In Terrorism, Peace‏

Shalom,

 

    Please begin by reading Col 1:15-20.

 

    As the Bible clearly tells us, Jesus is our peace and has reconciled himself to all things by shedding his blood on the cross.  A favorite part of the Christmas story for many is when we hear these words of great power, "and on earth peace to men on whom God's favor rests."  This is an ancient longing and a long-standing frustration - having peace on earth.

    Is peace possible?  Is is too much to ask for?  Is it beyond all reasonable expectation that we on planet earth will somehow, some way, live in peace?  That's what the angels sang.  That's what the shepherds heard.  And we need to hear it, too.  The Bible promises it and our hearts crave it, true and deep and lasting peace.

 

    Since 2001 many very awful things have happened.  The earthquake of conflict has taken many lives, destroyed cities, and torn apart families.  Today we anguish over things like smart bombs, laser-guided missiles, roadside bombs, and improvised explosive devices (IED).  And many are worrying and wondering, where is the peace that Yahweh promised us?  Can we really have peace amidst the terrorism and war in our world?

    Think with me about this thing called peace.  Think with me about the foolish ways we humans try to carve out peace for ourselves.  And that will set the stage for us to praise the Father for what Jesus has done.  Jesus is the only truly authentic hope of genuine peace.

    First, what have we done about peace?  To what have we given ourselves in order to make peace happen?  Do you know there are some striking parallels between the world Jesus was born into and our world?  Are you aware that so much about his time is like our own?

    His was a time when some trusted in government for everything.  It was a time, much like ours, when some people, particularly those in power, really thought Rome could do it all, and that if Rome didn't do it, it wouldn't be done.  This is very much like our day.  We have some folks who are quick to expect the President, the Congress, the Governor, and the bureaucrats to do everything under the sun to protect us.  In Jesus' day there were people who thought that the Roman Empire would bring peace and stability.  Rome had an extensive system of control.  Its military might was felt far from its capitol city.  It even bought off local rulers like Herod to keep them loyal.  It was a time when some trusted in government for everything.

    And yet there was no true and abiding peace.  No true peace because when you understand nothing but power, then power battles power, and there is no true and lasting peace.  Maybe a time of uneasy quiet is in place for a while, but not true peace.  The attacks of 9/11 remind us of how government-dependent peace can be shattered.  Don't look for true peace on earth from any human government.

    Second, it was also a time when some trusted in wealth to make themselves invulnerable.  It was a time, much like ours, when accumulating wealth had become an obsession for many people.  They built expensive and expansive homes, they constructed great buildings for their businesses, they worked to show off their wealth.  They even curried favor with God by parading their financial muscle.  The same Herod who killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem completed a major remodeling of the Temple in Jerusalem, as if to say, "Here God, let me show you how much you need me."  It was a time when your stature and your character were measured by the weight of your bags of gold.

    And yet there was no true peace.  No true peace because when you spend your life doing nothing but gathering wealth, well, you've spent your life and its gone.  But it has no real meaning.  Jesus told the story of a man who filled his barns with grain, and when they were full, he pulled them down to build bigger barns.  And when he faced up to what that meant, it was nothing but a great big coffin to hold his empty, soul-starved body.

    The attack on the World Trade Center reminds us of how fleeting our wealth is and how it won't protect us.  The decline in our economy because of the lost information is and was painful, but maybe that's a good thing.  Maybe it's best for us that the malls become less crowded and the spending less loose and carefree.  Don't look for true peace on earth from wealth.

    Third, it was a time when people trusted in their own ingenuity to get by.  It was a time when people ignored faith, paid lip service to religion, and went their own way - making themselves into little gods.  From the Romans who called their emperors divine, to the Greeks who worshiped their own philosophies, to the religious Jews who stood around the cross of Jesus and sneered about God coming to save him - many of the people of that day no longer paid attention to their Creator.  They no longer really believed that Yahweh was involved in the world he created.  For them God was a remote abstraction to be hauled out only on ceremonial occassions.  But they, and many of us are no different, thought they didn't need the presence and power of the Creator in their daily lives.  They and many of us feel that we know enough to handle what we need to handle, thank you very much.  And just like today, many felt God is for sissies who see only a rose-colored or cotton candy world.

    Isn't that the way many of us think?  Isn't that it for much of our world?  Yes, some of us go to church on Sundays, but what is that really all about?  That's mostly about what "respectable" people do, or to some it's about giving the children a good example, or to others it's about enjoying the music and how the preacher hammers those sinners.  But an intimate relationship with our Savior?  You've got to be kidding!  Letting God guide us and empower us?  That isn't cool or trendy or scientific.  That's not how 21st century people get by.  We, like the world Jesus was born into, think that if there's to be peace, it's up to each of us individually.  I will handle it.  I, I, I.  Ego is our god, and personal satisfaction is the son of our god.

 

    And so, of course, there is no true peace.  There is no true peace because when I am the center of my own universe, that's too small a package to attain peace for the whole world.  If we go down deep enough into our hearts, we find no true peace because of the God-shaped void down there that only Yahweh himself can fill.  There's a restlessness down there that can't be satisfied by anything less than our Creator himself.  There is no true peace on earth.  There wasn't any in Jesus' time, and there isn't any now.  Not if we trust government to bring it or wealth to buy it or ourselves to make it happen.  None of those things brings true and lasting and abiding peace.

    The angels sang of a different peace than most humans think of, and it terrified the shepherds who heard them singing.  They were terrified, no doubt, not just because the sky filled with the glory of heavenly angels, but terrifed because Yahweh stepped into our world.  They were scared, shaken by what they'd seen and heard.  When a person gets enough beating and shaking, he's likely to be afraid of just about anything.

    Some of those who've been affected by terrorism are truly terrorized.  Think about seeing planes fly into skyscrapers or watching bodies fall from burning buildings or being in a restaurant when bullets start flying.  Many are afraid today to leave their homes or to fly on airplanes or even to open their mail.  They have terrorized hearts, just like the shepherds.  But we must hear the message of peace just like the shepherds did.  Even though we don't fully understand how it can be, Jesus is the source of this world's peace.  In him and by him and through him, peace will come to us.  It may seem elusive and far-off, but it will come.

    Jesus is the source of true peace because he'll show us that it's not might that makes right, but the way of the loving sacrifice will win the world to peace.  Jesus left heaven and lived on earth for 33 years.  He tasted what we taste, he felt what we feel, he suffered what we suffer, and he did it all to show us that our lives count for something.  His single, solitary life, as short as it was, has meant more to humanity than any other life ever lived.  His life was given to service, to love, and to sacrifice.  Jesus is the source of true peace because his teaching and his example have transformed more hearts than all the armies that have ever marched or all the parliaments that have ever debated.  In times of terror there is true peace available because we know in Jesus that right stands with our Creator God, who keeps us all in view and under his protecting eye.  Even in the midst of terrorism we can find true peace because of Jesus.

 

    Jesus is the source of this world's peace because he'll show us that our Creator is for us.  From the moment of the announcement of his birth, when Mary heard that he would put down the mighty and exalt the lowly, Jesus was on the side of the poor, the displaced, and the ordinary.  His youth was shaped by peasant people in a nowhere town called Nazareth, not in the great city of Jerusalem, a city that calls itself "the most important city in the world."  When Jesus chose his followers, he took them from aong the salt of the earth, not from the educated elite.

    Jesus is the source of true peace because he shows us that we can live without worrying about money.  We can live without concerning ourselves with social standing.  We're somebodies simply because Yahweh has chosen to come and live with us.  True peace comes when we learn that in Jesus' world, everybody is somebody and nobody is put down.  In terrorism we can find true peace because Jesus is among us.

    I've heard the song of angels.  And because I've heard that beautiful music, the din of war, the noise of conflict, the shock of terrorism, and the empty silence of loneliness are all taken away.  Jesus took them away, and gave me true peace.

    John 14:27.  Jesus said, "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."

    Rom 5:1.  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

    2 Thes 3:16.  "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with you."

 

    Blessings & Peace,    Mike