Perfect Peace | Sunday, November 26, 2023

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end... (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The Prince of Peace came not merely to end violence, but to restore the world to the way it ought to be.

Entering the Advent Season

This is a new season at our church. Last week we finished the book of Joshua, where we have been all year, and now we are entering Advent. If you came out of a more traditional, liturgical church—Anglican or Episcopalian—you'll know this season well. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which means to come, approach, or arrive. At this time of year we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ.

One of the things I love about this season is remembering not only that Jesus came into this world—Emmanuel, God with us—but that with him he brings awesome and good things. We want to remember and celebrate that.

Why Do You Celebrate Christmas?

Over the last decade, Pastor Nick and I have gone out on Black Friday to do on-the-spot interviews at stores. I'll ask people, "Are you doing some Christmas shopping today?" They say yes. "So you celebrate Christmas?" Yes. Then I ask, "Why?" It's fascinating—put people on the spot and many really don't have a good answer. Maybe one in six can tell me why they celebrate. When I ask if they can tell me the Christmas story, some say, "The one with the kid who shoots his eye out?" No—the one about Jesus.

This year Nick and I got up early on Friday, hit four different stores, and they were completely empty. You're all Amazonians now, doing your shopping online, so we got skunked. No videos this time.

That's exactly why this is such an important time of year to remember things I hope you already know well. If you've been part of any church for a while, much of what we'll cover over the next few weeks is review. I hope it's so familiar that you could deliver the same content yourself—and that you would, as you interact with friends, coworkers, and neighbors. In our culture today, far too many people don't understand what this season is about.

Good to Be Reminded

The Apostle Peter wrote that it's good to remind you of these things even though you are established in the present truth. It is good to be reminded. Research over the last couple of decades has confirmed that people benefit from patterns, rituals, and regular seasons of celebration and remembrance. That's what we do when we celebrate Christmas—we engage in something Christians have been doing for centuries.

For parents and grandparents especially, it is good to set up traditions and rituals within your family that focus our hearts on the Lord at certain times of the year. The Jewish community does this very well with Passover—every year they rehearse the story, and from the youngest child to the oldest adult, they know it well because they keep it in mind regularly. We want to do the same.

Christ being central to Christmas is not as much the case as it ought to be in 21st-century Western culture, even though our culture is built on a Judeo-Christian framework. More and more people know less and less about the Bible and the story of Christ. Much of the division we see is directly connected to the fact that we no longer have a common language of understanding and belief. It is very hard to be one united people if we don't have a united story upon which our lives are built.

Every Heart Seeks Peace

Traditionally, during the four Sundays of Advent, many churches focus on four themes: love, joy, peace, and hope. Today we're going to talk about peace.

Every single person you know—whether they go to church or not—is, at a deep level, seeking what the Bible describes as peace. Often when we hear the word "peace" we think only of the cessation of violence. As we sit here, there's a temporary ceasefire in Gaza after months of battle, and the war in Ukraine has gone on for two years. The desire for peace is very much on our minds. But even if those wars ended, hardly a week goes by without news of hostilities somewhere. There is a desire in your heart, in your neighbor's heart, even in those who don't know the Bible, for peace—and that desire is for something far more than the absence of violence.

When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace. Point one: the coming of Christ brings the blessing of peace. This peace is greater than dealing with enmity between warring parties. The word that captures this idea in the Old Testament Hebrew is shalom. In Israel, people greet you with "Shalom," and while it translates to "peace," it encompasses much more—human welfare, health, prosperity, success, salvation, deliverance. It is the state of total well-being.

Shalom: The Way Things Ought to Be

The theologian and philosopher Cornelius Plantinga, in his book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, describes shalom like this: "In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight... a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are completely satisfied." Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

Have you ever looked at the world and felt, "This is not how it's supposed to be"? You hear about a child experiencing violence like on October 7th, an earthquake in southeastern Turkey, the tsunami in Indonesia—and there's this sense that this is not the way it ought to be. That sense is right. It recalls something hardwired in our psyche, a remembrance of a life that was different. We never personally experienced it, but humanity did. When humanity was first made by God, they experienced total shalom—a full connection with God.

This is what we look forward to in salvation. To be saved by Christ means ultimately to be reconciled to God. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one with God. That is what we yearn for, and in Christ Jesus we begin to experience it now, as the Prince of Peace makes peace between us and God and between us and one another.

So when someone who doesn't know God says, "This is not the way it's supposed to be," just agree with them. They're absolutely right. And then tell them the true story of what God has done so that we might enjoy things as they ought to be. This is why the church has prayed for centuries, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It all goes back to the Advent of Jesus.

Everlasting and Increasing Peace

Isaiah 9:6-7 is a famous Christmas verse you'll see on cards this year: "For unto us a child is born... and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end."

You may have Jewish friends who, by birth and practice, are still seeking Messiah. When you bring the conversation to Jesus, they often say, "I don't think he's the Messiah, because he didn't bring peace." They believe Messiah will come and bring peace—and they're right, he is going to come again. We believe he has come and has begun by dealing with the primary problem, the reason there is no peace in this world: sin. Jesus came to deal with that and to restore us to right relationship with God. Ultimately the Prince of Peace will bring his government, of which there will be no end.

Point two: the peace that Christ brings is everlasting and increasing. It continues forever, and it is the peace we desperately need, because as a result of the Fall in Genesis 3, each of us is separated from God and one another. Paul writes in Romans 5 that through one man sin entered the world, and death—separation—spread to all. All the hostilities and divisions in this world go back to Genesis 3.

Grace and Peace Linked Together

All of this is according to his grace. Throughout the New Testament, the grace of God is repeatedly linked to the peace of God. Consider Paul's greetings: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"—Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3. The same appears in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Peter, John, and Revelation—seventeen times in the New Testament we see peace linked to grace.

So it is right to say that the most frequent gift connected to God's grace is this peace—total human wholeness, well-being, and thriving, the world as it ought to be, found only in Jesus Christ. When we celebrate Christmas, we rejoice in God's gracious gift of peace.

Jesus Our Peace Offering

Point three: in and by Christ we are blessed with peace from God, resulting in peace with God and one another. He can do this because he is our peace offering. In the Old Testament, Leviticus 3 begins to describe the peace offering. Leviticus is all about how the people of God would have relationship with him at the Tabernacle. Because Genesis 3 cut off our connection to God's presence, God made it possible for the Jewish people to come to him—but only through sacrifices, including the peace offering, mentioned about twenty times in Leviticus.

Now we no longer need that. Hebrews says Jesus was sacrificed once for all and makes it possible for us to come into God's presence. In the Tabernacle a veil still separated the people from God's presence, but in Christ that veil is removed.

Paul says it in Ephesians 2: "For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation... having abolished in His flesh the enmity... so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace... that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross." Jesus reconciles us to one another and to God.

This is where our whole vision of "life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus" comes from. In Christ all the dividing lines Paul names in Galatians—socioeconomic, ethnic and racial, male and female—are removed, and we are joined together as one body. If you want to see divided peoples come together as one, the best place ought to be the church, by the power of Jesus Christ.

Reconciled Through the Cross

Romans 5:1 tells us how this comes about: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand." When Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross, he declared the payment for our sin complete. He is the peace offering, and now we can be reconciled to God and one another.

Paul continues in Romans 5:6-11: "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly... But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us... For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life... through whom we have now received the reconciliation."

There would be no Good Friday and no Resurrection Sunday without the Advent of the Prince of Peace. I keep emphasizing the same things because we live in a culture that doesn't know this—and apparently it doesn't, because we have not done a good job sharing it. If you know it well and aren't sharing it, you could do better. This is the most important news to share. The world that cries for peace—the very thing every beauty pageant contestant asks for—only finds it ultimately in Jesus Christ.

How many of you would agree the world seems totally turned upside down and getting worse? He is our peace. He is the only one who brings restoration and reconciliation with God and one another. Christmas is all about this.

How Do You Access This Peace?

I want to bring this to two practical questions. First: "This sounds good, but how do I access this peace? I've never experienced it." Second: "I believe in Jesus, but I carry this weight of stress and anxiety and fear. How do I experience this peace?"

The first answer is simple: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." You lay hold of this peace by trusting in Christ's finished work—by grace through faith. Romans 10 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved... For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." It is not by your sacrifices, not by some prayer on a hilltop—it is only found in Jesus, who on a certain hilltop prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Put your trust in him.

How Do You Experience This Peace?

Then there's another group: you've believed in Christ, you've trusted him, yet you're not experiencing this peace. Paul says in Colossians, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." How? The answer is so simple it's difficult for us.

Philippians 4:6 gives perhaps the most difficult command Jesus gives us: "Be anxious for nothing." I'm really bad at that. Fortunately, Paul also gives the way to fulfill it: "but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." He says the same thing four ways—prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, making your requests known—all forms of prayer. And the result, verse 7: "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I guarantee that more than a few of you are wrestling with anxieties. A gentleman came up after first service and shared that his family is falling apart, his business may lose another million dollars after losing a million last year, he's trying to make payroll. Some of you have stressors weighing on you that keep you up at night. And Jesus, through Paul, says, "Be anxious for nothing." You think, "Thanks, but this is hard." Yet the peace of God surpasses all understanding—it has no good explanation. You didn't take a course at Palomar College or find it on a Black Friday deal. It comes from God by prayer, which seems so simple it feels impossible.

The Peace of God Is Available

Point five: the peace of God is available to you as you come to God in faith and prayer. (Point four, which I got ahead of myself on: peace from God brings peace with God, resulting in the blessing of the peace of God in our lives.)

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." How many of you could use some rest? David wrote, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you." Peter picks this up in 1 Peter 5: "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." Your soul can be at rest even though chaos remains in the world. Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation; in me you may have peace." We wish it were reversed, but that's what he said.

Paul continues in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." And the result: "the God of peace will be with you."

Perfect Peace—Shalom Shalom

Isaiah said 2,800 years ago, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." In Hebrew, "perfect peace" is simply shalom shalom—peace squared. The Hebrew language amplifies meaning by repeating words. He will keep you in shalom shalom whose mind is stayed on him.

There's been much research on mindfulness and its effects on the body and brain. I was talking with a friend, a neuroanesthesiologist, about this. There are all kinds of meditation apps in our culture, and many of them try to focus on nothing—to empty the mind, which is nearly impossible and just makes me insane when I try it. I much prefer biblical meditation, because it tells us to set our minds on something.

If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate—because worry is a form of meditation. Worry is what happens when you meditate on all the things causing you stress, the things you're sure might kill you. You know that issue from every angle, close up and far away, and it absorbs you and keeps you up at night. Paul gives the key: set your mind on things above. Think on what is noble, true, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy—and the God of peace will be with you.

Draw Near and He Will Draw Near

How many of you want the God of peace to be with you this week? He will keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him because he trusts in him. You say, "I don't think that'll work." Have you tried it—really tried it? Have you set your phone on Do Not Disturb, or turned it off for the first time in years, turned off the nightly news, and spent time with the Lord and his Word? Scripture says if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. If you draw near to the Prince of Peace, he will draw near to you.

And here's the awesome thing: when he does, it becomes an amazing evangelistic tool to those around you. The world that is crying for peace cannot find it. The people you work with, live next to, and go to school with don't have this peace—they have overwhelming anxiety. Mental health has declined dramatically in America over the last 10 to 15 years, with rising anxiety, stress, and fear. And America's answer is just more pharmaceuticals to deal with the effects. Maybe we should deal with the source. He will keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we ask that You would minister here by Your Spirit. I know there are many here this morning filled with anxieties, stress, and fear, and the only thing keeping them from coming to You is their own fears—the worry that someone might see them and think they're weak. So often embarrassment is the only thing that keeps us from drawing near to You. I pray we would lay those things aside in this time of prayer and worship, and that You would draw people forward to receive Your peace. You promised we would experience rest as we cast our cares upon You and come to You. We have been fighting and laboring, so Lord, do Your work by Your Spirit, we pray. If that's you, come from where you are, and let us worship the Lord and pray together. Amen.