Peace As A By-Product

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Amen.

Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you.

In a relationship that can be so tenuous sometimes and can feel so overwhelming, you made the first move.

So our coming to adore you is a response to your coming in the first place.

And that's what we've heard through music and song.

You orchestrated circumstances like good musicians orchestrate instruments.

And at just the right time, the Bible says in the fullness of time, you came.

And so, Lord, we've never gotten over that, and we never want to get over that.

And so we want to ponder on this second day of Advent, all the ramifications of your coming, the promise of your peace, and the lack of it in our culture.

And so, Holy Spirit, brood over your people as we think and reflect to the glory of God.

We pray this in Christ's name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a seat if you would.

Days like today, they lend themselves more to reflection than proclamation.

So I want my words to be few and brief.

It's today's the second Sunday of Advent, when the theme of this Sunday is peace traditionally.

And as I reflected upon it, and I think we've taken it upon ourselves as a culture and a society and a world that peace is a big thing and everyone's trying to make peace.

Our president moved the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in an effort to promote the peace process.

And the response to that wasn't very peaceful.

And here's the thing: I try to beat this drum every year on this day of Advent to say, peace, what if peace is not the goal, but peace is the byproduct of the goal?

For example, the Bible says this: this is the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 9, uh, promising what this was going to be like when the Messiah comes.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

He says, For to us a child is born, and to us a son is given.

And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and of the increase of his government and of his peace, there will be no end.

The Bible doesn't just say that, hey, he's gonna, uh, he's the Prince of Peace, and that he brings this ruling peaceful presence, but this his peace is going to increase to such a degree there will be no end.

If you look around our world today, we're a long ways from that beloved.

Uh Luke chapter 2, verse 14, the angelic host, they make this proclamation when they announce that what Isaiah promised, God has now delivered.

Luke 2:14

With these words, they say, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.

What if this peace that God's already established by his coming, his living, his dying, his rising, and his ascending?

What if this peace has already been accomplished on our behalf and we, there's some other things that maybe that the gospel, peace is not the goal as much as the byproduct of other things that the gospel calls us to?

And I want us to take just a few minutes this morning to reflect upon these things.

You say, what things?

Things like this, like honesty.

Honesty asks us the question, what lies am I telling and what lies am I believing?

Sometimes the lies that we believe are more destructive than the lies that we tell.

What if peace is the byproduct of us just being honest?

Or obedience.

Obedience asks us this question today, beloved.

Am I currently surrendering my life to the truths of the gospel?

Am I currently surrendering my life to the truths of the gospel?

Or do I subject the gospel to the willingness of my life?

You'll never know peace.

Or how about this?

Service.

Service.

Service asks us this question: Am I finding ways to serve others?

Or am I consistently serving myself?

It's not a very popular word in our culture today.

Oh, we teach our kids to do community service because it looks good on a college transcript.

That's not what the Bible talks about.

The Bible so uh values and calls for that, and Jesus Christ so emulated that that the Bible tells us in Mark's gospel that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Ask yourself today, am I more comfortable being served or am I more comfortable serving?

Here's another one of those things: gratitude.

Gratitude.

Gratitude asks us the question: Is my gratitude exceed my expectations?

What do you mean?

Human beings are creatures of pity, uh, which we use to obligate other people to serve us and come around and acknowledge how we feel.

But gratitude has the power to break that off of us because gratitude constantly reminds us how much God has done and it replaces pity with perspective.

And we as human beings, we love to use our words to craft sentences to get people to feel sorry for us and then serve us.

And gratitude just explodes that.

Gratitude reminds us constantly how much God has done.

And lastly, how about this word to meditate on this morning?

Repentance.

Repentance as an act of worship, am I turning away from sin?

The Bible tells us uh to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.

In other words, live a life that reflects to yourself, your spouse, your kids, your neighbors, your boss, your company, everybody that knows you at the country club.

Everybody live a life around those people that reflects the worth of God.

Because as an act of worship, we turn away from sin.

Not because we're afraid of being found out, not because we're being afraid of being swept up in the latest sexual scandal to rock America, politics and Hollywood and everywhere else, but because we're the people of God, and as such, we conduct ourselves in a manner that reflects to everyone the worth of God and the gospel.

And so, what I'd like us to do on this Sunday of peace is just to reflect on these five questions and just to ask the Holy Spirit, hey, which one of those is kind of the place I need to focus my energy today and maybe going into this week.

Let me voice a prayer, and then we're gonna do something we don't do very often in church.

Well, I'll take that back.

We do it a lot here.

We try to.

Uh we're gonna just think and we're gonna reflect, and we're gonna look at these questions, and we're gonna ask the Holy Spirit, hey, which one of those do I need has the most energy in me right now?

Let me voice a prayer and let's just think and reflect to the glory of God.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you that you've accomplished for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves.

So we've not come today to try to get more peace, to say, God, give us peace.

What more can you do, God, to establish peace than what you've already done?

Isaiah prophesied it.

You delivered it.

And perhaps today, God, we don't have peace in our own heart, in our own head, in our own culture because we're not honest people.

We're not obedient people, we're not service-minded people, we're not grateful, and we're not people of repentance.

And so we want to ponder and think digestively about these realities of the gospel that the gospel calls us back to.

These things that find us and unwind us, God.

And the byproduct of being unwound is this sense of peace.

So we give ourselves head and heart to ponder these realities.

So, Holy Spirit, brood over your people during this time of mental worship.

Speak, Lord, your servants are listening.

Father, sometimes silence and solitude can feel like an assault upon our sense of self-importance because if we're not moving, if we're not doing, sometimes we're afraid nothing's going to happen.

But because you're the original mover and you're the first doer, we can practice stillness and solitude and reflection.

Not always proclamation, but sometimes just reflection, sometimes just bringing our life up under realities like obedience and gratitude and repentance and service and honesty.

The kinds of things that the Bible says are naturally produced in the lives and in the lips of your people.

Father, I pray that as we go into this week, uh, that we'd be a more centered, more peaceful people.

This is what you came for, and it's what you died to establish and make available, and we want to experience everything you make available.

Uh, it is our birthright and our responsibility in the gospel.

And so we avail ourselves to these things today as your people.

So we say thank you.

We say thank you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being a part of our service today.

Uh, I don't want to talk a lot because I want you to leave with a taste of what you experienced here in your mouth.

Uh, and so uh just by way of reminder, uh that our Christmas hay ride is our churchwide hayride is next Friday night.

Uh and uh tickets are available in the lobby.

Uh, if you don't have your ticket, I would strongly encourage you to get one.

Uh, we'd love you to be a part of that.

And so if you have any questions, you see any of us, myself, Clyde, uh, and some of our folks will be available down front.

If we can discuss anything with you, pray with you.

Uh, you have any questions about anything you heard this morning, we would love to unpack that for you, okay?

Uh, Clyde, are you over there?

I'm here in the dark.

Uh, in the dark.

There you go.

Uh, I'd like us to sing just a couple verses of a Christmas carol, and then I'll speak a blessing over us.

Uh, stand to your feet if you would.

Heart the Herald Angel singer the newborn king, peace, honor, and mercy by God and sinner's pregnant style.

Join all in an trite, join the triumph of the skies with angelic post proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem, like the herald angel sing, glory to the newborn king.

Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace, hail the Son of righteousness, light and life to all he brings, rise with heathing in his wings, mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of born to give himself birth like the herald angel sing.

In just a minute, I'll speak a blessing over you.

And uh that will conclude our service.

Don't run for the buick.

Efficiency is overrated.

Sometimes you need to avail yourself to the people around you because they are the people that will help you experience the realities of the gospel.

And to look around, see people you know, greet them, speak to them, check on them, introduce yourself to people you don't know.

Because at some of your highest highs, those are the people that will rejoice with you, and at some of your lowest lows, those are the people that will weep with you.

Hold your hands out.

Let me speak a blessing over you.

May the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Depart now and take these Christ given realities with you to a world that is desperate, in desperate need of hope and joy, and peace.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Bless you.

You're dismissed.