Title: Peace (John 14:27)
Contents
1. Two kinds of peace
People want to live in peace. There are two kinds of peace. One is from the world and the other is from the Lord. Judging from the text, what the Lord gives is fearless and worry-free, but the things of the world are not. The peace of the world can be said to be a temporary joy that comes from the abundance of wealth. Or, it can be said that it is the psychological satisfaction that comes from receiving praise and recognition from someone. It can also be the relief that comes from rest after hard work. These joys, satisfactions, and the peace of reassurance will disappear as soon as those conditions are removed. So, in the midst of peace, having worries and anxieties about the future can be said to be the peace that the world gives.
So the Lord
"Peace I leave, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." What is the Lord's peace?
In general, peace comes from three relationships. These are human relations, object relations, and event relations.
2. The Lord's Peace
1) The Lord's Human Relationships
We feel anxiety and fear in face-to-face relationships between people. Some are happy and some are unhappy in that relationship. You find happiness in meeting a good friend and having a cup of tea, you feel happiness in meeting a good husband, and you feel peace in the process. However, in our relationships, it is usually easier to get only tension and anxiety than to get such peace and happiness. That's because there is no 'one like me'. I am happy when I meet people who share the same thoughts, hobbies, and interests, but strictly speaking, it is not easy to meet people who are exactly like you. So when you meet someone with a different opinion, you get nervous, offended, and end up fighting.
Towards the marital relationship, which is the basis of human relationships, the Bible commands, "The two shall be united into one flesh. However, the couple also became one, but the union is not well established. In a true sense, 'union' does not mean mixing and making one, but it means achieving harmony while respecting their individuality. The words union and unite in English are different. The former means tying and integrating this and that into one, and in the process, each component does not harmonize and has the opposite effect of showing a sense of detachment and heterogeneity. The Bible wants the latter. This is a harmony of respecting each other's personalities and acknowledging 'you are not like me', and the Bible requires us to live this way.
Why do people fight? Isn't that what happens when you try to make others like you?
Those who are punctual turn those who are not punctual into sinners. A person with a calm personality does not recognize a person with an excitable personality. A domestic person sells out someone who only goes out.
Taking your little bit of righteousness as your standard and not accepting those who fall short of that standard may give you a moment's satisfaction, but in the end you'll be plagued with the anxiety and anxiety that comes from not being united.
At the time of Jesus, the Pharisees fasted two days a week. While drawing, he condemned the publican who did not do so as an unrighteous person. When the adulterous woman was arrested, she thought about her righteousness and tried to stone this unclean woman. They even criticized Jesus and his disciples for not keeping the Sabbath law.
People seek peace by reproaching others for their lack and injustice by confirming their own righteousness.
Jesus took the condemnation we deserve on the cross. Rather, looking at those who persecuted him, the Lord said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
and forgave the sins of others. Rather, there was an overflowing peace in the heart of the forgiving Lord. Isn't this peace completely different from that of the world?
The Jewish leaders and soldiers who had put up the cross and crucified Jesus were at the foot of the cross, and when darkness covered the heavens, they were terrified, amazed, and troubled. But Jesus, who suffered on the cross, took the place of the sins of the people of the world and begged for forgiveness and enjoyed the greatest peace that could not be enjoyed in this world.
This dialogue is found in the writings of Jewish rabbis. One day, a rabbi asked his disciples this question.
- How can we discern when the night is over and the sunrise is?
- Isn't it time to tell the difference between a dog and a sheep from a distance?
- no.
- Isn't it time to tell the difference between a fig tree and a grapevine?
- no
- Then, tell us the answer.
- That's when you can look into human faces. When you have enough light to recognize them as your brothers and sisters. Until then it is night, and darkness is still with us.
Henri Nuen said that this light is the true peace that the world cannot give. The peace of the world separates the dog from the sheep, the fig tree and the grapes. In the process of making distinctions, we find our own righteousness, show our pride, and enjoy peace by being satisfied. However, the peace that our Lord gives comes truly from looking into people's faces and recognizing them as my brothers and sisters. Jesus did not see the enemy as an enemy, but welcomed him as a 'sheep' from whom you must redeem. He did not call a human being who is 'different' from you a 'servant', but as a 'friend' and embraced it in your heart.
2) The Lord's things
People find peace in the abundance of their possessions. Of course, for the common people, the peace that possessions provide is very much in need. Even if it is a single room, I feel the energy and warmth that I enjoy when I have my own home. Enjoy the peace of being possessed. However, because of their possessions, they feel anxious that they must 'protect' soon. So they build a high wall, build a castle, and arm themselves.
But from the beginning, the Lord was lying in a manger. Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Jesus never felt anxious or worried because of such poverty.
When tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the Lord said, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Jesus was free from material things. Rather, he said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25) and warned of a material yoke. The rich young man he met on the road heard the Lord's words to share his wealth with the poor, and he was sad and died. (Luke 18:23) Even his last clothes on the cross were taken away by Roman soldiers and he went up on the cross empty-handed .
That said, the Lord was not a proletarian revolutionary activist. He was not the kind of person who lived with bitterness in his heart, bound by an ideology that made his stomach hurt when he saw those who had it. The Lord taught that God in heaven is Father, saying that if you ask anything in my name, He will hear you. In other words, the Lord was satisfied with the things of the kingdom of God and enjoyed freedom and peace resulting from it. That is, the Lord had all the heavens.
When Henri Nuen was enjoying wealth and fame as a professor at Harvard University, he suddenly gave up everything and went to a place where about 10 people with disabilities, including Park Bahk, named 'Larche' (Refugee) lived together, and found true peace there. . They were satisfied with one meal, and they were enjoying the true peace of being grateful for the fresh air of the mountain. Henri Nuen decided to share their true peace and be with them for the rest of their lives.
“Do not love money, but be content with what you have, for he himself said, ‘I will not leave you, nor will I ever leave you.’ So we boldly said, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can men do to me?” I do (Hebrews 13:5-6)"
3. The Lord's Event Relations
We are happy when we find what we want. But when you do something you don't want to happen, you lose your peace. In fact, if we divide it into these two, we end up with more things we don't want than we want. That's why there are more lives that are not in peace than those in peace.
But Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion.
"He said, "My heart is very distressed to death. Stay here and stay awake." And he went a little farther and fell on the ground, asking if possible that this time would pass away from him, saying, "Abba, Father, all things are possible with you. Move, but not as I will, but as you will.” (Mark 14:34-36)
In this way, when the Lord did not want something to happen to him, he did not do his own will but asked for the Father's will. This was the reason the Lord had peace. Paul's confession of faith
“All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Does what is happening now make us anxious? See with the eyes of faith. Although it was not what I wanted, the heart of a person who prays, 'Not my will, but your will', believing that it is a trial God gives me, a whip that God gives me, and God's plan to train me. Yes, the peace of the Lord from heaven will come in full.
Dear saints,
Let's go ahead with our hands in the presence of God's absolute sovereignty. I pray in the name of the Lord that the peace of God that overflows like a river be with you.
"Merciful God. We are very much in fear and anxiety. We need your peace at such a time. Give us the peace you gave to your disciples. Don't envy people who aren't like me and don't become anxious about my relationships. And approach that person and grant him peace in accepting him. Give him a heart of poverty with regard to material things, and make sure he believes that everything in heaven is ours. Trust and rely on the will of the Father and give him victory with the abundance of heaven. I pray in the holy name of Jesus, amen."