Sermon Tone Analysis

I was told the story of an ongoing argument between a husband and wife.

The actual subject of the argument is much less important than the process.

As was often the case, the husband was certain he was right but couldn’t get his wife to back down and agree.

The only thing they could agree on in this matter was to seek the counsel of their pastor.

The husband knew that the pastor would side with his position and designate him as “right.”

As they shared their dramatically different perspectives, the husband made mental preparations to declare victory.

To his considerable surprise, the pastor didn’t take sides, gracefully sidestepping the dichotomy of right/wrong, and the zero sum game that goes with it.

Rather, he asked matter-of-factly, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?”

Happiness, contentment, peace.

Concepts that all of us desire, the problem is we seek it in the wrong places.

C.S. Lewis said,

“What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God.

And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.

There is no such thing.”

—from Mere Christianity

There is truth in his statement, for when we seek happiness and peace away from God, we find ourselves never content.

As we look to the New Year and finish our series, today we will talk about what it means to call Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

The principal word used to express the idea of peace in the Hebrew Bible is šālôm.

The root of the word is found in many Semitic languages.

The Akkadian salāmū comes closest to the core meaning of the root, “to be hale, whole, complete.”

In one form or another the notions of wholeness, health, and completeness inform all the variants of the word.

Peace is not, then, simply a negative, the absence of war.

Peace is a positive notion, a notion with its own content.

The writer of Isaiah tells us more about this individual in Isaiah 53:5, when he says...

Out of violence comes peace.

Isaiah tells us here that he was pierced for our transgressions.

What is a transgression?

More importantly what is the difference between sin, iniquity and transgression.

Sin is any disobedience towards God or another person.

Transgression refers to presumptuous sin.

To transgress is to choose to intentionally disobey; transgression is willful trespassing.

Iniquity is more deeply rooted.

Iniquity refers to a premeditated choice; to commit iniquity is to continue without repentance.

So, the violent death of Jesus has brought us peace or wholeness?

But How? How did something so violent, something that happened so long ago, something that I was not even around for, How does it bring me wholeness or complete me today?

In Luke 2, at the birth of Jesus, a great company of Heavenly host appeared and praise God saying,

So, heaven announces that for those who find themselves in God’s favor, those who give their lives to Him, will find peace.

But again, what does this peace mean?

Romans 5 tells us that we have a complete and whole relationship with God.

Ephesians 2 tells us that we can experience a complete and whole relationship with the family of believers.

So, I imagine there are a few out here who are not buying all of this.

You don’t fell whole.

You feel like something is missing or not right.

I want you to hear these words of Jesus:

I believe that we have these feelings because we are afraid and unsure.

Jesus tells us he has given us His peace.

He gives it to us freely and gives us the Holy Spirit to help us.

To give us access to it.

Here is the solution I read in my Bible to experience this peace.

Stop seeking your desires.

Stop seeking those things that bring you worry.

Live simple.

Enjoy relationships more than possessions.

God wants you to know that when you find rest in Him, you will find His peace given through Christ Jesus.

Tonight as we tell this year goodbye and as we enter this new year, I have one question for you.

Who will be the master or your new year.

Will you continue to lead your life or will you turn it over to God? Will you choose faith over control?

Will you choose death or life?