take a look at the opposite of Shalom, and the Shalom bringer.
Read Isaiah 8:19 – 9:7
The Opposite of Shalom
The Opposite of Shalom
vs. 17 - God is hiding His face.
What happens when God hides His face.
Consulting the dead instead of the living God.
Pursuing death instead of pursuing life.
Whispering and muttering occultic words.
speaking the words of the devil instead of God’s Word - the law and the testimony.
Walking in the darkness (they have no dawn)
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Passing through this life hard-pressed and famished
hard-hearted and unsatisfied
Anger and cursing leaders and God.
instead of blessing God and praying for their leaders.
Looking to the earth and only seeing distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish.
That’s depression.
Instead of looking to Heaven and seeing blessing, light, joy, peace, and deliverance.
The end result is to be driven away into darkness. Hell
This is what people choose rather than submitting to God.
BUT…9:1
BUT…9:1
But God is getting ready to turn His face towards them.
There will be no more gloom
There will be no more anguish
There will be no more contempt
There will be glory.
There will be a way.
That way will come from Galilee. Jesus!
The Shalom Bringer
The Shalom Bringer
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. The star?
Matt 4.5 specifically references this as the beginning of Jesus ministry. It was in Galilee that Jesus called His first 2 disciples, Peter and Andrew.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Turn from the darkness, submit to the light, Jesus, and live!
God turns His face towards us through Jesus.
Verses 6 and 7 – God told the nation of Israel and through them us that He was sending one who would come to be our Ruler, the one that is to be in control.
First of all, “a child is born” refers to his earthly birth as a human, and “a son is given” carries with it the weight of being the Son of God.
So there is a little inference here to Jesus being fully God and fully man.
Secondly, this one to come would carry the government upon his shoulders.
First of all the responsibility for ruling justly and rightly falls upon Him.
The second is that of his rank.
In the military, one’s rank is usually found where
So both the responsibility of ruling and the rank of being the top dog fall on Him.
Thirdly, with Him in charge His influence increases
There is no end to the peace He brings
He rules with true justice and righteousness.
And like any other ruler, He comes with certain titles.
Wonderful – Used to represent something unusual or extraordinary. This term almost always appears in the context of God’s words or deeds
Counselor – a verb meaning to advise or consult, to decide, make plans or decisions
Mighty God – manly, strong, vigorous / God, god, mighty one, strength. El,
Everlasting Father – a noun meaning eternity, can refer to the continuance of a king on the throne / one who protects and provides, a father to the fatherless, it’s a relational term.
Prince of Peace – chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain. The word describes the powers of a magistrate. Closely related is its reference to a military commander / peace or tranquility – shalom
This Powerful, Architect of Wonder is the wisest Commander in Chief and has no one above Him. He desires a good, fatherly, peaceful relationship with us whose love, protection, and provision will never end. His victory is in bringing us shalom forever.
What Is True Peace?
What Is True Peace?
Shalom can only come when the right person is in control.
Make Jesus the Prince of Peace in your life.
Let Jesus have rule and reign over your life.
Shalom can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is why we remember this candle during Advent.
Desire to know Jesus intimately.
Learn as much as you can about Him.
Shalom then is Jesus saying, “I have overcome the world”
He came this first time to bring us peace with God and peace with ourselves.
He will come again and bring true peace with others and society around us.
Shalom means I am victorious because of Christ’s victory
The outcome is one of a right relationship with God
And culminates in wholeness of person, mind, body, and soul and harmony of community.
Partly now, but in fulness forever in Heaven.
Spock did a great job of pointing out the connection between shalom and how we can live long and prosper:
In The Presence of the Almighty God There Is Peace.
But he actually missed a key ingredient that without it makes the opening verse even more true:
“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.
Because:
In The Presence of the Almighty God, Through Jesus Christ, There Is Peace.
Closing Songs: Peace, Be Still. The Blessing