The Gift of PEACE

 “PEACE of Mind and Heart”

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sun, Dec 15, 2019

Text: John 14:16-27

Good morning.  This Dec we’re getting to know members of our community – Rose became a member here this fall.  I want to invite her up to share:

• "What do you value at JRCC?"
• "Why become a member?"
• "What's next for you and how can we pray for you?" Surgery

We’ve been to Rose’s home to pray for healing for her as elders and we want to invite those who want to come up and lay hands on her and pray to do so now.  The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective!

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The third Sunday of Advent is the theme of JOY. And Rose, you emulate that joy.  As you worship, as you interact with people. And so we are grateful that God brought you to this community at this time and with you, came God’s JOY. So would you please light three candles today?  

Well, friends, we are in the season of Advent.  The season of waiting and anticipation.  The season of the Christian calendar where we spend four weeks getting our hearts, our homes and our souls in a posture of readiness for the coming of Jesus which we celebrate at Christmas. Advent is a season where God can do some amazing transformation in us, should we be open to it. The season of Advent is filled with tensions of juxtapositions: the most prominent one is the theme of darkness & light.    

This Advent season at Jericho, we are doing a deep dive into the theme of PEACE on Earth and Rose’s story reminds us of the very real tension we experience around peace at Advent.  Her brain tumor reminds us that while the music at the mall may be joyful & festive and the family photos on the Christmas cards may all look happy and bright, Advent helps us to pause and remember that all is not right with the world. Advent reminds us that as Christians, we don’t have to pretend that everything is OK. 

One of our Core Values here at Jericho is Authentic Community and when we are asked to describe this, we say that this means we give each other permission not to have to pretend.  This is a safe place for your life to fall apart and for the people of this community to help walk with you to see healing and hope come to you through the power and presence of Jesus. 

Turn with me in your Bibles to the gospel of John, chapter 14.  This may seem like an odd text for an Advent message.  After all, in this part of the story, Jesus is toward the end of his earthly life. Jesus has gathered together with his disciples together for a celebratory meal, maybe like you intend to host at some point over the holidays.  And Jesus knows that the hour is drawing near for his death.  His closest friends and followers do not yet grasp this ominous reality. In John 13, Jesus predicts not only his departure, but also massive breakdowns in the relational fabric of his followers.  He predicts that one of them will betray him, that the rest will all will dessert him & he tells Peter, one of his closest friends, that even Peter will betray Jesus & swear publicly that he didn’t even know Jesus! So good news of great joy which shall be for all people, am I right? 

And then in the midst of this sobering news – I’m going to die and you are all going to turn on me and each other - Jesus offers what might be considered an odd statement.  Jesus says in John 14:1 – “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me”

Now, how could Jesus make that kind of statement in the midst of what he was about to endure?  This is the equivalent of a coach going out and saying “gang, we’re going to get slaughtered – but we’re going to have a great game!”  How could Jesus’ followers – both those original disciples and also us in our world today as we seek to learn from and to follow Jesus – how can we experience those hard things that Peter Ash preached about in his own personal story last weekend, that Rose has faced and is facing, and yet have a heart that is not troubled?! 

Let’s keep reading in John 14 because we are going to see that God gives us three gifts that can keep our hearts from being troubled no matter what our circumstances or surroundings.

When Meg and I were dating, parts of our relationship were long distance.  We met in college but I was living in Toronto at the time and she was living on Vancouver Island.  So when we were apart for Christmas holidays or the summers, we would give each other gifts to help the other person navigate the time we were apart.  I can remember one of these absences, Meg giving me one of her Club Monaco sweatshirts - It was the 90s so Club Monaco was on trend!  And that gift reminded me of her every time I wore it.  It smelled like her, it was meaningful to her.  And so it was the perfect gift to leave me with during a time of absence from each other. 

Jesus says to His early followers – I am going away, BUT I am leaving you with a gift.  The first gift Jesus promises is Gift #1 – Guiding Presence of God’s Spirit. 

Look with me at John 14:16-17: the robust trinitarian theology; the dynamic interaction between God the Father, Jesus the Son, & God the Holy Spirit  

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate [which means comforter, encourager, Counselor], who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you.”- John 14:16-17 (NLT)

This is one of the most powerful promises of God to those who know God.  That in the person of the Holy Spirit, God is living in you, to comfort, to encourage, to guide, to protect.  That the very presence and power of God indwells all who believe in God is so awesome!  It’s the promise of Immanuel; God With Us.  It’s better than any sweatshirt (no offense, hon). 

New Testament scholar Rodney A. Whitacre writes about this passage that this is not the promise of an absence of troubles but “the gift of calmness and confidence that comes from union with God and faith in God and God’s promises and presence”. When Rose goes into surgery, she can experience God’s gift of peace – not because she earned it or that there’s nothing to be afraid of… But rather she can experience peace because the Holy Spirit of God lives in her and will guide and guard her heart and her mind in Christ Jesus.  This gift is available for you as well. 

For each of the three gifts that Christ promises in John 14, we’re going to consider our response. Responding to God’s Gift

In John 14:16, Jesus promises that the Wonderful Counselor, the Divine Comforter will never leave you and will lead you and I into all truth.  One of the wonderful gifts that God offers is to guide you, if you are open to it.  So let me ask you to pause for a moment and consider this question:

Are there any areas of my life where I require guidance? Am I open to receiving it?  God may guide you to take steps of obedient faith that are hard – like owning up to a mistake and asking for forgiveness. Will you do it? You may feel a bit lost in this season of your life. Set aside some time in the hustle & bustle of this month to get alone and ask God to speak to you.  Any of us as your pastors would be more than happy to help you learn how to listen well, to give you resources for that posture.  But we will also be there to challenge you to walk out what you are being guided into.  

So that is the first gift Jesus says – the gift of God’s guiding presence.  The Second gift is closely related to that:  Gift #2 –  Loving Revelation of God’s Heart.  Look with me at John 14:21,23 where Jesus continues:

And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them…. My Father will love them & we will come and make our home with each of them.”

Christmas is one of those times when the theme of HOME is everywhere. How many Christmas movies or Christmas songs can you think of with the word HOME in the title?  [Shout them out]

(Jared and I are having an argument – I think that Chris Rhe’s 1986 song “Driving Home for Christmas” is the dumbest Christmas song in the past three decades – but he says it has a nice vibe to it so we listen to it.) 

I’m currently reading a book called The Hospitable Leader and in it, the author Terry Smith talks about how we all have a longing for a sense of being welcomed, being at HOME.  Home isn’t just about a place, it’s about a feeling.  When we feel at home in someone’s presence, they open up to us who they really are.  They share their heart with us and we share our hearts with them.  Home is about authenticity…  When you are at home with someone, you know their true nature, who they truly are. 

That is what Jesus is promising here… God is saying that God’s desire to be at home, to make a home, in your life.   The Voice translation paraphrases Jesus’ words this way: “I will love you and reveal My heart, will, and nature to you.” 

For some of us, this is a scary thing – we block God out and keep God out of our lives because we are afraid that there are things in our life that we don’t want to reveal to God.  Areas of deficiency.  Secret areas of greed, of sexual sin, slander, disobedience, that we think we are keeping hidden so well.  If we think about this in strictly human terms, if you or I are having people in to our homes, we usually spend some time cleaning things up.  We sweep away the clutter (or at least we sweep it under the bed) and we try to make the place presentable.  But if Jesus is coming or has come and Jesus wants to make my heart, my life, a place where God is at home, what might be some of the barriers to that?  As we consider how we might respond to God’s gift of Loving Relationship, we also need to pause & ask:

Is there anything in my life that might crowd Christ out or cause God to feel unwelcome?  Just like there are things in your physical home or space that can make a guest feel uncomfortable or not welcomed, sometimes there are things in our lives that we need to get rid of in order for Christ to dwell with us.  Maybe today God is bringing to your mind an attitude or an action that need to be swept away or cleaned up.  That process is called repentance – Saying “I’m sorry” to God or others.  This is like a deep clean of the soul and it can be a powerful way of restoring simplicity and a sense of a clean and clear heart and mind.  It’s why we encourage people to take stock of their life before participating in communion. Pause & ask “Is there anything that needs cleaning up?”

The third gift is perhaps the most counter-culturally compelling gift ever given:  Jesus says that He has capacity to give us Peace of Mind & Heart.  Look with me at John 14:27…. Jesus is reminding his followers He is going

“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 14:27 (NLT)

The peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  It is given in a way that the world cannot give.  We tend to think that peace means all is calm, all is bright… smooth sailing. BUT that’s not what Jesus promised His followers in John 14.  Right after this promise of peace, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, sentenced to death.  His disciples feel abandoned, they feel afraid. They experience troubles and persecutions as they seek to follow Jesus.  So the peace that Jesus promises is not a product of smooth sailing and calm circumstances.  But that is what makes it so powerful: it is a GIFT. 

W.E. Sangster, a British Methodist preacher wrote a Christmas article in Christianity today in 1956 entitled “Can We Get Peace of Mind?” and it that article, he said this: “Peace that can be destroyed any morning by a letter, or by the headlines in a newspaper, or by a motorist’s mistake, or by a doctor’s diagnosis, is too brittle for this rough world. Peace that can begin only when all our problems are solved will not begin on this earth. We have to learn to live with problems in ourselves, in society, and in the wider world. If we cannot have peace in a world of change, unsolved problems, and possible disaster, we cannot have it at all. Peace… is a gift. It cannot be achieved. God gives it to those who give themselves to Him.”

And this is why Advent is such a powerful time of year for Christians – we remind ourselves of the gifts that God has given to us.  The Gift of God’s Spirit, the Gift of God coming to take up residence not just in a general way in our world, but in our lives… the Gift of God’s Peace…. And all of these come to us as a result of the self-giving Love that God demonstrated when Jesus set aside the security of heaven and stepped down into our broken world to bring us the gift of wholeness. 

That is why it is appropriate to celebrate communion during Advent – when we come to this table we don’t “TAKE communion” we receive communion.  Why? Because what is being offered is a gift.  You don’t grab a gift out of the giver’s hand… your hands are open and outstretched to receive.

So the worship team is coming to lead us in two closing songs, and when you come to the communion station, there are servers here.  Indicate if you would like to receive a gluten free option or if you would like to receive a regular option for the bread, which represents the gift that Jesus offered of his own body, crucified, buried and resurrected for your hope and salvation.  Hold out your hands and the Steve & Ali or Sylvia & Denise will give it to you.  Holding out our hands, is a simple way we can say with our bodies: “Jesus, in humility, I receive the gift of your body, broken for me”

In John 14, Jesus says “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart... So don’t be troubled or afraid.” As you respond to God’s Gift today perhaps you need to ask.  “Is there anything in my life that troubles me or causes me to be afraid?  Maybe today you need to receive the gift of a person of a church family to walk with you through a difficult Christmas season.  Our prayer team today is pastor Wally, Meg and myself and we are ready and willing at the back and sides to stand with you in prayer.  

I invite you to stand with me.  The communion tables are open, come when you are ready to receive.  Take the elements back to your seat and partake as you are ready. Today, church stand in the confidence and faith that Christ has won in His death and resurrection.  Today, friend, you can stand in the face of the troubles that will come knowing that God’s grace is all-sufficient for you.  Hear the declaration from Colossians 3:

 “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And [as you come to the communion table] always be thankful.” For the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Let’s receive God’s good gift together.       

Benediction –

This month we are working on spiritual practices that can help us take the truths we are exploring about the PEACE of Christ and drive it deeper into our lives and our hearts.  When I was growing up, sometimes at Christmas we would go to church with my aunt and uncle who were Lutheran. And they had a corporate practice at their church known as the passing of the peace.  It’s more than a handshake and a hello.  It is a profound statement of giving and receiving.  And so as we close and disperse today, I want us to conclude with this simple action.  Find someone around you and say to them “Peace be with you” and they will respond “And also with you”.  When you do this, you are allowing yourself to be used as an instrument of God’s peace.  You are saying in short form the blessing of Numbers 6:24-26  “‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. 26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.”  So as you are going, will you try that for me?  Find at least 3 people to pass the peace to.  And be a recipient of peace as well.  “Peace be with you”