BELIEVE 23: Peace
April 26, 2015
Mark 4:35-41
We all want to experience peace. More often than not when we talk about peace, we find it easier to eat a piece of pie, not experience the peace of God, and all too often, we think a piece of pie will give us real peace. But that’s not how it works.
Most of us are busy. Whether you’re in school, retired, working or anything in between, there is always something to do. Something needs to be fixed, someone needs to be taken care of. Sometimes that’s a good thing because that keeps us going. But there comes a point in time when we just want to rest.
But more than rest, I believe we’re really seeking to experience peace. Yet, peace isn’t something we can easily grab a hold of. It’s not tangible. In fact, no item in these last 10 weeks of Believe are tangible. Peace is very allusive. At the end of a long day you may want a few minutes of peace and quiet. That’s easier said than done when the phone rings, the kids won’t settle down and go to bed. How do you find peace when you can’t turn off your mind and fall asleep or you wake up in the middle of the night and your mind kicks into high gear?
What about when you know you need to have that difficult conversation with someone. You need to confront them, or confess to them. Where’s peace? The fear and anxiety of going to the doctor and hearing devastating news. The decision to care for your spouse or parent who probably needs long term care, but you’re doing it all. Where’s peace? A piece of pie sounds good, but it’s not going to help.
How do we experience peace when our children or grandchildren, or even our siblings are not handling life well and you’re taking on the burden.
Add to that the sinful world, the terrorism, the senseless killings, the drug use, the destruction of human life. It can cause us to feel anxious. How can we even be one nation when we are always battling one another politically?
Anyone in need of some good news this morning!?!?!
Let me tell you about a storm the disciples experienced. It occurred in the Gospel of Mark, in the 4th chapter. Jesus has been teaching and healing. As the day is coming to an end, let’s see what happened ~
35 On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
36 And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
38 But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
39 And Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Have you ever been in a storm? Have you ever had something happen which was beyond your control, something in which the anxiety and fear were at an all time high?
You see, the disciples had never experienced anyone who had control over nature. Nobody ever told the wind, “STOP!” And it stopped. I mean who does that? But Jesus did! And something happened to the disciples. They saw something different, but more than seeing something, they were asked something.
40 “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Is that a question which Jesus could ask us when were in that crunch time. When we’re scared, when we’re feeling alone, when we feel uncertain about everything.
Jesus may seek to comfort us with those same questions. Why are you so afraid? Where’s your faith, child?
Could it be that we believe in Jesus, but we really don’t trust in His promises? Could it be that we think Jesus has abandoned us when we go through our difficult times? Is it that we’ve forgotten what Jesus offers? After all, if the Son of God was sleeping in the boat, then all should still be well. It didn’t concern Jesus. He was fine. He was wet, but He had no fear.
David has been described as a “man after God’s heart.” David had a number of storms in his life, some of which were his own doing. After David’s affair with Bathsheba, he was distraught.
And the storm clouds were growing. After he was confronted by the prophet Nathan, David wrote these words in Psalm 32 ~
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
There was no peace in David’s life.
So what is Peace and how do we get it? As Jesus was with the disciples in the Upper Room, celebrating Passover, just before the storm of His betrayal, Jesus told them, 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let your hearts be afraid. – John 14:27
Aren’t those great words from Jesus? Notice Jesus is really clear about where peace comes from. It comes from Him. From a relationship with Christ. When we try to embrace peace from the world, we end up with a distorted view of peace. We buy more, we sin more, we do things we normally wouldn’t do, because we’re following a plan which is not from God. Jesus tells us we need to embrace His peace.
The peace of God is not temporary. Last week we spoke about joy and joy is not temporary either. Joy comes from our connection to Christ. The same is true of peace.
While still in the Upper Room, Jesus told the disciples ~ 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. – John 16:33
The disciples certainly knew tribulation. Tribulation means “pressing together, or pressure.” You know what that’s like when you feel pressure, when you feel the world is pressing in on you. We all know that type of pressure. But Jesus tells us the great news, I have overcome the world. It didn’t look like it, but it was about to happen. In 3 days, the world would find out Jesus defeated death.
So, take heart! Dear friends, take heart! Jesus has overcome the world.
Consider the words of the Apostle Paul ~ 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:1
Because of the faith we have in Jesus, we are forgiven. That’s great news. And one of the gifts we receive because of our faith is peace with God.
The Peace of God comes from knowing God loves and forgives you. We don’t need to live in fear that our sin, guilt and shame will be exposed and we will be condemned for what we’ve done wrong. Why else did Christ die? Did He die so you could still be judged guilty of all your sins? Did He die so you would have no peace and would rot away in this world, always fearing you haven’t done enough?
NO WAY!! Paul proclaims more good news in Romans 8:1, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We don’t have to be afraid that an angry God will condemn us. Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. We are forgiven. The only one who is trying to condemn you is satan. But we already know he lost the battle and we win! That’s part of the great news. There is no one in heaven who will condemn you, nobody will bring any charges against you. Because we are forgiven by God, our relationship with Him has been restored. David’s peace was restored after he confessed his sins. David then wrote ~
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. – Psalm 32:5
Then David added, 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. – Psalm 32:7
Because we have the Peace of God, we can live at peace with God, with others and even with ourselves. The peace we have with God takes care of the past, our sins are forgiven. We don’t have to be afraid to talk to God. We have access to God right now and can bring our prayers and praise and concerns to Him. And we have the promise of living in God’s peace forever.
Because we have the Peace of God, we can also work to restore peace with the people in our lives. We are called to respect people, to seek to reconcile with people. To consider others as better than ourselves. Paul reminds us in Romans 12 ~ 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
God’s peace should change the way we look at others. Just as God took steps to restore peace with us, we may have to take the initiative to restore peace with others.
I am thankful we have that in our church. We are imperfect people. Nobody here has their act totally together. We wish we did, we sometimes pretend we do, but when we do that we’re trying to show the worlds peace, not God’s. Yet, in spite of our imperfection, we seek to share the faith and live the faith as one body. We have unity. We have one God, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit.
Because we have that, when something goes wrong, we are there for one another. We are there to help and care for one another. That is great news and something we always need to cultivate.
Ultimately we can learn to live at Peace with ourselves. Since God loves and forgives us, we can love and forgive ourselves. The Peace of God comes from accepting His invitation to turn to Him for help in the storms of life. The storms will come. But peace comes when we know and trust the Lord is with us.
As Paul said in Philippians 4 ~ 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Storms will come. Jesus said so. Experience agrees. And when they do and when we supernaturally experience that peace of Jesus which surpasses all understanding, we need to give thanks, we need to praise God. We need to mark that day on our calendars. Why? Because that should give us strength and courage and power to continue in our journeys. We need to remember those days!
Remember, peace does not panic. Peace trusts and believes. Peace prays. And you and I need to pray. In this world we will have tribulation.
Peace is not the absence of storms.
Peace is experiencing the promise of God’s presence in the midst of the storm.
God meets us in the midst of the mess of the storm.
Jesus is our shelter. He may not stop the storm. But He will be with you in the storm; and He will deliver you.
