Peace

Advent

The arrival

Peace

We use the word peace in two main ways, either as an antonym to war, or a feeling of safety and security.

Shalom/Eirene are the words that are translated in the OT and NT from Hebrew and Greek respectively, peace. There is another word that if often translated peace in the OT, which is Selem, but this word is used to describe the peace offerings that the Israelites are to make to the Lord. To help grasp the full understanding of the word, its always helpful to see other ways that the same word is translated in other parts of the Bible. So, obviously peace is the most common translation, but Shalom is also translated wellbeing, safety, and perhaps the most interesting, completeness. While I don’t generally think completeness or wholeness when I hear the word peace, this is a clear usage of the same word, and I think might undergird our understanding of peace more than we think, but we’ll get into that more, later.

We make peace- broken relationships

We find peace- putting our faith in something that can withhold that burden

We have peace- in relationship or in war

We look for peace- because without it we feel unsettled

We feel peace- when everything is going right

We lose peace- when we don’t know what’s going to happen next

Speaking of things that make us lose our peace, to keep it lighthearted, is TV shows and movies. And that’s how they hook you! They make you lose your peace, they give you a feeling of unsettledness, and your heart just want’s to see how it ends. Isn’t there peace in knowing how it ends? Marissa would definitely tell you their is peace in knowing how it ends, because after Theo was born, we were pretty addicted to a TV show called Blue Bloods. It’s a fictional story that follows a police family through their work, life, and drama. At the end of every episode, they would always leave you wondering what was going to happen, and of course, Marissa and I, being responsible parents, would decide together at 12 AM that we couldn’t end on that note. We wanted that peace of knowing how it ended. Then, things got so crazy in the show that Marissa would completely lose her peace, and the only way she could find it again was to quickly take out her phone, and look up the spoilers.

Somehow, knowing how it ends makes everything that happens less stressful. There were plenty of things that would happen over the course of those next several episodes that Marissa didn’t know about, but they didn’t make her lose her peace in the same way, because she already knew how it all ended.

There was someone else, who didn’t need to look up spoilers, but knew the end. On a small boat in the middle of a storm would be woken up by an anxious friend, he would stand and speak peace, and the storm was gone. In the face of soldiers asking where is Jesus of Nazareth, would reply calmly, I am He. Who would stand trial, not pleading for His life, but preaching the Gospel. Jesus, the Son of God, who takes away the sins of the world, would take away the sins of the world by walking quietly to the cross because he knew that three days after His death, He would return to His true home, and with Him, all who proclaim Jesus as risen King and blessed Savior.

That Jesus is the one who put true peace on display for the whole world to see. When we think about what it looks like to have true peace, this is what it looks like. With his disciples anxious before His departure, He gives them peace with the words we’ll read together in…

John 14:15-27

In the upper room, Jesus starts by encouraging His disciples to have faith, then we pick up in v.15

v.15-16 I, the Savior will ask the Father, the one who sent Him, and He will give you another Helper, the Holy Spirit, the one, through whom that salvation is applied to all of us

Jesus’ earthly ministry had an end. Once the work was complete, and His life was sacrificed, He would begin His new ministry in Heaven, interceding for us. Jesus was reassuring His disciples that there would be another Helper of the same kind as Him, still God, but a Helper whose ministry here on Earth would last forever

v.17 If we skip back to the beginning of the chapter, we’ll see Jesus telling the disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus is making it clear that this Helper’s ministry is different from His. The Holy Spirit would be invisible to the world, but to those who believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Holy Spirit would be even more present to them than He was.

v.18-20 Jesus will return for His bride, the Church, and as excited as we get during the Christmas season remembering the first advent of Jesus as a sweet baby boy, born in a manger, we anxiously anticipate the end that read about in Revelation.

v.21-24 A beautiful promise for those of us that know Jesus. If you love Jesus, God loves you. We need to be careful when we oversimplify major theological topics, but here we have Jesus himself saying, that really is all there is to it.

This promise of blessing is followed with a warning.

Romans 5&6

v. 25-26 Have you ever wondered about how all of these details are recorded with such detail in scripture? Right here, we see that this was the job of the Holy Spirit, to bring to remembrance all that Jesus taught them

v.27 My peace- the peace of the one we talked about before. When we read, “My peace,” those stories should rush to our minds. Jesus never appears anxious or overwhelmed, because He knows how the story ends. This is the peace he leaves with us. And while we may not know all of the details along the way, for those of us who put our faith and trust in Jesus, we know how the story ends. Jesus has left with us His peace, that when the waves come and the sky turns black, the rain starts pouring and you find yourself stuck on a tiny fishing boat, you need not be afraid. Jesus is there, speaking peace, be still.

The peace that Jesus gives to us is not as the world gives peace. What gives you peace? Is it when everyone gets home for the day and you’re all safe under the same roof? Is it knowing that our country or city are kept safe by the military or the police? Is it a book by the fire? For me, its a slow morning a home with my family and a good cup of coffee. That feels like peace. But when the boys find the markers, the phone rings and the slow morning turns to rushing out the door, and the coffee gets spilled, just as quickly as it arrived, the peace is gone.

And this verse ends with Jesus speaking to your hearts. Your God doesn’t want you to be anxious or fearful. He cares about you, yes, but most importantly, your heart. God wants your heart, and he’s given you His Son, and His Son’s Peace, the Holy Spirit, to get it.

Now, I recognize that this all sounds good coming from a church, but I also recognize that telling someone not to worry is just as bad as telling someone not to be mad. I don’t want to stand up here and tell you not to worry without leaving you with some peace. I want to have our prayer team and our Elder team stand around the room, and while the music plays, I’d like for us all to pray for the peace of the Holy Spirit to fall over us, I want to pray for our families, for our friends, for those, this Christmas season, who are feeling the anxiety of broken relationships and hurt. I want us to pray for those in the throws of addiction, depression, anxiety. I want to pray for the children who don’t have families to celebrate this season with, and I want us to pray for those who don’t know the peace of Jesus, that His Holy Spirit would come to them and reveal himself to them, that they would repent of their sin, profess Him as their Lord and Savior, and receive His peace.

If you’d like someone to pray for you, or pray with you about someone who comes to your mind when I say these things, please go to someone standing, and they will be happy to pray with you.