Blessed beyond measure #7

Northside Christian Church 12/6/2020

Blessed Beyond Measure #5 Jamey Mills

CLIP: There is a peace that is only found on the other side of war:

So good to be with you all tonight… excited to be here and have you here or online with us…

Sean Conery… always enjoyed him as an actor. He is one of those guys… in all reality, did it matter how good of an actor he was or was it just cool to listen to him talk?

I watched this movie way back in the mid 90’s… It’s no Walter Mitty, but it's still a good movie… but this line… this one line has stuck with me more than any other line in any other movie… other than… are “those your ski’s… both of them?”

“There is a peace that is only to be found on the other side of war”.

And my question is… is there any truth to that?

And I think there is… without conflict… without hostility, what would peace even mean. Whether we are talking war… or even conflict that rages inside of us…

As a 20 year old… brand new Christian who was trying to figure some things out, that line hit me hard. There was something that resonated in me with that statement… that brought purpose to a conflict that had been going on in my for years… and brought a sense that there was a great peace just around the corner… and… that peace continues to grow in me to this day.

I can’t help but wonder if that is some of what Jesus is talking about in our passage today.

We are in week 7 of our 8 week series called blessed beyond measure, where we are looking at the very beginning of the best sermon ever preached… we know it as the sermon on the mount… and in it… Jesus is speaking needed… life changing truth into the perpetual brokenness… that sin creates in you and in me. A brokenness I believe that is so easy to see all around us.

The sermon begins with 8-9 phrases that start like this… blessed are those…

And in it, Jesus isn’t simply telling us to do better, or how to earn God’s blessing… but showing us where a blessed life is found…

And what we find is… so much of what Jesus teaches here goes against the way we naturally think… it's sort of an upside down way of thinking… Jesus is saying that God’s blessing is often found in places we don’t look or aren’t willing to look…

Today we are going to look at the 7th beatitude that Jesus taught.

Matthew 5:9 (ESV)

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Peace is mentioned more than 400 times in scripture… I was a bit surprised not only by how much the BIble talks about peace, but how direct some of those passages are… Peace is a HUGE theme in scripture… it’s almost like God knew that we would struggle. Like God knew that peace would be elusive.

And it is. In my lifetime, I don't know that I have ever seen more division and conflict… more slander or deeper lines being drawn… more sides being taken... thanks a lot Zucherberg!

Peace is incredibly elusive. I feel like so many ache for it… desire it… but have no idea where to find it. For so many of us… maybe all of us peace doesn’t characterize our lives… years ago… one person said it like this…

What if the greatest peace the world will ever know is that glorious moment when everyone stops to reload.

God desires peace for you. I hope you hear that. Not simply a truce or a cease fire… not a moment of reloading… but genuine, real, take a deep breath… kinds of lasting peace…. In your heart, mind, home… at work, in your neighborhood, in our church, in our community and in the world.

God desires it… and longs to provide it… and yet… for so few experience it, and I think it has everything to do with us not understanding what it is Jesus is saying right there.

Peace is one of those words that is a little hard to define…

It has to do with wholeness, with overall well-being. It’s actually connected to the old testament word Shalom which was the old Jewish greeting.

What does peace mean?

What does it mean to be a peacemaker?

When they used it, it wasn’t simply wishing them the absence of conflict… it was more about wishing them all the righteousness and goodness that God can give…

And when we add the word maker… it puts us in the position of being more than a wisher… God calls us to more than simply wishing… but to become proactive in seeking God’s peace… more and more… in our lives, in the lives of others and the world around us… God isn't asking us to be peace wishers but peacemakers and the distinction is huge.

One author said it like this. Understanding the gospel which is completely about real peace… the peace that Jesus brings between a Holy God and a sinful person… when that is understood and applied… not only does it bring peace to you, but it makes you an instrument of God’s peace on earth… and that’s what it means to be a peacemaker.

And I think it’s true…

You will never be a peacemaker without experiencing peace with God yourself.

Without experiencing His peace in your life. Don’t get me wrong… I think every single person sort of ebbs and flows here… I think we all experience times where peace is elusive… but is the overall trajectory of your journey marked with an increasing peace that is only found in the one who created the journey itself.

Peace making… starts with peace experiencing… have you? It’s an incredibly important question.

For me, so much of this meant dealing with the conflict that had been going on inside of me for years… and that is one of the major misunderstandings about peacemakers…

Peacemakers don’t run from conflict or hostility, they actually often run toward it.

Peacemakers are willing to wade out where few are willing to go. To bring honesty through humility… to bring God’s peace to the hostility… and the reason I believe Jesus put this toward the end of the list is… its hard. It’s hard!

It starts in us…

It’s not an attempt to be heard… to gain FB followers… not to be right… not to draw lines… not to pick sides… not to choose teams but

Out of a deep desire to see the peace of God win out in the hearts of humanity.

Because THEY KNOW… He is the only source of true peace. He is the one that brings real peace to the chaos in us and around us.

It’s who He is… it's why the Bible talks so much about it. One of the ways we know Jesus… He is the King of Kings, the Lords of Lords, and the Prince of… what? Peace! It’s who He is. Is that who He is to you?

If peace is found in Christ alone, no wonder there is so little of it these days. That's not a statement meant to knock anyone down… but a statement of hope.

If there is a lack of peace in our lives… there is hope. If there is raging conflict in us… if we feel aimless… if we are wondering what life is about or feel like we are spinning our wheels… if relationships are often marked by conflict for us… THERE IS HOPE!

In James 4, it asks us what causes quarrels among you? It’s sin isn’t it? You want what others have… and you fight and wage war to get it… lie, cheat and steal. Even when we do go to God about it, it's more about our own pleasure than His peace. James says when we align ourselves with the world… we become enemies with God… we aren’t at peace with God.

A lack of peace comes from sin… form selfishness… from pursing the wrong things and aligning ourselves with the wrong thins… I feel like James is saying a life that is fixated on “me” will never be a peacemaking life.

Romans 8:6–7 (NLT)

6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.

I believe that a lack of peace in our life is always traced back to sin… things aren’t the way they should be in us… When we allow sin to have its way in us… it's hostile to God. We see that in the world around us… Do we see it in ourselves? Sin makes us hostile… to God… To His peace in our hearts…

Jer 6 talks about a time when people refuse to hear God… or take him seriously… where they mock His word. Who willfully sin and feel no shame. God says the result will be no peace. No peace with Him, with their kids, in the marriage, in their finances… that their lives will be ruled by greed… even their pastors will be frauds. They will say… peace and teach it… when the reality is… there is none.

Jeremiah 6:14 (NLT)

14 They offer superficial treatments

for my people’s mortal wound.

They give assurances of peace

when there is no peace.

A lack of peace in us… comes from rejecting God... His word which is wisdom for life… and from the presence of sin in our lives and even in the world around…

We’ve talked all along about how these 8-9 blessed statements sort of build off each other… Jesus came to bring you peace… He desires it for you… and the place I’d start is the wisdom Jesus shared to lead us to this beatitude.

Do you really understand your need for God? Have you told Him?

Do you really and continually mourn over sin in a way that leads to change?

Have you submitted to His will and His way in life… even in areas where you may not currently agree or that hard for you?

Do you desire to be right with God and to reflect His nature through your life?

Are you merciful to those around you… Kind… keeping in mind the outrageous mercy and Kindness God has given you?

Are you pure in heart… are you truly whole heartedly pursuing Jesus.

The more we grow in these ways the more peace we will experience in our lives.

But Jesus doesn’t just call us to peace… but to be proactive instruments of His peace to those around us and to the world around us. That means wading out where few are willing to go…

Those who have experienced God’s peace; who know the reality of it… long for it in the lives of others too.

The blessing Jesus says that is unique to being a peacemaker is what?

They will be called sons and daughters of God. Maybe read that over and over until you hear it. Peacemakers are called… sons and daughters because within making peace… we are reflecting the nature and mission of God.

Ephesians 2:13–18 (NLT)

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.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

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. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. AND FIND PEACE!

Jesus brings peace between us and God and provides a pathway for peace between us.

… That no matter who we are, what we have done, where we are from, what we make or any other thing… the peace we have found in Jesus is deeper than anything that might seek to divide us….

God Calls us to be proactive instruments of His peace to the world around us…

2 Corinthians 5:11–21 (NLT)

We Are God’s Ambassadors

11 we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too… Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them….

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

There is peace found there.

Being a peace maker starts with experining the peace of God personally… and leads us to be proactive instrements of Gods peace… His representatives… Not weak or passive… not running from conflict… but bringin the wisdom of God to it.

It requires humility.

… it's not about being heard, gaining followers on FB, or drawing lines. It’s about HIs peace winning out in the hearts of humanity.

It requires seeing conflict differently.

Those people we have conflict with or not necessarily adversaries, peace doesn't mean a lot without conflict. Which means conflict is a real opportunity for us the begin to preach the peace of God in the places marked by its absence. How would you do conflict differently if you came to the realization that conflict is actually an opportunity. And that is not a license to go out in like the world on fire. It is a perspective, a confidence it comes in knowing that God's peace is really what this world aches for. Because it is!

It means not being reactive.

Understanding where conflict really comes from… what the root cause is allows us to be patient… compassionate and merciful.

Blessed are the peacemakers… for they are living out the reality of what it means to be the true children of God.

How different the world world be… if Christians everywhere… truly found the peace of God in their lives… and became proactive instruments of God’s peace?

There once lived a king that was tormented by lack of peace in his life nad in the world around Him… in desperation he announced an unthinkable prize for anyone who could produce a painting that best depicted it.

People from everywhere gave it their best effort… and its seemed like the clear winner was one of a quiet lake… not a ripple in the water… everything was perfect and in its place… a silhouette of a majestic mountain was just where it should be…

There was real shock when the king announced the winner. A picture of a lake that had rough waves… a rugged mountain… and trees that have been maimed by the storms… As he looked… the king could see the strokes of a tiny brush that put cracks it he rocks… depicted the impact of the storms…

It was then that the king finally realized that peace is not a place without noise or conflict… but is what happens inside of us in the midst of it.

And that… is something we can only Get from God… He is the one that said… DON”T worry about anything… instead… tell me about it. Constantly ancknowlege what God had done… and in that… experience the peace that only God provides… the mind blowing… inexplicable peace that goes beyond all understanding.

Peace starts in us… finding peace with Him… and moves us toward being proactive instruments of His peace within a world that drastically needs it. If you are interested in following Jesus… This is a big part of what it means.

Invite the worship team back up..

Each Sunday we provide the opportunity to participate in communion, its something Jesus himself instituted… that reminds us of the peace between us and God that is only found in Him… That reminds us that in the midst of the battle… in the midst of the chaos… even in the midst of our sin… God’s heart is that we would experience HIS peace…

Jesus took the bread and the cup and told us to do this as often as we meet together to remember the significance of it… Of God creating a way for peace to reign in us where sin and conflict once stood.

Over the next few songs… feel free to grab it and take it whenever your ready.

Pray