Jesus' call: obey and find peace

Jesus offers us peace this world can’t give.

 

Jesus invites us to do two things in our gospel reading today.

1.     He invites us to keep his word. Some translate this instruction to keep his word as a call to watch over and guard his direction in our lives and

2.     He invites us to live in peace.

The thing is Jesus doesn't separate this call to action, this call to live out His Word from His invitation to live in peace. Jesus is saying that if we will keep His word, His instructions, we will live in peace.

 

Jesus says He's offering his followers a peace the world can’t give John 14:27.

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.  The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, S. Jn 14:27

Jesus' promises to give all who follow him the kind of peace that makes people whole.  This is the kind of peace that castes out fears, and calms troubled hearts.

 

I heard a story about a woman who was pulled over after she flipped off another driver in traffic. When she saw the flashing lights behind her she assumed that the trooper was pulling over the other driver. But it was her. She was upset with the officer and let him know. He said, "I just wanted to check that this wasn't a stolen vehicle. When I saw the gestures you were making.  I assumed that this car was stolen after looking at the What Would Jesus Do and Visualize world peace bumper stickers."

 

Sheepishly the woman apologized to the officer who smiled back and said, "Have a great morning ma’am."

 

We talk alot about peace in our time. War and destruction are very real parts of our world today. And we pray for peace. And Jesus said he came to bring us peace.

 

Jesus is offering a kind of peace that the ancient Hebrews called Shalom שָׁלוֹם shalom. Martin Luther said “…the Hebrew word for ‘peace’ means nothing else than well-being.” Martin Luther, vol. 24, Luther’s Works, Vol. 24 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 14-16, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther’s Works, John 14:27 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1961).

 

This word shalom heard in over 200 places in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekial spoke of this peace—this wholeness that could be found.   Jesus is the hope of all people in a broken world.

 

Imagine wholeness coming into every broken part of our world.  Imagine hope and healing coming into every challenging circumstance you might face this week. That's what Jesus promise of Shalom means for you and for all others who follow his Word.  The promise of Shalom is a promise that will always bring hope for anyone who follows Jesus in this broken world.

Corrie ten Boom detailed her experience of this kind of peace in her book Don’t Wrestle, Just Nestle She writes of the peace she knew in God’s presence prison and in concentration camps from walking close to God.

Often we had to go too early roll call, which started at 3:30 AM.   Betsie and I would walk through the camp, and there were three of us present. Betsie said something, I said something, and the Lord said something. I can’t tell you how but both Betsie and I understood clearly what He said. These walks were a bit of heaven in the midst of hell. Everything around us was black and dark, but in us there was a light that belonged to eternity.

The ten Boom sisters didn't fear the worst that the Nazi's could do because they had Christ with them. They had peace because even in the worst places they were living in Christ's presence.

 

Jesus works in our lives through the Holy Spirit. He works in our lives in those difficult moments when the news is to tough to bear. He works in our lives understanding the prayers that come out as sighs and that are sometimes lost under tears. Jesus works in our lives to bring us peace that this world can't. His peace is real--it's life giving. His peace is real--it's death defying. His peace is real--it doesn't stop because of a bad diagnosis or a decision that somebody else has made.

 

Jesus is offering peace and wholeness for those who obey him. Jesus calls us to obey him as we hope for peace. Jesus calls to us: keep my word.  That means obey his commands. He wants us not just to hear his Word he wants us to keep it alive in our lives. Jesus calls you and me and all who will follow him to Serve (John 13:15) and love (John 14:34-35) as he does.  He says peace will come.  The great stories of peace coming for believers living with peace in the middle of terrible circumstance are clear. The experience of Shalom is clear when we speak to those who risked their very being to follow God.  They knew the price they might pay for keeping God's Word and yet they knew deep inside that they had peace.

 

In Jesus’ day the Romans enforced their own kind of peace on the Mediterranean world. The Pax Romana was a military peace lasting nearly 200 years. Rome’s peace came when the Roman Army beat down and defeated all other powers. This veneer of peace was enforced through fear and swift military intervention. One might imagine people tired of battle between different Roman factions viewed this kind of peace as a repreive. But others, on the Empire’s edges, like Judea, fought hard against Roman occupation and oppression.

 

Jesus offers a peace to those who follow.  He doesn’t force it on you.  He offers peace and tells you plainly that this world can’t give it to you.  And when step in His ways you’ll find it.  Even if it’s been a long time since you were close to him—you can and should know that in Christ you can find peace today no matter the place or the troubles you might be facing.

 

There's a flip side to having a God who is always present. The God who is always present with me isn't just there in times I seek God's comfort. The real truth is that when I sin I am chosing to walk away from His commands. In my rebellion against God I head away from the wholeness/peace שָׁלוֹם shalom only He can give.

 

The $64 word that theologians use to talk about God being present with us is transcendence. It's a belief that God is always and everywhere present and aware. It's a belief that no one part of the universe is out of reach to the God who made it and redeemed it with his own blood and body shed and broken. There's both a law and promise in God's presence with us in all places. There's law to be experienced when we're the ones hurting others. There's law to be experienced when we're the ones who are letting others down. And there's a promise that when we return to God we will find peace for our souls.

I want God to be with me--but I’m a sinner—that means I have and sadly will again disobey God’s commands. I have and will deny God’s transcendent presence with me and those who my sins hurt. I have and fear I will walk away from God's directions for my life. And when I walk in the opposite direction I will be walking away from His peace.

 

Jesus’ command to keep his word--to obey his instruction sounds harsh. Maybe you don't like to take orders much either. I’d choose a softer word like follow. But Jesus didn’t. He said his followers were to keep his Word. He called them to obey. At many places in my life keeping God's Word means surrendering judgment God because God's judgment is better. Keeping God's word means following and trust His commands even if they don’t make sense. Obeying for me, like my dog, means walking close with God in the path He’s chosen. Once on the path or restored again to the path we find Christ’s peace and wholeness.

 

Thanks be to God that Jesus offers us shalom that this world can’t give.  Thanks be to God that so many saints have testified to the peace they have known from keeping Christ’s Word.  Thanks be to God for the Word that we are blessed to keep.  May we draw close to Jesus and keep command to love and serve as he has first loved and served us.  May everyone here know his joy and his peace.

Tempted. Luke 4:1-13 Lent 2c Feb 16&17 2013

Have you ever been challenged and tempted by the Devil. If you are a Christian the answer is almost certainly yes. In Matthews gospel we hear a story of Jesus' time in the Wilderness. It was there in the desert wasteland where Jesus faced Satan himself and overcame temptation. The story of Jesus' overcoming the devil hangs on the two verses at the very front. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.1 From a human perspective Jesus was in deep trouble. If you looked with your eyes and you used your ears to listen you'd say this situation was bad. Jesus was alone, and after 40 days of fasting he might of have been in deep prayer but there's a very good chance he was weak and really hungry. The Devil was likely licking his chops. He's been at this business of temptation and undermining for thousands of years. Who was Jesus to stand up to him. The devil going to break him; or at least that's what the Devil was absolutely certain he could do. But remember there's a part of this story that we ought not overlook as we head into our conversations today about evil and sin and temptation and hope. Luke tells us very simply that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when he went into the wilderness to fast for 40 days. And the Holy Spirit didn't leave Jesus at the end of the 40 days. To the Devil it looked like Jesus was there all alone in the wilderness—but Jesus wasn't alone. He was full of the Holy Spirit. This is the same Spirit who brings us to faith. This is the Spirit who spoke through the Prophets. This is the Spirit who leads us to faith because we can't believe on our own. That very real Holy Spirit was there with Jesus. And that very simply means Jesus wasn't alone there in the wilderness. A great lesson of this text for all of us is that we are not alone either; when you face temptation call on Jesus name and temptation will flee. You are never left alone by God in the face of the evil one. Remember this when you meet terrifying temptations and struggles with the enemy. You are not alone. Call on Jesus name. Call out to God the Father. Call to the Holy Spirit. You have support. You have help. Trust in the love of a good and gracious God. Right after Jesus Baptism (Luke 4:1-11) Luke says the Devil came at Jesus 3 times. In my own experience it doesn't take the Devil long to do a whole lot of damage in other peoples lives or in my life either. I'm guessing you've experienced some of the very same things in your lives. All it can take is one angry conversation to tear a family apart—and who do you think rejoices at that—the devil and the forces of destruction. They are the only ones who rejoice in such destruction and such pain. Think about the times you've chosen to sin. Think about it for real. Think about the times when you thought you got away with it—but you only passed of the cost of your sin to somebody else. All it took was one moment of giving into temptation to pull you away from God. How many people if they were honest could talk about the little thing that lead them into a spiral of troubles. Remember who your enemy is. In Baptism we renounce the devil, his empty promises, and all the forces that defy God 3 times. We renounce him because we know deep in our being just how much damage he wants to do to you to me, to our families, and to our friends. He doesn't care about anybody or anything. He rejoices in suffering. Jesus taught his friends to pray. “And lead us not into temptation.” What does this mean? Luther's Answer: God tempts no one to sin, but we pray in this petition that God may so guard and preserve us that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into unbelief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, but that, although we may be so tempted, we may finally prevail and gain the victory. “But deliver us from evil.” What does this mean? Luther's Answer: We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven may deliver us from all manner of evil, whether it affect body or soul, property or reputation, and that at last, when the hour of death comes, he may grant us a blessed end and graciously take us from this world of sorrow to himself in heaven. Our lives are full of people who've fallen into a spirals of addiction and compulsive behavior. It's tough to see somebody you love physically broken, and morally and financially bankrupt—God the Father weeps to see such things—but the Devil rejoices. All it takes is a brief moment for all hell to break loose in your life and my life. Given that one moment in time the Devil will do his absolute worst to you. Just a tiny moment is all that's really needed by your old enemy. But in Jesus we meet the one who fights on our side. Martin Luther wrote him of the champion who comes to fight. Jesus is the one who has no equal on this earth. Trust in him in your trials. Trust in him when everything wrong seems so right to do. The difference between God and the Devil is real simple. God can create and the Devil is only capable of corrupting what God the Father's made. And the Good News is that while the devil might be able to defile, corrupt, and destroy God has the power to make us and all things new. Remember this whenever you face a moment of temptation. Temptation looks so good in that moment when you first see it. Maybe you'll face it here today in this building. Maybe when you leave you'll be tempted. Maybe it will be tomorrow or who knows when. We pray it doesn't come--There are so many moments of temptation in our lives. There are so many openings. And the enemy is committed to throw everything at us. And in that moment of temptation the thing to do is call on the name of the Lord. When the devil challenged Jesus he went straight after Jesus' pride. And our old enemy does that with me and I am guessing that he's done that with you too. The reason to focus on pride is simple—its the easiest way to isolate us from God. The Devil came to Jesus two times attacking his pride saying "If you are the son of God..." in Luke 4:3 and Luke 4:9. The old enemy made a bold assumption—that Jesus would try to prove his Divinity by taking the Devil up on his dares. But Jesus was the one who challenged the pride of the devil. Jesus stood on faith in the goodness of God the Father to help him in the face of evil. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”3 This is Holy Spirit inspired living Faith plain and simple. This is what addicts walking through the first 3 steps of the 12 steps do when they admit they have a problem, when they admit God is the only one who can help and when they turn the whole mess of their lives over to God. When you and I tempted to turn away and wander in our own paths rather than the way of life this story is a reminder that there's more to our lives than we can initially see. We have a great power who is on our side. When our lives become completely unmanageable God the Father has an even bigger and better plan. Trust in him. Even if you find yourself in a heap of trouble turn to him. Even if you have given into temptation and you and the people closest to you are reaping the results of the sin that you have sown turn back and you will live. I was speaking with a man who's wife had been unfaithful many times in their more than decade long marriage. He said, in the days of coming to terms with what she had done, the greatest temptation of all for him was to do the same thing to get back at her. He said the that the enemy was at work right there challenging his pride. He said it was so tempting she'd be unfaithful. Why shouldn't he be unfaithful too. Please call on God to be with you in these moments of greatest hurt and betrayal in your life. The Devil's been at this for thousands of years and the one thing the enemy wants is for you to be isolated.. If you find out that your spouse has lied to you for years turn first to God. He's been at this longer than any of us here have been alive. The old enemy of God and God's people has been looking for a crack. He wants to drive a wedge deep into your life and his intention is to split your life into kindling. He will come at you in so many ways that are both cunning and seductive. But make no mistake about the old enemy his only real goal is to enslave you and destroy everything good in your life. Anybody remember how Charlie Daniel's told the story back in about 1979. Old Charlie said that the Devil was short of stolen souls and he decided he'd go down to Georgia to find a few to steal. And that's where the Devil met a confident young fiddle player. And the Devil turned to him and said. "Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due: I think that we ought to give the devil his due. We ought to admit that we have troubles and temptations. We ought to admit to the works of death and the devil in our lives we know them wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. These are the Devils oldest tricks. And the way to respond is simple. Trust God and trust in God alone. Call on God and you are not alone. Ask for the Holy Spirit to come and be with you. Simple complete faith in God to work is the only opening God the Father needs to create great change in your life and your situation. Simple faith opens each of us up for the Holy Spirit to step in and start making changes. The Holy Spirit given gift of Faith is the trust that—even in the face of the greatest enemies sin, death, and the devil—that God is really in control. I know the moments I'm the easiest for the enemy to pray on are the moments when I am feeling so high on myself and what I've done or when I've been betrayed by another. Either way the devil will find a way to make trouble. Make no mistake—we have an enemy and what he wants most to do is to rob you of hope and joy. We have an enemy and he's the father of lies. He's the one who lies and says you've got nothing to worry about. He's the one who says, “you deserve it.” He's the one who says, “this won't hurt you or your family it'll be a neat little secret.” Oh man is he a good liar. Charlie Daniels said the devil bet a fiddle of gold against the soul of that young fiddle player." The boy said: "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin, "But I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been." There's something real dangerous about this attitude towards evil. It's dangerous because it underestimates our adversary. We might think we are cunning and wise. We might look at our abilities and think that on our own we can defeat this enemy. But that pride is completely mistaken and misplaced. Jesus was tempted and each time Jesus answered the Devil as one with faith in God unseen. Faith is a very curious part of a believers life. It moves people to do unreasonable things--and gives us peace this world can't give. A wonder of faith is that in Jesus we will find that same peace that this world can not give John 14:27. Call on your Father and you will find all the support you need. Pax, John