Peace Amidst Tribulation

Introduction

I will start with one of my favorite jokes about Christmas that I’ve seen in recent years. Here it is: “Mary, exhausted, having gotten baby Jesus to sleep, is approached by a young man who thinks to himself, what this woman needs is a drum solo.” It might be a favorite Christmas carol, but it’s not quite the peaceful gift a new mom wants after giving birth. But I love that image because it pokes holes in our idea that the first Christmas was this perfectly peaceful, silent night.

There was very little that was peaceful about Christmas. Childbirth—usually not peacefully, and peace is fleeting with newborns. And think of even the time period of Jesus’ early life. He was born in the first decades of what historians call the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace—but the Prince of Peace was born under a ruler in Herod who tried to kill him, along with all the other baby boys in Bethlehem. The threats to his life don’t end there, for he is brutally executed at the hands of the Roman government, those supposed great purveyors of peace in the world.

At every turn, we see little peace in the Christmas story and the same could be said of our world today. Ours is a world full of tribulation, chaos, and struggle. But, as our text shows, Jesus came that we may have peace. Our main idea today really gets as this paradox of Christmas: Because of Advent, the coming of Jesus, we can have peace with God even in a world full of trouble.

What Advent Peace is NOT

I want to start with the first point in our outline today, what Advent Peace is NOT. We’ll start here because there are great misconceptions about what is meant by peace through Christ and the Christmas story. “Peace on earth,” is the quintessential Christmas message, the kind of sentiment from scripture that takes a deep hold even in the secular world. Who would be offended by the message of Peace on Earth?

The first misconception is that Advent Peace refers to some sort of global, geo-political peace—peace between all the nations of the world, freedom from wars and violence. But look at what Jesus says in v. 33: “In the world you will have tribulation.” There will be trouble. Jesus is under no illusion that his followers will find a world perfectly at peace. He’s saying this on the night that he is betrayed, hours before his crucifixion and among his parting words to his closest followers: you will have tribulation in this world.

If Advent were about some global world peace, we might look around at the world today and say: that didn’t work out. We know our world is not at peace. I suppose it’s an irony then that some historians go so far to say that we are living in now the most peaceful period in world history. Now? Is this as good or as peaceful as it gets? I hope not.

And it’s not even at a global level, we recognize there are all kinds of external troubles that we face. The chaos of a difficult job situation, the distress of unexpected bills, the strife and broken relationships in our families—strife that is usual more apparent this time of year. It’s the difficulty of a scary diagnosis, or simply the daily challenges of living in a fallen world. We will have tribulation—it as much a promise from Jesus in v. 33 as his promise of peace.

The other misconception of Advent Peace is this: it is not some inner peace or tranquil spiritual peace. Some hoped for inner peace that comes from within ourselves—an inner sense of calm or harmony that allows us to put aside all the stresses and anxieties of the world and ourselves. Especially not at Christmas! There’s too much to do and be worried about!

Inner peace is not bad! It’s just not what Jesus came to bring first and foremost. We’ll talk about this later, but yes, one of the fruits of our relationship with God is a peace in ourselves. But that is a fruit of a much deeper root.

The problem with seeking first inner peace is that it depends on us and we will always struggle. In us is a continual struggle against sin, the weakness of our flesh, and the weakness of our faith.

Look at our text today, the disciples have said: Ah, now we believe! As if the miracles and the three years of ministry with him weren’t enough, now we believe. And look at Jesus’ response: John 16:31–32 “31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”

Jesus’ response to their confession of faith was far from enthusiastic. Oh really? Now you believe? And then he predicts they will scatter and abandon Him.

Jesus remarks on their apparent weak faith and knows what that weakness will yield: a scattering. As soon as persecution mounts, your faith will prove weak! You think you have found some strong, unshakable faith, some great inner peace within yourself about who I am. But as soon as the heat is turned up, you will buckle. That inner peace you have now is not lasting.

The kind of peace that comes from ourselves is a thin veneer that will not last. It’s like a coat of paint on and old wooden fence, it looks nice and new until the pressure washer comes out and strips it away like it was never there. Inner peace that comes from our selves, seems real for a moment, but as soon as a pressure comes, it washes away and we’re back to inner turmoil. It’s anxieties of daily life, the stress of life’s big questions: what will I do with the rest of my life? How will I navigate this or that?

Inner peace says, I can manufacture this myself; my faith is strong, my sin isn’t so bad, I’m doing great! Jesus, like a good shepherd, sees their problem and feels compassion for them. And notice the good news here: he does not condemn them for what they will do when they face pressure. He knows they can’t do it on their own so in v. 33 he offers a real and lasting peace that can only be found in Him.

If Advent were about these things—inner peace, external peace—we would say it failed. But it is about a different peace that makes all others possible.

What Advent Peace is

John 16:33 “33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

So what peace is it? It is peace not out there in the world and not from ourselves—it is peace between humanity and God!

“In me you may have peace.” Jesus came that humanity could have peace with God. This is the heart of the Gospel! We need peace with God because of our sin. For so long as sin reigned in our lives, we could have no peace with the almighty, holy God.

We need to come to grips with the fact that before our lives in Christ, in our sin, in our weakness, we were alienated from God, and not only were we alienated from God, but we were in rebellion against Him! It was a war! Not one we had any hope of winning, yet we continued on in disobedience all the same.

Look at Luke 2:14, the proclamation from the angels at the announcement of Christ’s birth. Luke 2:14 “14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those with whom he is pleased!””

We see it is peace toward those who are under the grace of God. It is an announcement, a proclamation of a peace treaty between God and man! God is reconciling with His creation, forging peace with those who have received His grace. “I am making peace with you,” God says, “not because of what you’ve done, but because of this Son who is born!”

We need this peace because of our sin and the fallenness of this world. We might not like it. Our temptation is think of Christmas in terms of nice, peaceful tranquility and a “can’t we all just get along” attitude. We’re tempted to want a Jesus to give us peace and make our lives easier and comfortable. We don’t need a peace from Him (what we can get from him, like comfort or pleasure), we need a peace in Him with God, reconciliation with God even in distress and trouble. We want a subjective and experiential peace that makes us feel good, but the peace of Christ is an objective reality, it’s a legal condition that changes our status with God.

Think of any relationship; with your kids, your spouse, your parents, your friends, co-workers. If an offense happens, if someone is hurt, there is now a rupture in that relationship. There is now strife and conflict. And someone will have to take steps to make peace in that relationship. So it is with our relation with God, peace was needed between us. But we are unable to make peace, we’re unable to take any steps to bridge that gap. So, as Jesus says in our passage, He came for our peace.

We see this consistently in scripture. Ephesians 2:14 “14 For [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” He is our peace and has broken down the wall that divides us from God!

Romans 5:1 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God. Are there any greater words? Is there any greater truth? We have peace with our creator, our holy God. And it is wholly a work of Christ for us. It doesn’t depend on our righteousness or our strength of faith. Look at the passage: you will scatter and abandon, but I have come that you may have peace! Our faith is weak, it may buckle under pressure. But that’s OK. Jesus says, for our peace depends only on Him.

And this is what makes Christianity and, indeed, the true message of Christmas peace totally unique when compared to other worldviews or religions. The message of Christianity is that there is conflict between God and his creation, but instead of waiting on humanity to get their act together, God sent His Son to make peace. All we are asked to do is believe, place our faith and trust in the one who promises this peace.

Now, one of the questions I like to ask of a passage is: How? How can Jesus make this offer of peace? What is the grounding for his promise here? He’s given us the answer, he doesn’t just say “take my word for it,” though He is certainly trustworthy. This is the final part of our outline today…

Where this peace comes from and how it changes us

What is the grounding for this peace in Christ? Jesus says in v. 33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.” So what is it he said? Look at John 16:28 “28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.””

In this single sentence that started our passage, Jesus summarizes the totality of His ministry.

I came from the Father, before His birth, before he entered the world, where was He? With the Father. He is the pre-existent One (remember the words of John chapter 1, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God), through whom all things were made. This simple phrase is a statement of Jesus’ relationship in the trinity. He was not just some man, this is the one who came from God and who was with God.

And have come into the world, that second person of the trinity through whom all things were created stepped into this world, stepped into the tribulation and trouble and pain and suffering and chaos of this world with this purpose: to reconcile us to God and bring us peace! And we can be sure of this peace because of the last part of this sentence:

And now I am leaving the world and going to the Father, he is speaking here of his death—the death on the cross that makes atonement for our sins, blood shed that makes peace between us and God. He’s leaving the world, that’s his death, but see it doesn’t end, he’s going to the Father. He’s speaking of his resurrection, his victory over sin and death! Sin will not have the final word, our rebellion will not be our lasting condition for in his death and resurrection we have peace! And he returns to the Father where he now rules and reigns with God and advocates on our behalf.

We can have peace with God because of what Jesus said: I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.

He came into the world—this is the message of Christmas, for our peace! I can’t help but think of that great Christmas Carol—Hark! the Herald Angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King, peace on earth, mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” The King has come, he makes himself known to us, and has reconciled us to Himself!

Do you see? Peace is not situational, it is relational. It’s not based on our circumstances, it’s not based on our current stresses or anxieties, on what’s out there on in here. It’s based on Him! It is how we relate to God through Christ, our peacemaker and mediator.

C.S. Lewis wrote this in Mere Christianity: “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” All the different ways that we try to achieve peace, harmony, settled-ness, they are not lasting peace. There is no such thing apart from Him.

Now, if any other kind of peace is only fleeting, we must then see that any kind of trouble, stress, or tribulation is also only a fleeting thing when we know the peace of God through Christ Jesus. This is what Jesus says at the end of the passage: there will be tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world! Because of his victory, because he overcame sin and death and all suffering, we know that we can find peace in the midst of our own trouble.

It’s not a peace that comes from ourselves, but it’s resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ for us. Do you see the result of this peace now? Because we can be at peace with God through Christ, we are changed. Though there will still be trouble around us, we can have a measure of inner peace (it won’t be perfect!) that’s grounded in our peace in Jesus. We can make it our aim to be peacemakers in this world, with our neighbors, and in our community. It’s also why we put such a high emphasis and value on evangelism—because we want others to know true peace with God.

Yes, a day is coming, at Christ’s second Advent, He will come again and the words of Isaiah 9—and the government will be on His shoulders, the prince of peace—will be fully realized. In that day, there will be perfect peace across creation, there will be perfect inner peace in our hearts, for we will be with God in His presence. That day is coming!

But here and now, we need not be troubled, for our King has come and is victorious!

If it is true that Christ came into this world, that he lived a perfect life and died for the forgiveness of your sins, and then rose from the grave, defeating death. If you believe that, and I pray and hope that you do—if that is true, then no matter what comes, you will be safe.

For our peace with God in Christ overshadows and overcomes everything else. If you are tired, exhausted, and looking for peace, the invitation of Christmas is to rest in the one who came for us. Advent peace is not the end of wars in this world, it is the end of our war with God. Advent peace is not the absence of all trouble, it’s the presence of our savior who is with us and for us always.