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Looking for Something More: The Missing Peace In the three weeks that I preached in December we were looking at Isaiah 9:6 and the description of Jesus that Isaiah gave some 700 years before the birth of Christ. Isaiah was a prophet and God put into his mind the words that described what the Messiah would be like when He came.

I want to go back and finish that verse this morning. Let’s look at what Isaiah had to say:

Isaiah 9:6 “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah called Him the Prince of Peace.

Every decent human being wants peace. I know that there are people around the world who live and love violence but even many of them are fighting for what they perceive will bring them peace.

Wouldn’t it just be a great thing to know peace. Peace in our lives, families, relationships, at work, in our country, and in our world?

Julian Lennon the son of Beatle John Lennon, who was abandoned by his father at the age of five wrote these words:

“I felt he was a hypocrite. Dad could talk about peace and love out loud to the world, but he could never show it to the people who supposedly meant the most to him: his wife and son. How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces—no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it, not if you're being true and honest with yourself.” Citation: Julian Lennon (35), who was abandoned by his father, Beatle John Lennon, at the age of five; quoted in Servant (Summer 1998), p. 9

The angels sang about it on the first Christmas evening:

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Luke 2:14

“The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all...” Acts 10:36

It is all through the Bible. Jesus Christ brings peace to those who live for Him. To those who seek Him with all of their heart.

For a few minutes this morning I want to tell you five stories:

1. He gives peace to the frail and the weary.

Jesus spent his short three years of ministry touching the frail and weary.

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

40A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you want to, you can make me well again," he said.

41Moved with pity,[h] Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" 42Instantly the leprosy disappeared--the man was healed. 43Then Jesus sent him on his way and told him sternly, 44"Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don't talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing."

45But as the man went on his way, he spread the news, telling everyone what had happened to him. As a result, such crowds soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't enter a town anywhere publicly. He had to stay out in the secluded places, and people from everywhere came to him there.”

What is that you most want Jesus to do for you? Do you need healing in some area of your life today that will give you peace?

In Preaching Today, author and speaker Tony Campolo tells this story:

I was in a church in Oregon not too long ago, and I prayed for a man who had cancer. In the middle of the week, I got a telephone call from his wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer."

I said, "Had?" Whoa, I thought, it's happened.

She said, "He died." I felt terrible.

She continued, "Don't feel bad. When he came into that church last Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn't take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger towards God grew, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We've sung. We've laughed. We've read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they've been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing."

And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, "He wasn't cured, but he was healed." Citation: Tony Campolo, "Year of Jubilee," Preaching Today #212

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

2. He gives peace to the fallen and wayward.

The disciple Peter fell miserably at the crucifiction of Jesus Christ. Three times he betrayed Jesus by denying that fact that he knew him. Can you imagine the guilt, the pain and the misery that he must have gone through in those days after the death of Christ?

1Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.[a] This is how it happened. 2Several of the disciples were there--Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

3Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing."

"We'll come, too," they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

4At dawn the disciples saw Jesus standing on the beach, but they couldn't see who he was. 5He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?" "No," they replied.

6Then he said, "Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get plenty of fish!" So they did, and they couldn't draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.

7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and swam ashore. 8The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only out about three hundred feet.[c] 9When they got there, they saw that a charcoal fire was burning and fish were frying over it, and there was bread.

10"Bring some of the fish you've just caught," Jesus said. 11So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.

12"Now come and have some breakfast!" Jesus said. And no one dared ask him if he really was the Lord because they were sure of it. 13Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

15After breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Lord," Peter replied, "you know I love you."

"Then feed my lambs," Jesus told him.

16Jesus repeated the question: "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Lord," Peter said, "you know I love you."

"Then take care of my sheep," Jesus said.

17Once more he asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was grieved that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord, you know everything. You know I love you."

Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep. 18The truth is, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will direct you and take you where you don't want to go." 19Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow me."

Jesus pursues the fallen and wayward. He is pursuing you this morning. He is looking for you. He will come to where you are and find you.

3. He gives peace to the fighting and warring.

Relationships always have the potential of turning sour. At the beginning of the New Year we sometimes reflect on what happened between us and other people in the last year. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not what we would want it to be. There is a story in Luke 10:

38As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. 39Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. 40But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me."

41But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! 42There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it--and I won't take it away from her."

Jesus brings peace into the lives of those who fight and cause turmoil. I hate conflict in families. I don’t mind taking someone on when it comes to truth or the work of the church, but I don’t like conflict in my personal relationships. There is something so calming about peace.

Sometimes churches can get into conflict. It is one of the ugliest things to watch. Selfishness is always to blame.

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.” I Thess. 5:13

4. He gives peace to the flawed and the weak.

In John 4 we find the story that illustrates this point.

1Jesus[a] learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is baptizing and making more disciples than John" 2(though Jesus himself didn't baptize them--his disciples did). 3So he left Judea to return to Galilee.

4He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." 8He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

9The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?"

10Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."

11"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? 12And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?"

13Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. 14But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life."

15"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water."

16"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her.

17"I don't have a husband," the woman replied.

Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband-- 18for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now." 19"Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet. 20So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,[b] where our ancestors worshiped?"

21Jesus replied, "Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

25The woman said, "I know the Messiah will come--the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26Then Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah!"[c]

27Just then his disciples arrived. They were astonished to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why he was doing it or what they had been discussing. 28The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, 29"Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?" 30So the people came streaming from the village to see him.”

He gives peace to those who are flawed and weak. To those who have made a mess of their lives. You may feel like you are a long way from God today but I assure you He is here and wants to bring you close to Himself.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,” Ephesians 2

5. He gives peace to the frantic and worrying.

Mark 4: “35As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." 36He was already in the boat, so they started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37But soon a fierce storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water.

38Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you even care that we are going to drown?"

39When he woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, "Quiet down!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40And he asked them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?"

41And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, "Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

A visual reminder for the source of true peace is on regular display along New York City’s Fifth Avenue. At the entrance of the RCA building is a large statue of Atlas struggling to keep the world on his shoulders. On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Behind the high altar of this church is a small statue of Jesus effortlessly holding the whole world in one hand. Peace is hard to come by when we strive to balance the world on our own back, but when we heed God’s invitation to give him our concerns (1 Peter 5:7), the weight of our world becomes an effortless lift for the Prince of Peace.Houston Chronicle, July 6, 2000, p. 15A

2005/01/09