August 17 – Sermon
O LORD our God, we pray that the fire of Your love may burn in our hearts to lead us through the present times of conflict and dissension and that the peace for which Christ died will be declared to all nations. Please guide each one of us by the Holy Spirit to faithfully guide us in the way of Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Back to Schools sales are everywhere. Many retail outlets will do just about anything, even resort to false advertising, to get us to part with our money. “Buyer beware!” and unfortunately it happens in churches too.
So how do we understand the Bible’s claim that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and still have so many wars? Why is there such heartache in Christian families? Is Jesus really the Prince of Peace, or are we as His church, guilty of false advertising? Yes! No! Which is it?
About 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah claimed that the Savior would be called: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. The angels who appeared to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born proclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom He is pleased”. According to these inspired messengers, Jesus’ arrival would bring peace.
Jesus did make peace between God and us. Jesus stopped God the Father from forcing us to live eternally separated from Him. Jesus paid the debt we owed for our sins with His blood. Jesus left the mansions of heaven and traded God the Father’s loving embrace for wicked blows meant as punishment for our sins. Jesus said in our text: “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!” Attaining peace with God for us was no easy task. Jesus took the punishment for all of our sins, our backsliding, our broken promises, our hate-filled thoughts and words, our critical self-righteous attitudes—the debt of our sin has been paid.
No, we don’t need to be afraid of God. We don’t need to wonder what he will say when we stand before Him on Judgment Day. He’s not looking for revenge. Because of Jesus we have peace with God. So in that sense the Prince of Peace, has done His work!
But while we have peace with God, Jesus never guaranteed that we would have peace on earth. While Jesus wants to comfort us, He never said we would be comfortable. In fact He promised just the opposite. Jesus said: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother” (Luke 12:49, 51-53a).
It seems like a contradiction to hear Jesus, the Prince of Peace, tell us that He didn’t come to bring peace but fire. But the apostles certainly found this out to be true. How many times was the Apostle Paul beaten, imprisoned, or simply run out of town because He proclaimed the peace we have in Jesus? Should it surprise us then when our friends look at us funny when we insist that Jesus is the only way to have eternal life? Are we convincing in our proclamation? Or have we declawed the Lion of Judah and describe Him in such a way that people think Jesus is nothing more than a kitten who just wants to curl up purring in our lap? Jesus did not come to give sinners the warm fuzzies; He came to call us to repentance. It’s no wonder He said He’d come to bring fire and not peace.
When someone points out that I’m being grouchy or unreasonable, my first reaction is to get upset—maybe even angry. Then I try to justify my inappropriate actions, trying to point the finger at someone else, or something that happened.
How do you respond when your behavior, or language or attitude is not Christ like? Most likely it will result in an argument causing hard feelings. Why not just keep quiet and keep the peace, no matter how fleeting it might be?
Jesus told us that he had come to bring fire. He told us that families would be divided over Him. But never forget, denying Him or any part of His life-saving Word is a price too high to pay. Nothing less than your eternal salvation and the salvation of others is at stake.
We must continue to call one another to repentance. It’s only through the pure Word of God that our faith in Jesus as the only Savior is confirmed and strengthened. Remember too that just as God gave the strength to the early apostles to endure the heat, He’ll do the same for us, if we stay faithful!
I don’t like it when retail outlets use false advertising to entice me into their store. Thankfully we never have to worry about that in regard to Jesus. He never hides the truth from us. That’s why He tells us today that while He came to give us peace with God, peace is not something we will ever get to enjoy for very long in this world.
It’s never easy when your faith in Christ brings fire into your life. Everlasting peace will only come when Jesus calls you to your eternal home and there in heaven we won’t just enjoy peace with God, we’ll enjoy peace with everyone around us. We won’t just be comforted; we will also be comfortable. The Prince of Peace guarantees it. Amen.
