A New Vision of Peace

In the year 2000 a magnificent film was released starring the wonderfully talented Sandra Bullock. Possibly her greatest role ever. The Movie? Miss Congeniality. The Role? Well she played a less than polished FBI agent who goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to make a case about some nefarious goings on.

The character that she plays struggles to adapt to the pageant girl persona that she is playing, which leads to some truly comical scenes. Perhaps the most famous is one in which the contestants are all asked the question “What is the one most important thing our society needs?”

While every other contestant answers with “world peace” Gracie Hart — played by Bullock responds “That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.” and the seeing the audience stunned she says “and world peace!”

Now this is comical of course, but I think that it really makes a fun way of drawing our attention to one of the most longed for human realities: We all want to live at peace, and I think that most of us want the whole world to experience that peace. What is so brilliant about this scene in Miss Congeniality is that for once someone has an idea on how to start getting to that point. Whether or not you agree with that idea doesn’t matter. Gracie Hart had a vision for how to accomplish peace, maybe not on a global scale, but within her own world of law enforcement. And this I think resonates with most of us. We all have visions of a world that is better than the one we find ourselves inhabiting. We all have our own ideas on how to make that happen. That’s why we don’t all vote the same. But the point is that we need a vision of peace to hold onto because we live in a world where peace is far for so many. We all inhabit our own conflict zones. For some it is the very real presence of physical violence or war. For others the conflict zone is in our homes, in our social media presence, our workplaces, or our very own hearts.

And so today we continue our Sermon Series “The Crown” where we are looking at some of the kings of Israel and how they embodied the themes of Advent. Last week we looked at Saul as the hope that Israel had that a king would solve all of their problems. Today we move on to a new King — King David — and we look at role that he played in establishing peace in Israel.

So just a quick word about David — he was actually just a young boy when he was anointed as the successor to Saul’s throne. While Saul was still king, David served in the Israelite military, becoming incredibly successful, famous, and loved by the people. There was a lot of war and violence involved in his occupation as head of Israel’s military, so by the time he became king he was no stranger to the fear that the people lived in or to the threats that lay beyond Israel’s border. That is the reality that God speaks into when he makes a covenant with David:

2 Samuel 7:8–16 NRSV

Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

God is making 2 main points here to David: That God is ushering in a new period of peace — of rest — for the people of Israel, and that this peace will be the trademark of David’s descendants for all of their days.

Now this peace was mostly realized by the time of this conversation. First, David united all of the Tribes of Israel — something Saul was never able to do. He brought internal peace, and then he brought external peace through military prowess. And for 40 years David reigned over Israel. While they enjoyed peace for a time, things would not remain calm forever. It would turn out that although God promised a kingdom of peace through David, that kingdom was not going to be fully realized in David’s lifetime.

The power went to David’s head — he abused it and committed a sin against and with a woman who was not his wife. When she became pregnant David had her husband killed in battle intentionally. Then David’s family began to crumble. His son Absalom rebels against David, declares himself king and tries to kill David. It’s just a bit of a human mess. But the promise that God made to David remains.

What David couldn’t see, and what the people of Israel couldn’t see for the next thousand years was the way that God intended to bring this rest and peace to the people of Israel.

Luke 2:10–14 NRSV

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

A child. The bringer of peace was a baby. Which seemed really nice until I had babies. Babies do not bring what I would consider peace into our lives. They bring moments of peace and satisfaction yes. But everything else: utter chaos. I imagine Jesus was just as chaotic as all the other babies ever born. In fact, the birth of Jesus signaled immediate chaos for Mary and Joseph who had to flee into Egypt to escape from King Herod.

And yet, this chaotic bundle of joy was promised to be the Messiah — the king and descendant of David who would bring true peace into our world.

And of course, bring peace Jesus did. But Jesus brought a new vision of peace. Where the people wanted military leadership and revolt — to achieve peace the way David had, their ancestors had, the Roman Empire had — Jesus brought a new vision of Peace. Whereas the propaganda on the street was pointed towards the “Pax Romana” or the peace of Rome that came at the tip of the swords of legions, Jesus promised a peace that came directly from listening to and accepting the call of God to repent and engage the world with compassion and love. Jesus offered a way of living that found peace in the midst of conflict. And then Jesus made peace between us and God and a way for us to have peace with one another through the cross and resurrection.

And you may be like yeah that’s all well and good but our world is still messed up and far from peaceful. So did Jesus fail? Are God’s promises empty?

I think that it’s really easy to feel this way. When we experience conflict on a daily basis it’s hard to believe that the peace of God is here with us and among us. Until we remember that this is not the final reality. Just as Israel waited for and hoped for peace like they experienced under King David, we too wait for a fresh vision of peace to come and become our reality. We wait for the return of Jesus. And when Jesus returns it is then that peace will reign not just in our hearts but in the world around us.

Revelation 21:1–4 NRSV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

This is where we place our eternal hope for peace. In the restoration and reconciliation of all things when Jesus returns to establish his eternal kingdom. It is here and then that peace will reign in such an unspeakably powerful and beautiful way that we can’t even imagine what it will be like. There definitely won’t be any need for harsher punishment for parole violators.

But while we wait for this ultimate reality to become our reality, we are still given the opportunity to experience the peace of Christ here and now — in the midst of the chaos of our conflicted world. When Jesus ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit birthed the church, they still lived in the same world that they lived in before Jesus came. They still lived in Rome, under the thumb of an oppressive empire. They still had taxes to pay and people to deal with. In fact the very birth of the church created such a schism in the religious lives of Jews and non-jews alike that those who followed Jesus had to face immense trial and persecution.

And yet they found peace. The apostle Paul writes these words

Philippians 4:5–7 NRSV

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I think we can all agree that we need this peace. We need it in our world. We need it in our nation. We need it in our city. We need it in our churches. But we are never going to have it in any of those spaces if we don’t have it in our own hearts. And we don’t need peace in all of these external realms to experience it in our hearts.

We receive this peace in our hearts when we decide that the descendant of David — the prince of peace is going to be the one that we follow with everything that we have. We receive this peace by relenting our own ideas of what peace has to be over to the new vision of peace that Jesus gave to us. It is a vision of peace as a form of resistance to the status quo. The world says “be anxious about everything.” but Jesus says “be anxious about nothing. Find peace in the midst of conflict. Find peace in me, and rest assured in the future peace that I am coming back to establish.”

Listen things are heating up. In our world in general and in our lives. The craziness of the holidays is here. How are you going to find peace in the midst of it. You can’t escape it fully, but you can find peace amidst it. This is the gift that we are given in Christ. This is the gift that Christmas truly brings: Peace on earth and goodwill among humans. Be a bringer of peace. Be a vision of peace. Be peace.