Jesus is Peace
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CENTRAL TRUTH EXPRESSED (MAIN POINT):
CENTRAL TRUTH EXPRESSED (MAIN POINT):
Jesus is the Peace our hearts and world long for, but peace different than what we expect
GOD'S HEART REVEALED:
GOD'S HEART REVEALED:
He desires to be with us through Jesus that we can enter into true peace in every moment
OUR RIGHT RESPONSE:
OUR RIGHT RESPONSE:
ME:
ME:
I promise you all that I don’t try to fit Marvel analogies into my messages, they just consistently fit so well…
But as I was thinking about our Advent Candle for this evening… Peace I naturally thought of Loki.
Loki in Avengers wants to create peace
Peace is desired and promised everywhere we go…
I am not a medical or scientific expert but I do remember enough from college classes to remember serotonin and its effects about producing peace of mind.
There are so many ways to produce serotonin
Massage packages, vacation packages to all inclusives, vitamins, cleanses, relationships, having your mind controlled by Loki’s scepter, you name it…
They never fully deliver on the promised result, at least not for longer than it takes for the serotonin to wear off.
Honestly this is something that hits close to home for me because as a card carrying member of the future I usually look to whatever is next to provide peace, the only problem is every time I accomplish the task or get the prize I move on quickly and wonder, was that really all there was?
Is there such a thing as lasting peace?
YOU:
YOU:
What does peace look like in your mind's eye? Is peace for you being healthy…. emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally?
Is peace zero conflict with all other humans? Is peace the pandemic being over with no chance of further variants? Is peace living in a nation where the tensions, difficulties, and injustices are done away with? Is peace having the right political party in power?
Each of us are unique, but I imagine if someone was selling guaranteed lifelong peace without side effects we would probably jump on it.
Is there such a thing as lasting peace?
GOD:
GOD:
In the days of Jesus’ life there was a type of peace that was promised to be everlasting. It was issued by a benevolent leader. Promised security. Order. Tranquility across the land.
The only problem? This peace known as Pax Romana was peace at the point of the sword. It was the peace of Caesar and the might of His military. Peace to stop all dissenting voices. Peace and quiet.
Very similar to what Loki explained, “Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”
This counterfeit peace was the backdrop to Jesus’ birth…
Tonight as we continue in the story of Jesus birth we are going to gaze into four types of peace that Jesus came to bring into the story of humanity. The true peace that is the longing of your heart and mine.
Read Luke 2:22 - 24
And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Jesus’ parents were simply observing normal Jewish religious rituals. Dedicating their son to God. Just like every other faithful Jewish family over the centuries. Cool.
But this routine moment becomes very un-routine…
Read Luke 2:25
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
This doesn’t necessarily make this moment un-routine just yet, hopefully men and women devoted to God are journeying into the Temple.
Waiting for the consolation of Israel…
What does this mean? Why did this matter?
The consolation of Israel is a title for the one they referred to as The Messiah, the Anointed One. This referred to the reality that this Messiah would not just bring victory but comfort, PEACE.
Think of when you have endured something difficult or tragic and someone consoles you.
The entire nation of Israel had endured centuries of horror, terror, grief, and trauma. So the idea that this Messiah would come, not just to overthrow their oppressors but to comfort the grieving was transformative.
Simeon refused to believe that Pax Romana was the best it was going to get. He held out for True Peace.
German Old Man : [slowly rises to his feet] Not to men like you.
Loki : [smiling] There are no men like me.
German Old Man : There are *always* men like you.
Loki : Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.
[Loki aims a blast of power from his scepter at the old man when Captain America leaps in front of the intended target, deflecting the blast with his shield back at Loki, knocking him down]
Steve Rogers : You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.
Simeon reminds me of this old man. Someone who holds out hope that true Peace can come, not peace by fear of a vicious emperor, but peace that can only be brought by the long awaited Messiah. His consolation.
Do you believe this about Jesus tonight? That he is the ultimate consolation.
This man waited with eager anticipation for this man!
And as He did so, the Spirit of God came upon Him, meaning that he received special revelation from God through His Holy Spirit.
Read Luke 2:26-27
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law,
And now the routine becomes very un-routine.
So the Spirit revealed two things to him:
He would not die before the Messiah would come
Go to the Temple
Read Luke 2:28-32
he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Immediate Peace
Peace had come over Simeon’s life because He knew the One who defines Peace had come!
This is the type of peace that we are most familiar with, serotonin had flooded his body. A sensation of peace had begun… but it extends beyond that… this moment is so special that he is ready for the grave now. This is the moment my entire life was preparing for.
His peace is rooted in another category of peace…
Incarnational Peace
Why can Simeon now depart from this life in peace?
Because he discovered a new book with wise insights beyond imagination? No.
Because through a vision God gave him incredible insights into the future? No.
Because HIS EYES have seen the one who is simultaneously a child undergoing routine temple dedication, AND the long awaited King of the Cosmos who this temple was created to proclaim!
Simeon experienced Jesus because Jesus is God in the flesh. The word is Incarnational.
We don’t have Jesus entire life in Israel written down, but what we do know is that every he goes Peace goes to the broken-hearted. Starting with Simeon. To a woman caught in adultery. To a thief hanging next to him on a cross. To his disciples who abandoned Him at the foot of the cross, but Jesus would go pursue and draw back to Himself.
Do you ever believe nobody else could possibly understand the hardship you are enduring? Do you feel unknown? Unseen? Unheard? Uncared for?
The one who was both the suffering servant and the Conquering King, Jesus knows. He experienced the brokenness. He suffered in our place. He grieved with the hurting. He celebrated with the excited.
Wherever you are at, Jesus sees you. But not from a distance. Up close and personal, because he knows what its like to be rejected, hurt, hungry, sad, tired, exhausted. You are seen. You are known.
Read Luke 2:33-35
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
I don’t know if you picked up the weightiness of this prophecy, so lets go back through it
“Fall and rising” - Mary had sung about how Jesus would raise up the humble and humble the proud and arrogant.
This is kind of Jesus MO…. He comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comfortable.
So often we only look for the kind of Jesus we want to see, whether we want a warrior Jesus or a compassionate Jesus… not realizing that in those moments we are creating a Jesus of our own imagination.
But we don’t get to decide what kind of Jesus we want, we find a Jesus of more complexity then we imagine.
Even as Jesus was just learning how to open up his eyes and look around at the world around Him, it was apparent that this child would live in this complexity and would suffer much because of it.
But he would not be the only one to suffer…
“A sign that is opposed”
Simeon’s prophecy is a hyperlink to Isaiah 50 where there are songs about the suffering servant who is to come…
The Good News that this servant would bring would not always be received as good news.
This Peace that this servant would bring would not mesh well with the worlds understanding of peace.
Beauty and brutality
There is a unique connection for a parent’s care for their child. When the child suffers they suffer.
Mary was no different.
So when it is prophecies that Jesus would suffer… “and a sword will pierce through your own soul too”
In a few short decades, this would come to pass right outside the city walls. Mary would watch her son be stripped, mocked, bruised, beaten, humiliated, disfigured… but that was just what the world could see.
But it is what Jesus was doing behind His humiliating death that draws us to the third category of Peace:
Justification Peace
Read Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We have peace with God.
This is truly unbelievable, why?
We were not victims in the Cosmic story, we were enemies of the King, and we stood condemned ready for eternal seperation from life, light, freedom and our Creator. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us made us alive together with Christ and this is not your own doing this is the gift of God!
We stand unaware of how dire our situation is without Jesus.
But now we can be justified through Jesus. We don’t have to suffer God’s wrath that we were owed, why? Because Jesus did!!!
Is this only for the people of Israel? Nope!
All peoples. People groups.
No ethnicity would have special access to God. All would have the opportunity to turn to Him!
To discover the hope, joy, peace, and love of the Messiah!
This is justification Peace, and for those of you who have not received this good news, know it is available for you. For those of you who have already received this news, remember it and keep remembering it.
Because if you have already been adopted into God’s forever family, if you have received his love, if you have surrendered your life to Him, if you have received this Justification Peace… then your absolute worst day here on Earth cannot change that. Cannot move that.
Read Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
This is the suffering servant. The Messiah. The Prince of Peace.
But this Kingdom of Peace he comes to bring is only good news if we realize our desperate need and the Kingdom we belong to apart from the Prince of Peace….
This is not the peace we would imagine right?
Imagine how crazy this would be under Pax Romana?
Peace through conquering. But Pax Christi is peace through sacrifice.
Not Peace through self-protection. But Peace through giving it all up to protect others.
Not peace through enforcing your own way. But Peace by laying down rights.
Sanctifying Peace
Since we have access to Immediate Peace in the here and now, Justifying Peace from now into Eternity, Peace through Jesus’ Presence wherever we find ourselves, we are reminded of all of this by the power of the Holy Spirit in his sanctifying Peace.
Life is a PROCESS
Following Jesus is a JOURNEY
You might think you know that, but if you find yourself wondering why am I still so ________ it’s because becoming more like Jesus is the rest of my life.
Sanctifying Peace is the power of the Holy Spirit working to draw you near to Jesus. Holding you close to Abide with Jesus. You may not feel like you will ever grow to experience immediate peace with Jesus. It’s a journey. Stop beating yourself up. Stay on the path that has been laid out for you!
This is the Peace that comes because 2000 years ago the light of the world came not only to bring peace but to BE PEACE.
YOU:
YOU:
The Roman world would have gelled well with Loki. Enforceable peace.
In our world we might have altered our definition of peace, in our cultural context we would not have been huge fans of Pax Romana, instead we have an unlimited amount of definitions of peace.
But out of all the options we discover in the world, there is one that is completely missing.
Jesus.
The concept that Peace is found in the person and work of Jesus is unheard of. It sounds too simplistic. Unhelpful. Weak. Theoretical.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
When we root our peace in Jesus, we stop rooting our peace in the circumstances of our lives and world. We untether our expectations from rushes of serotonin anchored in how we are doing.
Our temptation is to avoid this option because whenever we bring Jesus into the mix we invite in the one who is outside our control, which is scary and unnerving because we want to believe that peace will only come when I am in control.
But yet, we are called to sync up with the Prince of Peace.
We, like Him, can step into insane realities, places of chaos, circumstances that are far less than ideal and watch as the Kingdom breaks through into our world day by day.
We can experience transcendent Peace that is very real TODAY regardless of circumstance for no other reason than we are with the one who defines peace.
US:
US:
[call band up]
At the end of the day, the peace that Jesus offers might have less curb appeal but is the only iteration that has stood the test of time.
We so often want a counterfeit peace, and in case you haven’t noticed the world can see it. They see when those who represent Jesus are looking for peace through political control, through workplace manipulation tactics, through self-protection.
But imagine if the world saw within us a people finding their peace fully and completely in Jesus? Satisfied fully in Him?
That’ll preach.
C O M M U N I O N
Tonight we are going to respond together as a Biblical Community by participating in Communion together…
Different faith traditions engage in communion in different ways with slightly different understandings of its significance.
As a church, Mosaic practices open communion. Which means that all who have surrendered their lives to Jesus, put their faith in His salvation Peace, and now claim to follow the Way of Jesus regardless of your background of which church you may have come from.
For all those who wouldn’t exactly say those things are true of you at this point in your spiritual journey, feel no awkwardness in simply staying seated while those who are Christ followers come up to take the elements of Communion, a small piece of bread, and a small portion of juice. And if you would like to have any conversations about Jesus and His peace you are in a safe community to do so!
We take the bread to symbolize Jesus body that was broken for us on the cross to Remember that it is only through his physical body being broken that we have peace with God.
Then we take the cup which symbolizes Jesus blood poured out for us as a reminder that without Jesus we stand condemned due to drink the metaphorical cup of God’s wrath yet as Jesus blood poured out He drank that cup on our behalf!
Finally only come up after you have spent a few moments in examination of your heart and life. If you need to repent anything to God, go for it, if there is someone you need to reconcile with before you participate in communion, maybe it is someone in this room, do it And then come to the table To receive these elements.
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Let’s pray.