Real Peace

            As the video has shown we have a lot of ideas about what peace is. It seems to be everything from a cup of tea to having time for yourself to no more war. We have this very broad view of peace that sometimes leads us to just listing off some buzzwords like Lenny Kravitz does. But Jesus is called the Prince of Peace and so what does he say about peace?

John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Or Paul says in Romans 8:6  “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

            All these passages in which Jesus or Paul are talking about peace contrasts are being drawn between the peace that Jesus gives and the peace that the world gives. This contrast is drawn more specifically in Galatians 5:19-23:

Galatians 5:19-26 “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.”

Paul gives us a whole list of things that we do when we follow our sinful nature and compares that with things we do when we follow the Spirit (our fruits of the Spirit). So when we are looking at the fruit of peace and what that looks like we can see that the things of our sinful nature are not peace at all but we often try to find peace in those things. We are going to look at three areas in which we often try to find peace in the wrong way. We are going to have an action for each one to help us remember.

Our first one is Identity. Our action to help us remember Identity is going to be pointing our thumbs at ourselves. Sexual immorality, lustful pleasures, and impurity all talk about people who are trying to find peace by finding themselves. They try to find their peace in Identity. But the peace that Jesus give us is peace rooted in our identity in Christ. Our identity in Christ transcends ourselves. It relies on God himself, who is never changing. We find ourselves when we give ourselves to God. God has the final say in our identity because he made us. Trying to say we are something that God says we are not does not make sense. It is like if you took your clay and made a cup and said “you are a cup that holds water” but the cup says back to you “no I am a speaker that plays music.” That little cup is not going to find peace in that identity because It is trying to be what it is not. So our first one is identity (action).

Our second area we try to find peace wrongly in is wealth or objects Pastor Brad is going to talk about this in a little bit but right now all of you have clay at your tables so while we move onto our third one I want you all to take the clay and make something that you find security in. It could be a house, it could be money, any material object that you would feel safe if you had it. Our action for this one will be (?). Sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties talks about people who try to find peace in power or material goods. Finding security and peace in the things we own. Because we have all this money or all these things we feel secure that we can take care of ourselves if trouble arises. What we have or what we don’t have is not the foundation of our peace. The peace Jesus offers is placing our trust in Jesus’ promises. That he is with us forever, that he goes to prepare a room for us in his Father’s house, that he is safeguarding our treasure in heaven. Our action for wealth (?)

Our last one will be finding peace in our relationships with others. Our action for this one will be a high five to the people at your table. Dissension and Division speaks to those who try and find peace solely in relationships with others. Peace is felt when we have lots of friends or everyone likes us. But we know that this is not ever really the case. There will always be someone who does not like us. If Joey Tribune and Chandler Bing get into fights then we all fight. If Spongebob and Patrick get into fights then we will all get into fight. But the peace found in Jesus is through relationship with him. Again it is a lasting peace because, unlike people, Jesus doesn’t change and remains constant. If we get our peace from the unchanging Jesus then that peace will flow into our other relationships. It doesn’t mean we won’t fight with our friends ever but it means that there will still be peace in our relationships. Not having conflict is not the basis of our peace.

The main theme I see throughout these contrasts is a pattern of trust. Peace and trust come hand in hand. When we place our trust in who we are, in our power, in our relationships, and in our materials we find no lasting peace. Not peace that surpasses all understanding. The trust in God for identity, provision, and relationships is where we find that lasting peace that passes all understanding.

Before we move on let’s make sure we know all our actions. Show me the action for Identity. Now the action for Wealth. And lastly the action for relationships. Make sure you remember those actions because you will be asked again.