Real Peace or "Cheap" Peace?
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Settling for “Cheap” Peace
Settling for “Cheap” Peace
Pursuing peace on our terms
Work to eliminate problems
Pacifying issues or conflicts
Pursuing the absence of anxiety and stress in our life
We see in scripture that we are to live in peace as much as it depends on us. (REF)
Desiring peace and working toward peace is not necessarily a bad thing.
It can become problematic when we
Cheap Peace is based on our circumstances
It is an incomplete picture of what God intended
What is Peace?
What is Peace?
What is the peace God intended us to know and experience?
Shalom was the word used for peace in the OT
The most basic meaning of shalom is complete or whole.
The word can refer to a stone that has a perfect whole shape with no cracks.
It can also refer to a completed stone wall that has no gaps and no missing bricks.
Shalom refers to something that’s complex with lots of pieces that’s in a state of completeness, wholeness.
A few instances in scripture that help us understand this:
- Job 5:24
24 You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
It’s like Job who says his tents are in a state of shalom because he counted his flock and no animals are missing. This is why shalom can refer to a person’s well-being.
22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.
Like when David visited his brothers on the battlefield, he asked about their shalom.
The core idea is that life is complex, full of moving parts and relationships and situations, and when any of these is out of alignment or missing, your shalom breaks down. Life is no longer whole. It needs to be restored.
In fact, that’s the basic meaning of shalom when you use it as a verb. To bring shalom literally means to make complete or restore. So Solomon brings shalom to the unfinished temple when he completes it.
1 Kings 9:1-2
1 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
2 Chronicles 7:11
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace,
Or if your animal accidentally damages your neighbor’s field, you shalom them by giving them a complete repayment for their loss.
You take what’s missing, and you restore it to wholeness.
The same goes for human relationships.
In the book of Proverbs, to reconcile and heal a broken relationship is to bring shalom.
And when rival kingdoms make shalom in the Bible, it doesn’t just mean they stop fighting. It also means they start working together for each other’s benefit.
This state of shalom is what Israel’s kings were supposed to cultivate, and it rarely happened.
The prophet Isaiah, he looked forward to a future king, a prince of shalom.
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and for ever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
And his reign would bring shalom with no end—a time when God would make a covenant of shalom with his people and make right all wrongs and heal all that’s been broken.
Eirene - Jesus’ birth brings Eirene
The Greek word for peace
Jesus’s birth in the New Testament was announced as the arrival
of eirene. It was announced to the shepherds in this way,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
Jesus came to offer his peace to others like when he said to his followers, “My peace I give to you all.”
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
The arrival of Jesus announced this “peace that makes all things whole”. It was the heart of the Father restoring, redeeming creation to himself through Jesus Christ.
Real Peace is Blessed Assurance
Real Peace is Blessed Assurance
It is a gift from God, not possible as He intended apart from Him
Assurance in who God is, his faithfulness, his goodness
Assurance comes through the Gospel
Assurance is the presence of God in all areas of our life. It is KNOWING that He will never leave us or forsake us.
It is being FULLY convinced.
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Real Peace is Saturated in Hope
Real Peace is Saturated in Hope
Jesus “made” peace - He restored the broken relationship between us and God
The apostles claimed that Jesus made peace between messed up humans and God when he died and rose from the dead.
The idea is that he restored to wholeness the broken relationship between humans and their Creator.
This is why the apostle Paul can say Jesus himself is our eirene.
He was the whole, complete human that I am made to be but have failed to be, and now he gives me his life as a gift.
And this means that as Jesus’ followers, we are now called to be agents, ambassadors of peace.
Real Peace Is Not In A Hurry
Real Peace Is Not In A Hurry
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Real Peace is Costly
Real Peace is Costly
Paul instructed local churches to keep their unity through the bond of peace, which requires humility and patience and bearing with others in love.
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Becoming people of peace means participating in the life of Jesus, who reconciled all things in heaven on earth, restoring peace through his death and resurrection.
Peace takes a lot of work because it’s not just the absence of conflict. True peace requires taking what’s broken and restoring it to wholeness, whether it’s in our lives, our relationships, or in our world.
Choosing God’s way of living
Setting my heart on things above
Found in our hearts when they are set on eternity
Application
Application
Real peace is a choice available to us as a result of life submitted to following Jesus.
Through Jesus we have access to the Holy Spirit who enables us and gives us access to choose this life of Peace.
What would real peace look like in your life?
Are you settling for the “cheap” peace? The temporary peace?
Real peace does not mean our lives are now free from trouble, problems, conflicts or anxiety. Real peace means we now trust in a sovereign God who is in control of all things, and walks with us, strengthens us, sanctifies us and gives us a kingdom perspective of this life and a hope and assurance of the life to come.
Real peace is forward looking and it is a present abiding in his daily presence.
Communion
Communion
Open the Table
Ready our hearts
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Benediction
Benediction
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.