Kathy Walls - Freedom from the authority that binds us to chaos - Communion, Sunday, May 17, 2026

So the actual title of the communion message is Freedom from the Authority that binds us to chaos.

And the reading is from Psalm 34, verse 14, that talks about peace and then talks about shalom.

Psalms 34:14

So we were just talking about what the meaning of the word peace is.

And for us in the Western world, we have our own idea about what peace means, but in Hebrew it's much more intense and wide and all-encompassing.

So some of the um of the meanings are implying being complete and sound.

And I love this one, having nothing missing and nothing broken in our lives.

That's the shalom peace that Jesus died to give us.

It also talks about restoration or restitution or making something whole after a loss.

It includes our well-being and extends to health and prosperity, safety, deliverance, and our overall welfare.

When I was reading Psalm 34, there was a little footnote, and I just followed it through, and it came across an expression that sort of stuck with me.

And it was freedom from the authority that binds us to chaos.

So God's peace is a freedom that sets us free from any authority that would bind us to chaos.

The Hebrew letters for Shalom, and I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but there's four words that are mentioned, and they are the words that are interpreted as the authority to destroy the authority that binds us to chaos.

It's defined as the demolition of any authority that binds us to chaos and to restore God's order, bringing wholeness, restoration, and peace.

Colossians 1 13 says, For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son that he loves.

So chaos is characterized as disorder, confusion.

These are all the things that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Fear and emotional turmoil.

It is described as a force that attempts to bind, to disrupt, and cause fragmentation in our personal life and our surroundings.

The authority refers to the power of the enemy through emotional pain or sin, hopelessness or negative circumstances that try and force each one of our lives into a life of dysfunction.

Freedom is recognized, is achieved by recognizing what transpired on the cross.

Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me.

And shifting our focus from the chaos to our higher authority, which is Jesus Himself.

Jesus said in Isaiah 26, 3, I will keep you in perfect peace, or keep thee in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusts in me.

To find the freedom from the authority that causes chaos, it's also actively surrendering our circumstances or our situation and people to God.

It involves making a decision to stop trying to manage the chaos through human effort and instead trusting in divine wisdom and guidance.

One thing too that speaks to me, it's not being passive and allowing situations to dominate us that we know are contrary to God's will.

The new covenant is God's will and testament for us.

And just like if somebody left us an inheritance or a will, we would not be slack to go in and possess it.

If someone left you a house or a home or money, you would do something about it.

You wouldn't just leave it written on the pages of that will.

You'd be active to go and secure what rightfully belongs to you.

Another way we break peace, uh sorry, we break the control of chaos over our lives is declaring peace, actively speaking and praying peace over one's heart and home and circumstances.

We break our agreement with chaos.

When chaos comes, we don't agree with it.

It's a temporary visitor, not a permanent friend.

So we don't let it take up residence and be a permanent state in our life.

It's also embracing wholeness.

Shalom is not just a ceasefire, it's being restored to a state where nothing is missing, nothing is broken, and nothing is lacking in our life.

So as we take communion today, possibly consider if there's an area where you may be living under an authority that has brought chaos into your life.

God wants to set us free and live in his shalom peace in every part of our life.

Consider what Jesus has done on the cross and the price he paid to set us free and ask for his wisdom to make that truth a reality in our life.

Thank you.