The Distinction of Peace
Rev. Claude L. White Jr
The Distinctions of Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted
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The Distinction of Peace
The Distinction of Peace
Introduction: How do you handle conflict? Do you look for the right moment to strike? Do you exercise grace when conflict arises. Today our lesson requires us to evaluate our behavior when we are faced with adversarial and difficult moments. As disciples we are called upon to live in a way that exhibits the very nature of God. One of those ways is with peace. This distinction should not be foreign to the Christian. It must be both visible a consistent.
Transition: So what does the distinction of Peace look like in the life of the Disciple?
We Genuinely Seek Peace (vv.17-18)
We Genuinely Seek Peace (vv.17-18)
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Paul admonishes his readers to consider peace even others have done bad things to them. Paul charges his readers not to do wrong to someone else because they have been wronged, but to consider what is the honorable thing.
The word honor in this text refers to -moral quality- Yes Paul is saying when others do evil you must seek to do what is right. But Paul does not stop there, he continues by saying, “in the sight of all”. What does Paul mean? Paul means, peace has to do with right across the board not what makes us feel good for the moment.
In verse 18 Paul says:
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Seeking peace is doing everything in your power to communicate peace. Plainly, it means to do your part. So often many people have no peace with other people because they are waiting on other people to make the first move. Believers cannot be effective waiting on other people to make the first move.
Illustration:
The late E. Stanley Jones declared that trust was Mahatma Gandhi’s great strategy and nonviolence was his method. It is said that when he prepared a speech on a crucial subject, Gandhi would write out the address verbatim, send copies to his enemies, and ask them if it was a fair statement. The method was so disarming that controversial statements frequently went unchallenged.
G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 274.
Transition: So, should it be in our life. We should not look for ways of hurting other but find ways to peace with our enemies.
Application: Seek peace genuinely. You don’t have to have the last say in every debate.
Transition: Here is the next thing the text teaches about peace
We Must Leave Things in God’s Hands (v. 19)
We Must Leave Things in God’s Hands (v. 19)
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Paul says that the believer will be better served when he allows God to handle the situation. This is not some statement to encourage us to remind God of what others have done. Instead it is a command to drop the situation and move on.
Paul is reciting:
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
The attempt is to remind the readers that God knows what is going on. The job of God’s people is to keep the peace and the job of God is to repay.
Seeking revenge can cause more pain to the one who seeks revenge than to the person he is aiming.
Application: Who are you trying to get back? Who are you waiting on to hurt and feel the pain they have caused you? Let me offer this word of advice. STOP! You are only hurting you. Just stop! That is not your job. God does the repaying.
Transition: Here is the last thing
We Must Always Do What Glorifies God (vv. 20-21)
We Must Always Do What Glorifies God (vv. 20-21)
20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Feed your enemy