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December 9, 2007AM
Philippians 4:4-11
Challenging Chains with PEACE
Peace is not a warm and fuzzy experience.
Peace is not sitting in a cozy chair with a favourite book by a crackling fire.
I’m at a loss as to what to call those settings – maybe serene.
Peace is not found in the pretty places of life.
Peace requires something of contrast for it to be recognized.
It is like light.
Light is most fully appreciated in the presence of darkness.
Remove contrast and light is not all that attractive.
What makes peace so desirable?
It is made desirable by the very things that would destroy or distort it.
Living a hectic, chaotic, frantic, tumultuous life wearies us.
We experience fatigue from the pressures of life.
Those pressures are what drive us to pursue peace.
That is why our world longs desperately for peace.
We try everything to snag a piece of peace.
And the harder we try the more futile the efforts become.
Peace is elusive.
It is slippery and hard to pin down.
So what do people do?
They settle for an imitation of peace.
Are you settling today?
Are you looking for the cozy, warm fire variety of peace?
Have you settled for the peace found in isolation?
Has the exhaustion that life exhales on you made you settle
for a fake peace?
Paul knew something about peace.
He did not just make up a new variety of peace.
His insight into peace came from the Scriptures.
He knew the stories of Israel’s history.
It was his history.
It was a history that had the goal of peace.
“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’” (Numbers 6:23-26)
But Israel’s history was completely riddled with war.
Navigating Israel’s history of peace would be like trying to find smooth
pavement on Water Street this week.
After the snow storm there was nothing peaceful about Summerside’s roads.
They were nasty.
It was rough going with the ups and downs of ice patches.
You really knew when it was smooth because of the contrast.
The goal was to find smooth pavement, but the road was riddled with
chunks of ice.
Israel’s goal was peace.
But it often came through war, tension, and struggle.
“When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies.” (Deuteronomy 20:10-14)
Paul saw that peace came through the backdrop of struggle.
But he also knew that peace was not something he could manufacture.
God alone was the Source of peace.
He knew that the prophets longed for peace and saw it coming in the Messiah.
The Prophet Isaiah knew there was only one Source of peace.
“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.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
The Prophet Zechariah saw the Source of peace.
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9, 10)
Jesus is the Proclaimer of Peace (Zechariah 9:9, 10).
The prophet Ezekiel saw the Source of peace.
“They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Ezekiel 37:25-27)
Jesus is the Presence of Peace (Ezekiel 37:25-27).
Are you getting the picture of peace that Paul had?
Peace is the goal.
But it is only found in the environment of hostility.
Into that hostile environment God enters through Jesus.
That is what Paul knew about peace.
Paul knew that in any circumstance peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
In the most hostile environment peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
In a prison cell peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
In the midst of persecution peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
In the toughest turmoil peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When people hate you and revile you peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When you are fettered peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When surrounded by death and loss peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When despair surrounds you peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When illness envelopes you peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
When people abandon you and you feel alone peace is possible.
Jesus is there.
Paul said in verse 5, “The Lord is at hand.”
He said in verse 9, “the God of peace will be with you.”
He said in verse 7, “the peace of God . . . will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
And when our hearts and minds are kept in Jesus what do we think about?
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8).
That is how Paul could say, “I have learned, in whatever state I am to be content.” (vs. 11)
Whether he faced plenty or hunger he was content in Jesus.
Whether he faced abundance or want he was content in Jesus.
Paul knew peace not because everything ran smoothly.
He knew peace because he experienced the Prince of Peace, the Proclaimer of
Peace, the Presence of Peace.
He didn’t run from problems and trials.
He faced them head on with Jesus.
For Paul, peace was not the absence of problems.
For Paul, peace was the presence of Jesus in the midst of problems.
Are you experiencing peace?
You won’t find it in escape routes from life.
Everything running smoothly is not evidence of peace in your life.
It is experienced only in the life that trusts Jesus for and in everything.
You can find peace right here right now.
Our closing song is taken from this passage in Philippians.
Jesus is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent.
Look to Him today.
Reach to Him today.
Jesus in the midst will transform any storm.
Closing Song Whatever is True
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20)