Advent | Peace

INTRO

-Vision for family fun night

-Call to prayer about 21 days of fasting

If you have your Bible this morning you can turn to Luke chapter 1 starting at verse 57. Last week we looked at the story of Mary and the angel telling her should would be giving birth to the son of God and how God was a God of hope through all of the chaos, craziness, and strangeness of that story and how he can be the same God of hope for us in our chaos, craziness and strangeness of our lives.

This weeks theme of advent, which the word advent is just a fancy way to say that Jesus is arriving, is the word peace.

Out of curiosity what kind of words, images or ideas come into your mind when you think of peace?

So, as usual, our idea and definition of a word is very different than the Bibles. So I want to give you the multilayered definition in the Bible of the word peace.

Here is the multilayered definition of what peace means in the Bible.

PEACE DEFINITIONS

(1) as wholeness of life or body (i.e., health);

(2) as right relationship or harmony between two parties or people, often established by a covenant (see "covenant of peace" in Num 25:12-13 ; Isa 54:10 ; Ezek 34:25-26 ) and, when related to Yahweh, the covenant was renewed or maintained with a "peace offering";

(3) as prosperity, success, or fulfillment (see Lev 26:3-9 ); and

(4)as victory over one's enemies or absence of war.

(5) Salom was used in both greetings and farewells.

So as you can see when people say peace, Shalom, it can have multiple meanings and all the meanings at the same time.

So what I am wanting to do today is look at a familiar Christmas story that shows us how this multilayered peace was given by God and how he is able to give us this same peace today.

But before we do all of that, let’s pray.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

So a quick recap of what has been happening if you don’t know or you forgot. Elizabeth and Zacharhia could not have kids. We are not sure what was going on, if they were able stay pregnant, not able to get pregnant, but they were in their mid 40’s and no kids had come along. Zechariah, who was a priest is doing his temple service and an angel shows up to tell him they are having a boy! And he is going to be a prophet, filled with the Spirit, whoohoo! But Zechariah doubts this, despite knowing so many scriptures and having great reverence for God, did not have faith. Yet God can do the impossible.

They conceive, and here we see the fulfillment (or peace/shalom) of this prophecy where there was not only joy here (because that is stated) but the peace, the third definition of peace where there is prosperity, success or fulfillment that filled Elizabeth in this moment. The shalom/fulfillment of God’s prophecy of this child being born.

Now before you think I am about to give you a prosperity Gospel moment where I say God is going to give you prosperity and success! Remember what this was a fulfillment of. Was it Elizabeth’s longing to have a child? Absolutely, yes. However, I’m guessing it was not planned out this way in her 5-10 year plan. She wanted to have a child, or many children at a young age. But here she is, advances in years, with no ordinary child. However, this was a fulfillment of God’s promise to them. So this is what I am trying to show you through this kind of peace that God gives.

God’s peace of prosperity, success, or fulfillment is seen in His will unfolding in our life.

So we could twist this definition of prosperity and success and think, see God wants me to win the lottery! I’m going to go buy a ticket because pastor Josh said that God wants me successful and prosperous! No i did not. I said he can give us his peace of prosperity, success and fullfilment according to His will. Meaning, when you become prosperous, successful, or fulfilled according to God’s will in your life, there is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Let’s step into hornet’s nest and go here for a moment because I’m sure it is on everyones mind and it will be a good teaching moment. Does this mean God gives some people a lot of money? He can, and I do believe he does give some people success and prosperity and money because he knows their heart will not be corrupted by it. He knows that they will give it away, sow it into missions or the local church, or even just bless people with it. Other people have lots of money and use it for selfish desires because that is what they worship, is money. It is their god of their life and so they pursue it at all costs. Other people I think in his kindness God does give us our western definition of success and prosperity because he know what will happen. Because our treasure is where our heart is, we would go astray and find ourselves in pride. Does this mean if you not “wealthy” by American standards you can’t have God’s peace? Absolutely not.

What I want you to hear is that this understanding of prosperity is actually found in Joshua 1 and psalm 1. When we meditate of God’s word night and day, and walk in his ways we will be prosperous, successful and filled with God’s peace because we will be walking in his will. Elizabeth had a different life planned out, but as she yeilded to God and his ways in her life she was given peace of fulfillment.

So to make this super simple: Pursue God, and you will be prosperous, successful and fulfilled. What that looks like, may be different than you pictured though.

Okay, now that i have stepped in that mud let’s continue on and

English Standard Version Chapter 1

59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?”

Can you feel the tension in this story? Sometimes we read these stories like it is a storybook or fairytale type of mindset. But here Zechariah and Elizabeth are following the Jewish custom and circumcising on the eighth day where they also name the child. And Elizabeth says to all her relatives, no we are not following tradition, we are following God (Oh that could be a sermon) and says we are naming him John. And the people are not happy about this. No way Elizabeth this is against what tradition says, this is not how we do things and we think you need to rethink your decision! But Zechariah, who is still unable to speak, is asked what he thinks. Pause for a second. To bring more tension into the moment the angel said Zachariah’s mouth would be opened once the baby would be born, and here he is still unable to talk. He is probably wondering is he ever going to talk again. So his reputation is on the line here to carry out his name, he is also wondering will he ever have a voice again? ! His namesake is on the line here, surely he will call this child Zechariah! But he writes, in a tension filled room, “His name is John.” And as soon as he writes this his mouth opens up and he starts praising God. Now before we read what Zechariah said, I want to pause and show the peace that is happening here in this tension filled room.

Here we see a peace, a shalom, that is the first peace definition with wholeness or health and the wholeness of the body. Zechariah is healed and made whole here. He is given back his speech and this is where I need you to stick with me because what I’m about to say could be heard wrong. He is filled with God’s peace of wholeness/healing through obedience to God. So his peace/wholeness of his body is taken away with disobedience but his healing is brought through his obedience.

Now, I’m stepping in a lot of hornets nests today, please here what I am not saying right now. If you are sick, disabled, or experiencing a lack of wholeness that means you are in disobedience to God. I am not saying that. We live in a broken world, with broken bodies, and sickness and disease happen and are not God punishing you, and so we can’t just slap this on to our situation.

However, I will say this, after making that disclaimer, I have heard testimonies of people having cysts disappear after they had forgiven someone. People with poor gut health and migranes had things changed through forgiving. I have heard testimonies of people who were living a sinful life that turned to God, had physical healing from migraines, and mental health be restored when they turned from disobedience to obedience.

So what am I saying? We are in control of our own healing? No. What I am saying is this

God’s peace of healing and wholeness can come to us through obedience.

Zechariah did not write this thinking, okay I will be healed once I write this down. No, he just did it in obedience to what the angel told him. A shalom of wholeness/healing is possible. And what I don’t want you thinking is well if I do this plus this, then I will be healed or made whole. No, this is how people get things twisted and even try to use God as a vending machine. I did this God and you didn’t do this so now I don’t trust you! What I am saying today is that God is able to bring to us wholeness/healing today because of who He is, not because of what we have done. We turn to Jesus and just like the leper in the Gospels say, if you are willing, you can heal me.

And of course, praise to God is the right response when this peace happens in our lives so let’s read what Zechariah sings after having his mouth opened again.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

68  “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

for he has visited and redeemed his people

69  and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

70  as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71  that we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

72  to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

73  the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

74  that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

75  in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76  And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77  to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

78  because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

79  to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

I had the idea, and maybe some Christmas season I will do it, but I was going to go through the songs of Christmas. Mary has a song, Zechariah, the shepherds and simeon all have songs of praise and they all are a well of beautiful poetry and understanding from the Old Testament. But, that is for another day, for today I want us to know that what Zechariah is incredibly important and I want to encourage you all to look through this sometime this week. But for today I want us to look at this last verse of the song where it says to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Once again, this verse is the multilayered word of peace. Meaning it could mean prosperity, it could mean wholeness, if could mean ceasing of war, or it could mean peace between two parties where a covenant of peace. And I think it is fair to put this word in the context that it is in which is Zechariah praising God for the salvation that he is bringing through Jesus, that John will be pointing to and preparing to follow so that they would not be baptized just with water but with the Holy Spirit.

I found it interesting in studying this text this week that the peace offering that the jews would bring at times would also be called the salvation offering. And I also found it interesting that the peace offering was, if you are unfamiliar, symbolized reconciliation, fellowship, and harmony between the offerer and God. By offering a peace offering, the worshipper acknowledged God’s provision and blessings, expressed gratitude, and sought to maintain or restore communion with Him.

Now we have the privilege to look at this text and song to see it on the other side of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. And we know that the peace that he brought was not a peace with wars, but a peace between God and man. He came to save his people from their sins. When he saves you from your sins he brings you into fellowship with God that you could not earn on your own. It is a fellowship/peace that frees you from shame, guilt and condemnation. It delivers you out of wondering have I done enough. Am I good enough? Does God actually love me? Yes, he loves you so much that he sent his son to bring peace to the relationship that you could not restore. We are the people who are sitting in the darkness and in the shadow of death and the sunrise that has visited us is Jesus.

If you don’t know if you have this peace with God, let me read to you a psalm that David wrote, before Jesus even came, that I believe gives us a perfect description of what this looks like.

English Standard Version Psalm 32

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

2  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5  I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin

What does this mean for us today?

God gives us peace with him, through His son, when we confess our sins.

If I read that and joy was rising in your heart, you are what David calls blessed. or Happy! Because you understand that younhave been forgiven, you are covered by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You are not trying to hide behind shame, guilt and condemnation, because you have peace with God.

And if you don’t, and you are keeping silent about sin, and there is strength drying up like under the hot summer sun, all you have to do is confess your sin and he is faithful and just to forgive you. It’s a simple invitation into a peace that surpasses all understanding, that will keep you until His return and a peace that is greater than anything else.

What a great way to end this message today by taking the Lords supper where we are able to live and remind ourselves of the peace that we have recieved through Jesus.

We don’t ask that you are a member, just a follower of Jesus.

Take time to confess and sin so you don’t take this mean in a unworthy manner like 1 Corinthians 11 talks about.

Come up take the bread and cup on either side and then stay up here and pray, go with family, with a friend and fellowship with God as you fellowship with others. Let’s abide in him today.

I’m going to close us in prayer and then we will come to the table.

-Prayer for peace for everyone here.

1.Wholeness and health,

2.Peace between relationships (marriages, children, friendships),

3.Prosperity, success and fulfillment in God’s ways. God is a provider and he can provide. It’s not why we seek him, but it is something he can do.

4. Peace with enemies and war.

5. Peace with God-salvation from your sin, salvation to have peace with God.