"God's Peacemakers for a Troubled World"
#91-50Presented on The Lutheran Hour on August 11, 2024
By Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, Lutheran Hour Speaker
Copyright 2024 Lutheran Hour Ministries
Reflections
Text: Philippians 4:4-13
The apostle Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ... I can do all this through Him who gives me strength."
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, and we bear His message of peace in this troubled world. Amen.
Troublemakers, peacemakers. One of the most famous feuds in history has been between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Just say the name and people understand that you're talking about serious conflict. This fight between families has become synonymous with serious relational skirmishes.
Do you know how the feud began? It may have started when one of the McCoys accused a member of the Hatfield family of stealing a pig. That's right. The greatest feud in United States history started over a pig! Of course, in the rural Kentucky and West Virginia area where the families lived in the late 1800s, livestock was valuable; it was precious. But it didn't help matters when Hatfield was cleared of the charge because of the dubious testimony from another relative. This began a chain of revenge, fighting, physical harm, political favoritism, and tragedy after tragedy from families that passed troublemaking through generations. Anger simmered at the surface of the Hatfield and McCoy families, and anxiety was strong and high.
It's not so different for us today, is it? It seems like people are anxious, even more angry today than ever.
When we moved to Orange County, California, I remember being cut off by one of these crazy drivers. When I sped up to try to voice my disapproval, he tried to cut me off again and then he shouted profanity my way. Yikes! It scared me to see that kind of rage because I had a bit of that rage in me, too! High anxiety, friends. Anger is simmering at the surface in so many people's lives today.
Statistics show that one-third of people employed in the United States suffer from chronic and debilitating stress. More than half of the people 18 to 33 years old have anxiety levels that keep them awake at night. Many suffer from depression or anxiety disorders. Add up the challenge of unemployment, the fear of violence, the disorder of political infighting, the polarization of interest groups, emptiness from the breakdown of relationships, and meaningless drift from faith, and you get trouble.
Do you feel it? Do you feel like you're on edge, ready to snap, fed up with the stress, the noise, the busyness, the worries? Friends, anxiety is oozing all over the place, including in our relationships, in our churches, our workplaces; seems like it is wherever we go. So, do you need help? Well, a stressed out and anxious psalm writer said it this way: "When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' Your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul."
You see, friend, God has a different vision for your life—real help for the simmering sensation of stress you feel. Instead of veering into life as a troublemaker, Jesus calls you to be a peacemaker, one who receives and shares the gift of His peace with others in the midst of this very broken world.
In His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, chapter five, Jesus said this, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called [children] of God."
Jesus' brother, James, once a man vehemently opposed to Jesus' ministry, said in his biblical letter in James: "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."
Becoming a peacemaker isn't something you need to stress, then, or be anxious about either. In fact, being a person of peace is a gift that comes from knowing God by faith in Jesus Christ! It is part of the new life Jesus bought with His blood shed on the cross and opened up to you with His resurrection from the grave. Jesus said, "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, do not be afraid." Jesus was equipped as God in the flesh to do as He said, as the Bible clearly teaches in Colossians 1 that "In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross."
For the last several weeks, we've been speaking about the power of God to redeem and restore all different kinds of people. We saw how Paul shared the Good News of Jesus to law-and-order Romans, to wisdom-seeking Athenians, to business-focused Ephesians, to all who would listen and believe. As peacemakers of the Peace-Giver, we are to bring the Good News of Jesus into this chaotic, sin-stricken world, too.
So, do you want to engage the turbulence of this life with more than your best efforts? Do you want to live the new life of having peace and being a peacemaker? That's God's gift to you today, dear listener, right in the midst of all the trouble. You see, God's eternal Good News is good news that matters each and every day.
Look again with me in the Bible. God literally shows you and me the way of peace by dealing with a very real world feud. That's right, a feud. This feud that Paul is dealing with wasn't the Hatfields and the McCoys, but it was serious enough for him to mention this in the letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi. Two women, Euodia and Syntyche, were having a disagreement in the church there. Paul said about this struggle: "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord." Paul also asked the people in the local church to assist these ladies in resolving their differences. The apostle knew that the disagreement could very well lead to other destructive practices in their lives and in the life of the church. It even destroys the witness of the followers of Jesus to others. This Philippian feud could become toxic.
You know how it goes. It may start with something very small or something terribly painful, but once the pain gets worked into your system, once you start mulling over the wrongful action and imagining what you would to do about it, once you start brooding over your rights and your pride and the way you've been treated unfairly, a troublemaking feud can break out. Revenge and anger can start to dominate. Misery and division could easily begin to take hold. A negative and painful explosion could be the result.
So Paul sought to pre-empt this potentially painful escalation of trouble with the reconciling power of the repentance and grace of Jesus Christ. You see, when that reality of faith is first and foremost in your life, your attitude towards everything else changes! Paul tells it like it is for all of us when he says, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand."
The apostle Paul steered these dear people away from toxic troublemaking and began to unfold a different pattern of life, one that paved the way for peace. Instead of dwelling on misery and revenge, instead of worrying about always getting what you think is fair, Paul reminded them that repentant faith rejoices knowing that the God who saved you in spite of your sinfulness toward Him is close at hand when you are hurting and upset. And, by faith, God's people can put His peace-giving presence and His peace-empowering Word to work in life. Specifically, Paul says in verses 6-7, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Paul says that in spite of trouble, anxiety, stress, and disappointment, put the power of prayer to work with God as the Source and the Giver of real lasting peace. Let your first conversation be to Him no matter what the circumstances in your life. Confident prayer to Him releases you from the grip of anxiety. Instead of letting fear and pain and anger swirl around in your soul, poisoning it and pushing you toward trouble, in faith prayer puts your life in God's gracious hands. Prayer lets you remember your blessings. Prayer replaces toxic thoughts with requests for help and petitions for life change from God who makes all things possible for you. Instead of imagining what you might do to so-and-so to get justice, you can pray to the Savior who holds all things accountable to Himself and who also makes real grace and forgiveness possible for all who repent, too. When you let go of trouble and give it to God, resentment and revenge are released to the One who can handle much more than you can. You become a peace receiver, and a peacemaker in Him.
We sure need more people like that today, don't we? We need fathers and mothers, friends, neighbors, family, community leaders who strive to share the "peace of God that passes all human understanding," the peace that comes from trusting and believing in Jesus. That peace was meant to be shared!
Or as Paul says, "Finally, brothers and sisters ... what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Now these are powerful words. Paul lets all of us know that a peacemaker practices all that is good and godly. If it is pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise, it is worth practicing. And you know that whatever you practice, you get good at! If you practice playing the piano or speaking a new language, you get good at it. If you practice resentment, revenge, and stirring up trouble, you get very skilled at those things, too—but that's not what God wants for your life. That's why God's Word emphasizes peacemaking practices over and over and over again.
The apostle Paul talked about not letting anger control your life. He said: "'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."
Later in that same chapter of the Bible, Ephesians, chapter 4, Paul outlines the importance of practicing forgiveness instead of retaliation. Listen to the way that he steers us away from troublemaking into peacemaking. He says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."
A peacemaker practices humility, self-control, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, because a peacemaker has received all these things from the God of peace, Jesus Christ. "Practice these things," Paul says, "and the God of peace will be with you." We could also say, "Practice these things because the God of peace is already with you!"
And that's important. You and I both need God's peace and power to be His people in this world. The world values domination, arrogance, bravado, but God empowers humility, graciousness, kindness, and peace. If you are wondering if it is truly possible to be a peacemaker, if the troubles of this life seem too strong, know that God's peace is already available and sufficient for those who put their faith in Jesus.
In 2003, Robert Rule stood at the sentencing trial of the man who killed his teenage daughter, Linda. This man had murdered several other victims. Family members had an opportunity to make statements to the murderer at the hearing. One after another, relatives lashed out in their anger and very real pain. The murderer hardened himself against the words filled with hurt and hatred. Then it was Robert's turn. The grieving man stood up and said to the murderer, "There are people here that hate you. I'm not one of them. You've made it difficult to live up to what I believe, and that is to do what God says to do: to forgive. You are forgiven, sir." So, then, in the midst of this man's just punishment, the words of Robert Rule brought this murderer to repentant tears. A peacemaker still broke through this hardened soul.
In the fall of 2006, a man walked into an Amish schoolhouse and he killed five young children. The murderer also died in this horrible and cowardly attack. In a remarkable display of forgiveness, the people of that Amish community, including family members of the children who were lost, attended the murderer's funeral, gave comfort to his widow, and even offered financial support to help her. These wounded families overcame incredible trouble and heartbreak by tenaciously pursuing God's peace.
How did these people become peacemakers in such adverse circumstances? Well, the way God's people have always done it. They did let justice take its proper place, but then personally receiving God's peace in the midst of their real heartbreak, it empowered them to share what they indeed had received by grace. Or as Paul says of the Peacemaker's power, "I have learned in whatever situation I'm in, to be content. I know how to be brought low, I know how to abound. In every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
The Greek word for being in need is "hystereisis." Do you hear our English word for hysteria in that? Paul was saying either you can operate in hysteria, your own out-of-control helplessness and frantic striving that leads to trouble, or you can live in God's peace. That's what Paul learned. It's one of the most famous verses in the Bible, Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him—through Christ—who gives me strength!" A troublemaker lives in hysteria; a peacemaker lives in the power and presence of God's grace.
That's how Robert Rule and the Amish family members could pursue peace: through Christ who gave them strength. The fact is, the Savior Jesus who is risen from the dead has overcome all evil and pain. He paid the price for all the trouble of our sin when He gave His life for us on the cross. Instead of lashing out at us in revenge, instead of paying us back for what our sins deserved, God forgave us and called us His own through the sacrifice of His only Son. Our gracious and compassionate God is the ultimate Peacemaker. And although we didn't deserve it, He gave that remarkable love to you and me.
That's the power promise for you and me today, my friend. Will you know it? Will you believe it with me? Your sins are forgiven. The price is paid in full. Jesus gave His life for you. And now, in all of the things you face, in all the trouble and pain that come your way, in weakness and in hurt and in anger, in all of those things you can forgive as you have been forgiven and show love as you have been loved through Christ, the One to whom all things are accountable, the One who alone gives you real strength.
The God of peace prevails by first making peace with you. This Savior can even end the feuds that sometimes come our way. Remember the Hatfields and the McCoys? Well, William Anderson Hatfield was the patriarch of the violent and troublemaking Hatfield family. He was so filled with trouble and hatred that he was called "Devil Anse Hatfield." But this troublemaker was changed by a power greater than himself. On September 23, 1911, William Anderson Hatfield was baptized into the Christian faith. He was seventy-three years old. This former troublemaker became a peacemaker. He even helped plant a new church in his community.
Wow! Look what God can do! It's never too late. So, what about your life, dear listener? Do you have hope today? Can you be free from the turmoil of real resentment and pain? Can the powerful grace and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ transform you from a troublemaker into a peacemaker today? Rejoice in the Lord always, says Paul. The Lord is near. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! In Christ, then, the answer is yes. May that answer be yours, now and forever! Amen.
Reflections for August 11, 2024
Title: Shaped by the Calendar
Mark Eischer: You're listening to The Lutheran Hour, and this is Archives August. For FREE online resources, archived audio, our mobile app, and more, go to lutheranhour.org. Joining us now here's Lutheran Hour Speaker, Dr. Michael Zeigler.
Mike Zeigler: So last week, Jason Broge and I, my conversation partner here today, we started a conversation on how Christians have a way of ordering their calendars around the life of Jesus. Last week we talked about there's this thing called the Christian calendar, which we'll talk more about in a moment. But there's also a secular calendar. How is that forming us in one way or the other?
Jason Broge: We're in the election season, so this is part of our calendar. We know every four years there's going to be a presidential election. It's creating anxiety, uncertainty; it's enhancing the questions about the future, rather than reducing them for people. And that's one of the interesting things about secular calendars. I think they often do that. You and I have talked a lot about the fact that so much of our regular calendar here as Americans, it seems to be based around consuming things, even holidays that we as Christians really hold dear, like Christmas.
It's about buying, it's about shopping, it's about getting that next thing, about being ready for Halloween, making sure you have all the things. Because we have to get you into the next thing. We have to get you ready to shop and to buy and to do. Which for me, and I think a lot of people, whether they realize or not, creates this weird sense of anxiety because we're always going and never there, and it's never enough. And we're always wanting, and desire is created—but no time for fulfillment, no time for actually living into the moment.
Mike Zeigler: So these secular calendars, they are shaping us to be certain kinds of people, as Jason mentioned, perhaps giving us some sense of order, but also some anxiety, some sense of unfulfillment. There's also, by nature of being a secular calendar, (it) keeps our focus on the realm of human activity alone and not on how God—this vertical action of God—might be breaking in and reorganizing our calendars for us. So that brings us to the church calendar, the Christian calendar, however, sometimes it's called the church year. How is that different, Jason?
Jason Broge: Well, the church year starts by centering us in who God is and God's activity. It fundamentally takes us out of what we need to do and puts us into a perspective of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do in the future, which is a different way of looking at it.
Mike Zeigler: So by starting with what God has done in reaching down toward us, the Christian calendar lets us rest and have a sense of fulfillment, not in our own activities and our own plans, but in what God has done. We've talked about how the church calendar is ordered around God's promises made in the past, fulfilled in Jesus and still being fulfilled in Him and the Spirit, and then us growing into those promises and responding to them.
Jason Broge: There's a real way in which—one of the things as Lutherans we like to talk about is this idea of the now and not yet, that we get the true gift of Christ now, and yet we still look forward to the future. And the church calendar reminds us to spend time in the now as we were just describing, even as we build an excitement for the not yet. And so often the secular calendars around us are saying, just look to the next thing. Just look to the next thing. Just look to the next thing. And you need to rest in the moment.
Mike Zeigler: It helps us see time less as a scarce resource and more as a gift. And it is a place we can dwell in these times. We can retreat in them; we can find fulfillment in them. The sermon you heard today is from the season after Pentecost, that season of growth and response to God's promises fulfilled. And next week we're going to listen to a Christmas sermon, Christmas in August. How about that? And this is the time of the moment when these promises begin to be fulfilled. And after waiting for centuries, God's people see them fulfilled in the birth of the Messiah. So join us again for that next week.
Music Selections for this program:
"A Mighty Fortress" arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
"God of Grace and God of Glory" arr. Ralph C. Schultz. From Hymns for All Saints: Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs (© 2011 Concordia Publishing House)
"O God of God, O Light of Light" From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.
