Weekly Sermon: Is inner peace possible? - 05-25-25

The Holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus answered Judas, not Iscariot. Those who love me will keep my word,

and my Father will love them.

And we will come to them and make a home with them.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my word.

And the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,

the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything

and remind you of all the things I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

You heard me say to you, I'm going to go away, and I am coming to you.

If you love me, you will rejoice that I am going to the Father,

because the Father is greater than I.

And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ. You may be seated.

So i want to say something real quick uh that was been on my heart this morning

before i continue and uh that is that we are going to go into some topics today

that are could be hard for some of us.

And also, after listening to it, I recognize that I don't mention that there

are doctors or modern medicine today that can help with some of these issues.

And if you do kind of have some of these issues and you feel the need to find

a doctor or find a therapists is more, is very good that you do that.

And God works through not just the things I mentioned in the sermon today,

but also through modern medicine.

So, let's get started. In my story today, I'm sitting in an old stuffy waiting room,

a kind of place where the air feels thin, and there's a ticking clock on the

wall, and there are chairs lined up over the place from the 1950s.

They were uncomfortable and hard, and I'm sitting there in one of these chairs

with a worn folder in my lap, and I'm waiting for my name to be called into

the department head's office.

I was waiting for the final interview for my undergraduate program's competitive

ministry internship program.

Only 20 students would be moving forward the next year in the program,

and it was a brutal cut to get down to 20.

And after a first year filled

with challenges I hadn't expected I wasn't

sure where I stood but I

needed this opportunity not just for my resume or experience but also for the

scholarship that came with it and my school was very expensive and far beyond

what my family was able to afford so this scholarship was very important to me.

But I sat there, and I watched my classmates walk in and out of this office.

And some were smiling with glee, happy and excited, and others were leaving pale and shaken.

And as the office door opened and closed again and again and again,

my anxiety grew, and I was flooded with familiar thoughts.

What if my grades weren't good enough? did

my internship supervisor write a good recommendation well

i did annoy him that one one time then the thoughts got worse didn't i use a

permanent marker on a whiteboard once it was a pain for them to get off but

also why was the marker a permanent marker even there,

wait that doesn't matter i should have checked and then there was that time

i told him i didn't want to play in a worship band anymore.

I had too much on my plate. Did he take that personally?

And then the thoughts got worse. They got personal.

Well, I'd said to myself, Dr. S clearly doesn't like me, and he's not so subtle about his favorites.

Dr. C likes me. I think he's one of the people on the interview panel.

I think he is. I hope he is. Oh my gosh.

What if I freeze when they ask me something hard? What if I can't speak?

My thoughts were racing. My chest was tightening and my breathing grew shallow and more shallow.

And all of this, as I was sitting in a chair in a quiet hallway,

do my best to keep it all together.

But inside me there was a storm waves of fear and thunderous self-doubt and

absolutely no calm in sight.

That moment all those years ago wasn't just about nerves. It was deeper,

and it was my inner turmoil.

And maybe you've been there too. Maybe you've had your own version of the waiting

room, the place where you're not sure if you're good enough,

the moments where your thoughts won't let you breathe,

a season of your life where peace feels impossibly far away.

In a world that demands so much of us, and where failure feels like it's constantly

around the corner is inner peace even possible,

we probably know that opposite of

peace very well it's like a close companion we

never asked for its name is

inner turmoil and it's woven deep into the

fabric of our daily lives it shows

up in those sleepless nights when we lie awake wondering

how we'll make ends meet this month it settles in the pit of our stomach as

we scroll through facebook and tiktok bombarded by images of violence and war

or when a news article makes this question if the world we are creating will

be safe enough for our children to thrive in for years to come.

Inner turmoil shows up in those moments when we're surrounded by people but

feel completely alone, wondering if we are good enough for those around us.

And sadly, it even visits us in our spiritual lives as we question whether we

are good enough for a perfect God.

If left unchecked, this can grow into a deep depression or anxiety or deep shame of ourselves.

Each of these is stealing our joy and keeping us from fully showing up in the world.

It can cause us to withdraw, doubt our worth, or feel stuck in darkness.

This is the struggle that many of us carry, whether we speak it loud or keep it inside.

So how do we find peace in the midst of this inner storm?

Well, there are quick fixes, easy escapes. There are plenty of easy solutions we can find.

We can scroll through our apps, letting our thumbs drift toward the Buy Now

button on Amazon, thinking that

whatever lands on our doorstep might also deliver some kind of relief.

It doesn't. Not for me, at least. I hope it gives you some joy.

Or we stay up all night binge-watching entire TV shows, staying up long past

midnight, chasing a moment of escape, only to wake up more exhausted and no more at peace.

There's a temporary relief in posting clever thoughts or awesome photos on social media.

Or we might say everything is fine when somebody asks us.

And then other times we cling to control. We micromanage our lives and try to

control the people around us.

Thinking if we can just tighten our grip on everything, we can finally feel

secure. We're all right.

These strategies the world offers, they might bring momentary distractions.

But I wonder, do they actually ever bring us peace?

Or are these solutions just noise that cover up the deeper ache for a peace that lasts?

It is in all this daily turmoil, into our anxieties and uncertainties,

and the world's fleeting attempts to soothe those anxieties where Jesus meets us today.

Not with a distraction not with

a shallow comfort but with something deeper lasting a

peace that the world cannot give in today's scripture we find jesus on the eve

of his death surrounded by betrayal confusion and fear he knows what is coming

as the cross looms ahead and yet in that moment,

Jesus turns to his disciples, not with a panic,

not in despair, but with love and clarity.

As he says to them, peace I leave with you.

Peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.

At first, these words might feel like a shallow comfort written in a greeting card.

But Jesus is not speaking in cliche.

He is speaking from the depths of divine love in this passage.

This is not a peace born of denial or detachment.

This is a peace that holds steady in the shadow of the cross and is the peace of God's presence.

Jesus offers a peace not rooted in perfect circumstances or transaction,

but a peace found through a loving relationship with God.

Remember, he has just told his disciples that those who love him and keep his

word, that the Father will make a home for them.

So let me repeat this again. The peace that Jesus offers is based on relationship, on listening to God.

God's peace comes through the love that god has

for us in a culture that

makes rest and peace conditional offered only after success perfection or performance

jesus gives peace as a gift of grace feel freely and unconditionally rooted

in love that we receive when we allow ourselves to hear that we are God's beloved.

This is the good news. This is the inner turmoil we carry does not get the final word.

The inner turmoil we carry does not get the final word.

You don't have to hide it. You don't have to fix it on your own.

And you don't even have to be fearless because you are not alone.

You are accompanied by God who enters into your struggles.

You are loved by Savior who knows pain and yet speaks peace.

And you are upheld by the Holy Spirit that the gospel today calls the advocate

that Jesus promises in this very passage.

This is the presence of God within you, beside you, and around you,

who is gently reminding you, you are not alone.

You are loved, and you are held.

It doesn't mean that the storms around us will all set up and disappear.

But we have an anchor within those storms to steady our heart and whisper calm as we weather chaos. us.

God's anchor of peace can remind us again and again that God's love for us is

stronger than anything we can face.

And if you listen to the comforting words spoken to you by the Holy Spirit,

you can rest in the peace that God is there with you, guiding you,

and helping you manage the storms in your life.

And on that day when I'm sitting, getting ready for my interview for the ministry

internship program, I experienced this peace.

I sat outside the office door waiting to be called in for the critical interview

that would determine whether I could continue in my internship program.

And just when my heart was beginning to race and doubts filled my mind,

everything suddenly shifted.

In that room, I remembered a moment just a couple years earlier.

While on a retreat, walking alone in nature and begging God to tell me what's next.

What am I supposed to do with my life? I'm about to graduate high school. God, tell me what to do.

And in that stillness I didn't hear words with my ears but I felt a voice of

peace within my soul a quiet assurance from the spirit that I should go into

ministry and that everything was going to be okay because God was with me,

and all the memories that could have surfaced in that moment of fear leading

up to that interview I'm glad it's that one.

Because that promise of those words it grounded me allow me to whisper to god

all right god let's see where you take me next,

and it gave me a sense of relief and i

knew that whatever came next whether i made the internship program for the second

year or not that i had god as a companion with me and that was the reassurance

that i needed to walk through that door that day as a professor called my name

to come and do that interview.

And I made it through that interview. I got that internship,

but even more than that, even more importantly than that, I received God's peace

in a terrifying moment when I needed it most.

And it happened not because I distracted myself or ran away from the situation,

but because I listened to the soothing

promise that God has given me and continues to give me See you today.

So what can you do to achieve this peace? This isn't just another spiritual

keepsake to tuck away and forget about.

He offers in this passage a way of living, a way of being in the world that

allows peace to take root and grow within you.

A peace that isn't passive, but it's something you can learn to lean in over time.

And it begins with returning to God again and again and listening for God's voice.

When you need a kind word to carry you through hard times, you can turn to scripture.

And within its pages, you'll find stories and promises that speak to the struggles you are facing.

When you are weary and overwhelmed, you can pause even for just a breath and do a bubble breath.

And in that chaos and prayer or quiet meditation, you can sit in the presence

of God and remember the peace and promises that God has given you.

And when you feel most alone, when shame whispers that you are not enough and

your sense of worth begins to fade, you can turn to the Holy Spirit and remember

the Spirit, your companion, your advocate,

who will remind you of what is true, that you are beloved by God.

You are beloved by God, and God gives you peace.

Even when fear and anxiety try to drown out that news.

In moments when you feel like your prayers are empty or stuck,

God offers the church who can pray with you.

When you forget your worth, this community can remind you that you are beloved

by God and by us because sometimes God speaks through community to remind you that you are beloved.

This peace that Jesus offers isn't a reward for getting everything right.

It isn't a checklist, but rather an invitation to abide in Jesus' peace,

an invitation to rest, and an invitation to trust in the peace that God offers.

And when you begin to accept that invitation, even just a little,

even imperfectly, you can begin to experience what Jesus has promised.

Not a fragile peace, but a deep sustaining peace from God.

And once you believe that peace that Jesus offers is real and trustworthy,

you can start to build your life around it.

And you can integrate these practices that reflect that belief,

and slowly you'll notice things changing.

In those moments where anxiety rises and your sense of self-worth takes a hit,

you don't have to spiral you can pause and take a breath and in that moment

you can receive the gentle reassurance that god is with you and for you you

can let your guard down around others because peace makes space for vulnerability.

With God and with others. And in those lowest moments, when you feel like you

failed, when things have fallen apart, or you feel like you missed the mark,

you can begin to offer yourself the grace that God has already offered you.

And you can rest in the truth that peace isn't earned, it is already given.

And because of that, you can move forward, not with fear, but with the hope

that you rest in God's loving arms.

So today life is delivering blow

after blow and all the solution to

those problems seem insufficient remember that

is exactly in those moments where we feel

most defeated where jesus can step

in with a peace that doesn't demand

distract or disappoint but rather

with a peace that gently meets you right where you are filled with the joy of

new life go in peace to love and serve and welcome all thanks be to God and

we were inspired by this week's.