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The Message for Dec 24, 2017
Peace
John 14:26-27
Rob Miller, Pastor
We begin with an Advent video on Peace…
Video:
An artist was commissioned by a wealthy man to paint a picture of peace. After a great deal of thought, the artist painted a beautiful country scene. There were green fields with cows standing in them, birds were flying in the blue sky, and a lovely little village was off in the distant valley.
The artist gave the picture to the man, but there was a look of disappointment on the man’s face. He said to the artist, “This isn’t a picture of peace. It isn’t right. Go back and try again.”
The artist went back to his studio, thought for several hours about peace, then went to his canvas and began to paint. When he was finished, there on the canvas was a beautiful picture of a mother, holding a sleeping baby in her arms, looking down and smiling at the child. He thought, surely, this is true peace, and hurried to give the picture to the man. But again, the man refused the painting and asked the painter to try again.
The artist returned to his studio. He was discouraged,tired, and disappointed. Anger swelled-up inside of him. He felt rejection and began to resent the man who wanted the painting.
He thought. He prayed. He searched for inspiration to paint a picture of true peace. Then, all of a sudden he got an idea. He rushed to the canvas and began to paint like never before. When he finished, he hurried to show the man.
When the man, saw the painting he studied it carefully for several minutes. The artist held his breath. Then the man said, “Now this is a picture of true peace.” He accepted the painting, paid the artist, and everyone was happy.
The picture showed a stormy sea pounding against a cliff. The artist had captured the furry of the wind as it whipped the rain drops -- laced with streaks of lightening. The sea was roaring in turmoil, waves churning, the dark sky filled with a furious thunderstorm.
In the middle of the picture, under a cliff, the artist had painted a small bird, safe and dry in a nest - snuggled safely within the rocks. The bird was at peace in the middle of the storm that was raging all around.
Peace is perhaps something we long for, search for, yearn for – as we go through the storms of life. We live in a broken world, a sinful world, a world that is crying out for peace. We are kind of like theman in that story, searching for, dreaming for, waiting for peace…
According to the Huffington Post,[1]“It’s almost impossible to turn-on the TV, or go to the inter-web, or scroll through Twitter without being assaulted with some kind of new world disaster (or two, or three...). Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, we hear about shootings, plane crashes, train crashes, terrorism, crimes, war and human rights violations, peaceful demonstrations that turn deadly — all of this violence and destruction is messing with our heads.”
I would agree. It’s messing with our hearts too. The blog article continues…
The world isn’t falling apart, but it can sure feel like it. The news can be violent, depressing, and emotionally-charged. Why so much focus on the negativity -- because bad news sells.
This may be driven partly by our natural negativity bias, which simply means that we are drawn to the dangerous and the threatening. We want the dirt on the bad. It doesn’t mean there isn’t good news happening. There is… but it’s not reported. We prefer the bad news over the good.
According to some psychologists, exposure to all this negativity and violence in the media may have serious and long-lasting effects… This negative news seems to be contributing to our stress, and anxiety, and depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Not only that but “Negative news can significantly change an individual’s mood negatively.”
The number one result of all this negative news is… worry --and it’saffecting uspersonally too. Viewing negative news means that we are more likely to see our own personal worries as more threatening and more severe -- and then our worry is compounded. We are more likely to find our worry difficult to control and more distressing than it would be normally.
That’s why it is critically important for us to realize that Jesus came to a hopeless world to bring hope. He came to a joyless world to bring joy. He came to a peaceless world to bring peace.
By-the-way - Worry is the bridge we build for the future over troubled waters that never come.(Tweet that, post that, share that message with all your friends on Facebook.)
Our gospel reading for today is about Peace…
John 14:26-27
Jesus continues to make peace possible in the world through the Holy Spirit at work in us and though us…
There is a story about Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee one evening --suddenly a storm broke upon them. The disciples were afraid as the wind blew, and as the waves began to fill the boat with water.
These were seasoned fishermen, they had experienced all kinds of storms on the sea before, but this one was different. It was worse. They had never experienced anything like it. They used their skills and their talents, but they were still sinking.
In the middle of that storm, they turned to Jesus. Where was he? He was sleeping on a pillow in the backof the boat. Jesus was sleeping in the midst of the storm and the disciples had to wake him up…
I find that very odd. Jesus had peace that surpasses all human understanding…
The disciples didn’t have peace, they had fear. They wondered if Jesus even cared about their diresituation. They had to wake him up and then they asked him a question-- they didn’t ask him for help. They didn’t say, “Hey Jesus grab a bucket and start bailing.” No in their panic they said: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
Of course, Jesus cares - but the storms of life have no power over him nor do they have power over his disciples.
Jesus rebuked the storm and he rebuked his disciples… I find that so fascinating. Jesus tells the storm to “stop raging.” And he tells his disciples to, “stop being afraid.” Jesus calmed the storm and he calmed their fears…
Jesus brings peace to the storm and peace to their fears.
Then Jesus asked his disciples a question: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” You can read about that story in Mark’s Gospel chapter 4…
I want to know – where did Jesus get that peace? Answer - he got it from God, the Father, in heaven.
I believe that Jesus wants his disciples to have that same peace – a peace that no matter what situation we may find ourselves, God is in control. Faith leads to peace.
We experience peace as we believe in and trust in the power of God to be with us, to guide us, to save us from the storms of life. The disciples were afraid because they were caught-up in the storm. They could only focus on the storm. Their eyes were fixed on the storm.
It is impossible to havepeace when we are focused on the storm. It’s important to realize that Jesus in the boat of life with us. He may be sleeping at times… resting… but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He does. He is at peace and brings that peace to us in the midst of the storm of life.
This saying is certain…
No Jesus, No Peace.
Know Jesus, Know Peace.
Back in the days of sailing ships, there is a story about a ship caught in a sudden and severe storm. The passengers beganto panic, rushing here and there as the waves tossed the ship about. There was fear and dread on the faces of all the passengers except one little boy, who remained calm and cheerful. When asked why he wasn’t afraid, he said,“Why should I be afraid? My father is at the helm.”
So, too, with us as we face the stormsof life – Jesus is in the boatwith us and God is at the helm. No matter what the situation -- God is in charge – fear not! Amen
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