Advent 2015 Peace

December 13, 2015 (adapted)

Advent 2012:  “It’s a Wonderful Peace”   NOTES NOT EDITED

Luke 2:14; Isa. 9:7; 26:3

SIS: Peace throughout the course of your life is a matter of experiencing the Presence of Almighty God.

For the most part, peace as it is commonly thought of, does not exist.

Our world is always at war somewhere, particularly now with the problems with Syria and ISIS.  But, if it’s not Syria, some other Muslim nation will be trying to eradicate Israel or some other tribe will be bent on dominating a neighboring tribe.  Man has had conflict since Adam and Eve’s first argument over who was at fault in the garden.  Peace, as a geo-political reality will never exist anywhere on earth for very long. 

Conflict rears its ugly head everywhere.  We have conflict in families.  Conflict in churches.  Conflict in communities.  Conflict in our world.  The flames of conflict are always burning somewhere.  But, as bad as circumstances might be around the world or even in your own life, you can still have peace.  Christmas is about, “A Wonderful Peace.”

The Wonderful Peace of Christmas does not require perfect circumstances to have perfect peace.  We can have perfect peace even when our figurative house is falling down around us.  The key to peace isn’t our circumstances. If we allow our circumstances to get the best of us peace will evaporate like a snowflake on a hot griddle (Don’t ask me why one is cooking outside in the snow, but you get the point). As we continue to follow the story of George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” we come to the crisis in which Uncle Billy loses the entire bank deposit for the Bailey Savings and Loan, just at a time when bank auditors are going to examine the books.  The books show the deposit, but Uncle Billy lost the money.  Along with losing the deposit, George Bailey loses his peace, and his temper.

Here’s the clip. (1:23:17 to 1:27:47)

One of Israel’s prophets gives us a visionary description of the Messiah centuries before Jesus was born: Isaiah 9:6-7

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

Isaiah will go on to talk about “peace” 28 more times as He

outlines the ministry of the Messiah.  One of those 28 times is

Isa 26:3:

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is

steadfast, because he trusts in you.

There is no doubt: If we keep our minds fixed upon the Prince of Peace we will have peace in our lives all the time.

The PROBLEM we have with understanding the Wonderful Peace

of God is we misunderstand what “peace” really is.  Someone has wisely summed up the Biblical perspective on peace:

Peace that Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble, but is rather the confidence that He is there with you always.  Biblical peace is not the absence of trouble but the Presence of God.

The Hebrew name of Jesus spoken prophetically by Isaiah is: Sar Shalom, which can mean, “Captain of Safety.”  It is a term sometimes associated with the confidence of victory in battle.  Jews are a people well-acquainted with struggle, slavery and hardship, and at the same time, an abiding sense of God’s deliverance.  This is peace.  Not the absence of trouble but the sense of God’s presence.

This is also the theme of the angel’s song at the birth of Jesus:“ Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace to men UPON WHOM GOD’S FAVOR RESTS.”  There is no peace until one has peace with God.  Perfect peace is not about perfect circumstances but a relationship the Perfect Prince.

To most people, peace is the absence of conflict. This was the original meaning of the word translated in our passage shortly in the time before the birth of Jesus.  One of the Greek goddesses was a goddess called, “Eirene.”  Greeks believed that her favor bestowed upon a person the gifts of wealth and well-being.  The ancient Greeks considered peace to be the foundation of national wealth and prosperity.  That is why Pontius Pilot, the Roman ruler, crucified Jesus to appease the angry Jewish mob.  He knew that Caesar would not be happy if there was not peace—geo-political calm—in   Pilot’s province.  Only later did the word, “peace,” come to mean “tranquility, peace of mind.”

The Wonderful Peace we experience at Christmas time is to recognize that, regardless of station or circumstance, we can have peace throughout the times of our lives.  Let us survey the Word of God together to discover the transforming power of God’s Wonderful Peace.

1.  If God is with you and His favor rests upon you, you will be at peace IN THE WORKING TIMES of your life (Haggai 1:1-6)

(Hag 1:1-6)  In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: {2} This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built.'" {3} Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: {4} "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" {5} Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. {6} You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

So many people are filled with stress and dissatisfaction in regard to their work.  They slave and strive, but never get ahead. They have no “piece” of the pie and they have no peace in their live.

•   Someone told me many years ago, “wealth is not so much how much you can make, but how much you can keep.”

•   Peace in the working times of our lives comes from knowing that God is blessing us, even if our efforts seem to be less than blessed at the moment.

•   Nothing is more frustrating to our peace of mind than to strive and work hard but seem to make no progress.

A first– grader by the name of Angie came home from school

one day proudly wearing a blue ribbon pinned to her shirt.  She had won “first place” in her class’s natural history contest.  She drew a giraffe with “3 legs.”  Her Mom (having not been trained by HeadStart) questioned the little girl’s picture: “But, honey, your giraffe only has three legs.  A giraffe has four legs.”  Not deterred, the little girl spoke brightly, “Yeh, I know.  But I was the closest one in the class.”

That is a sweet story but at its core is the rotten philosophy of modern success: the modern mindset tells mankind that success is not achieving the goal of excellence, but merely staying ahead of the next guy—that is, being “top rat” in the rat race of life.  Many people in the world manage to be “top rat in the rat race” but never experience a sense of well-being because they eliminate the pursuit of God from the equation of a successful life.  When we do this, eventually we end up dissatisfied with a “blue ribbon for a three-legged giraffe.”

If you want to experience “peace” in the working times of your life, you must keep God in the equation of what it means to be “truly successful.”

2.  If God is with you and His favor is upon you, you will have peace IN THE WAITING TIMES of your life (Psalm 27: 1-3, 14)

(Psa 27:1-3)  The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? {2} When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. {3} Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

Note that the circumstances in this Psalmist’s life were
far from ideal—they were in fact life threatening.  In such a time as this, what does one do?  Notice verse 14:

(14)  Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and
wait for the LORD.

The word translated “wait” in this passage means “to bind together, or gather.”  There should never be a wasted or useless moment in the life of a believer.  It is very frustrating and disturbing to think that any of the precious few moments of our lives are being “wasted by useless waiting.”  Wasted waiting destroys one’s peace of mind.

I’ve read where we spend literally years of our lives, “Waiting. . .”

at the bank; at the grocery store; at the doctor’s office; for our kids to come home; for our “babies to be born.” . . . ;  or, for a prayer to be answered.

Hurry up and wait.  I learned the meaning of this phrase in “Boot Camp.”  We would “double-time” (run) to get to the chow hall and then wait a half hour to eat.  We’d run every where . . . and then wait.  Our leaders made us wait to teach us to rely on those in charge of our lives, and not upon our own cunning and ingenuity.  It was about trust.

When we wait on the Lord as the Psalmist instructs us, we are not “wasting our time,” we are gathering our strength and collecting our spiritual resources.

Waiting, when God is in it, is not a wasting time but making the best use of time.  The greatest waste of time is not “waiting on God,” but going on ahead without him.

Men will drive around lost for hours rather than stop and ask for directions . . . This is foolish.  We not only run out of gas, but we run out of patience.

We inflict needless pain and anxiety upon ourselves when we “get ahead” of God and fail to wait upon His blessing.  A man, thinking himself clever, once asked God, “How long is a million years?”  God replied, “It’s just like a second of your time, my child.”  The man asked a second question, “How much is a million dollars.”  The Lord replied, “It is just like a single penny to Me.”  Thinking he had ceased upon success without struggle the man quipped, “Well, then, could I have a penny?”  God replied, “Certainly, my child, in a second!”

God does indeed have great blessing in store for us – but we must wait. But, when we have the assurance and hope of better things to come, we can have “wonderful peace in the waiting times of life.”  Hard circumstances can build anxiety and anxiety can trigger our “flight” response to our circumstance.  The Bible says, “wait!”

The surest way I know to get behind in life is to get ahead of God!

           

Do not move a muscle or move ahead one inch in your life until you are certain that God is with you and His favor is upon you. If you do not wait on God, you will not have peace in your life.

3.  If God is with you and His favor rests upon you, you will have peace IN THE WORRYING TIMES of your life (Phil. 4:6)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Everyone worries.  Some people even worry when they have nothing in their life to worry about.  It is human nature.

Joseph had plenty to worry about . . .; Mary had more than enough to worry about . . .; Everyone in Bethlehem was on their way to a TAX AUDIT – they all had something to worry about!

We cannot escape frustrating moments in life, but we can escape anxiety and the tendency to worry.

I remember one gift a teen-age daughter gave her mother for Christmas.  As you know, teens can be very frustrating for parents.  They know everything and think they need you for nothing, but they ask you for things all the time – it is frustrating.  Anyway, this teen-age girl got her mother some very expensive “wrinkle-removing creme.”  Just the gift a mother in mid-life hopes to receive.  The mother was talking about this gift with another mother.  The other mother asked, “Well, what did you daughter give you last year.”  The mother of the teen replied, “The wrinkles!”

Life will give you “wrinkles,” even without worrying about the health and welfare of your children. There will always be times of “worry in our lives.”  We need to follow the advice of the pop singer who sang:  “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”  I’d sing it, “Don’t worry, wait on God.”

When you are concerned, turn to God. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. We can be at peace in times of worry when we know that God is with us and His favor rests upon us.

4.  If God is with us and His favor rests upon us, we can be at peace IN THE WANING TIMES of our lives (Lk  2:25-30; 36-38)

(Luke 2:25-30)  Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. {26} It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. {27} Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, {28} Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: {29} "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. {30} For my eyes have seen your salvation,

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(36-38)  There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, {37} and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. {38} Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

If you live long enough, you will get old. And, if you get old, your strength, your health, and you wealth will wane – which means “lose strength or power.”

Mechanics call it “low compression.” Your pistons just don’t have the punch they used to have.  You don’t have enough “carbs” in your carburetor.

What do you get a ninety-year old woman for Christmas? There was a very kindly old lady in the community.  Everyone loved her.  She lived in a small, well-kept, wood frame house at the end of a cul-de-sac.  For years her neighbors had been buying her little knick-knacks for Christmas.  As she approached the golden age of ninety, a friend asked her what she wanted for Christmas.  The woman who was winding down in life smiled and said, “A kiss . . . . . . so I won’t have to dust it!”

A man was constantly being nagged by his wife to go get an eye exam.  As we get older, our sight isn’t what it used to be, but many people don’t want to admit it.  The man resisted.  Finally, the frustrated wife made an appointment to see the eye doctor.  The day before the man was to go to the eye doctor he came into the kitchen where his bride of 30 years was sweating over a hot stove with her hair in curlers.  The man was suddenly overcome by his love for his bride.  He reached over and pecked her on the cheek and said, “Honey, you really look good to me.”  The surprised wife quickly replied, “That’s it!  I’m cancelling your eye appointment!”

We all face the time when our strength and power will wane.  We need to remember Simeon and Anna in the Christmas story.  I’ve watched people grow old.  I’ve watched people die simply because their bodies wore out.  People who die in the presence of the Lord, die in peace—even when they have been abandoned by their bodies.

Peace can be our gift from the cradle to the grave . . . . in our Working Times; in our Waiting Times; in our Worrying Times and in our Waning Times if God is with us and His favor is upon us – we can have peace within us, if God’s favor is upon us.

Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called WonderfulCounselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

(Luke 2:14)  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Isaiah 26:3 3  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is

steadfast, because he trusts in you.

You can have peace throughout the different seasons of life if you are experiencing the favor of Almighty God – the Prince of Peace.