Advent 2 - Peace
Notes
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Intro:
Video Reflections:
We long for peace, but we often choose war as the way to get what we want.
Reflections:
Often, even our enemies want the same thing we do.
Stepping out of our fears and anxiety takes guts.
Reaching out to someone else can bring a great blessing and peace.
“Why didn’t that celebration end the war?”
Because it’s not the celebration of Christmas that stops conflict, it’s Christ who heals and restores us.
There’s a lot we can learn from this short Christmas history lesson.
Beyond the level of presents, food, fun, family and traditions - which are all wonderful - there are deeper themes in the Christmas story that speak to our most basic needs.
We acknowledge and observe those themes every year with Advent when we highlight HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE.
These are fundamental human desires and needs.
It remains a sad truth however, as much as we want to have peace in our lives, we simply cannot manage to experience it successfully and consistently.
Like those soldiers in WW 1 trenches, we stop the fighting for a while but go right back to it very quickly.
We long for peace.
Peace with our Maker.
Peace within ourselves.
Peace with one another.
But the Bible declares, beginning with Christmas, that peace is attainable through Jesus Christ.
In fact, Jesus’ heavenly birth announcement promises us peace:
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
lk 2:
But what, exactly, are we talking about when we hear that peace on earth is promised by the birth of the babe in the manger?
[SLIDE] Shalom
When the Bible references peace in Hebrew or Greek, it means “peace” but not exactly as we tend to use the word in English.
We tend to have black/white reference point. We are either in conflict (without peace) or not in conflict (at peace).
This viewpoint limits a biblical understanding. For the middle eastern mind shalom or, in Greek, eirēnē have much deeper and more robust meanings.
eirēnē have much deeper and more robust meanings.
Conflict or lack thereof are certainly built in but there’s a greater sense of wholeness, wellness for the individual and with the community. Relationships at peace are based on care, loyalty, love, friendship.
God, in Christ, is bringing us back to peace, shalom, wholeness.
So when the Bible speaks of Jesus as the prince of peace, he is the one who brings us back into wholeness within ourselves, with others and with God. He is the initiator and agent who creates peace, wholeness in all our relationships.
When we lack peace, it’s like when we’re putting together a puzzle and pieces are missing.
Or, assembling a project - desk, car parts - and somethings not there.
It’s at minimum frustrating, potentially dangerous.
Peace with God
Peace with God
Before there can ever be true peace within us or with others, we need peace with God.
We need to be made whole in our relationship with our Maker.
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
col
13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
Pascal - God-shaped vacuum in all of us.
We try to fill it so many ways. Nearly everything we experience to try and give meaning to life will cause us to want more or different experiences or things.
Too often those attempts bring us into conflict with God, with others.
Wholeness, satisfaction, peace come from letting God’s Son, the Prince of Peace fill us with His Spirit.
Peace within Ourselves
Peace within Ourselves
Peace with God allows us to find peace within ourselves.
When we have been filled with Christ we are whole and...
We can release all of our anger, pain, grief, shame, despair, worry.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
It’s seem obvious to say that peace with God and within ourselves should lead us to peace with others.
Peace with Others
Peace with Others
Jesus calls us to peace with one another. It’s a hallmark of the Christian community.
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
eph 2:
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.
19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.
3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
Conclusion:
As we come closer to the manger during Advent, my encouragement to you is to hear and respond to the angel’s triumphant announcement that the “prince of peace” has arrived.
May I suggest some ways to let his peace be your peace this season?
When it comes to relationships, especially with the difficult people in our lives, take this advice to heart: Don’t shoot back. No matter what they say or do, pray for God’s peace and wholeness to be yours.
What if we trusted God to work in those relationships, what if we tried maybe one more time to be reconciled?
When it comes to peace and wholeness within ourselves, remember that some obligations (work, family events, financial responsibilities) are impossible to get out of. We get frustrated because we’re having to work or attend events that pull us away from family. We don’t think we have enough money to buy for the people we love the way we would like.
Knowing this could steal our joy and our peace if we let it. What if we let God handle all that?
What if we simply prayed, whatever we have to be involved in, whatever level of gifting we can do, that God would use it all to His glory and to bless us and the those around us.
Finally, all of this depends on us having peace with God.
Have you made peace (wholeness) with God because you know Christ?
If so, have you truly let Christ have your burdens?
29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”