WHAT IF
WOULD I EVER FIND PEACE?
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 2:1-14
DECEMBER 9, 2012
On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touched down on the surface of the moon on the Sea of Tranquility. They placed a plaque there on the Sea of Tranquility that was signed by Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins, and also signed by Richard M. Nixon. The plaque said, “We come in peace for all mankind.” That plaque remains there on the Sea of Tranquility on the surface of the moon today. Scientists guarantee us that that plaque looks exactly the same as the moment it was first placed there. It looks just as good today because of the atmospheric conditions there. There is peace there, at least a kind of peace, because there are no people there.
Here on earth, it is a different story. There are a lot of people, about seven billion people. There is very little peace. A lot of people with very little peace because all seven billion people on this planet are fallen. The Bible says, “We have all fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous.” We have all sinned. We are all sinners in need of grace. We are all messed up. There has, throughout human history, been very, very little peace. “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given.” A baby has been born in Bethlehem and he has come that we might find peace. He offers peace to the world. This morning what I would like us to do is to examine the two different types of peace that Christ offers. These are both precious and oh-so important.
The first peace that Christ offers is global peace. Everybody wants global peace. The Bible tells us that Christ offers this to our world. In Isaiah chapter 2 verse 4, we are told that, “In the day of the Lord, the Lord will beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” In Micah chapter 4, verse 3, exactly the same verse is given to the prophet Micah by the Holy Spirit, by God’s Spirit. It is the same verse given to Micah as given to Isaiah. “He will beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore.”
You can find that verse on a plaque on the United Nations building. When you go in the United Nations building it is right there. It is not that the United Nations is founded on the Bible. I think most of us would know that is not so, but it is that the folks at the United Nations are just like all of us in that they long for global peace. Everybody longs for global peace.
I am sure all of you have heard of Alfred Bernhard Nobel. It was in the year 1888 when Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. While experimenting with liquid nitroglycerin, he invented dynamite. Then Nobel began to market this product all over the world. He sold dynamite and dynamite was used for construction and demolition. Dynamite was used in the mining industry. Dynamite was used in war. Because dynamite was used in war, many people were killed through Nobel’s invention and he felt guilt about that. He felt shame. Before his death, Alfred Bernhard Nobel established the Nobel prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize, which was the greatest of the five original Nobel prizes.
I would ask you, who was the first American to receive a Nobel Peace Prize? That first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize was Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States. The year was 1906, and he had negotiated peace between Russia and Japan. He received the Nobel Peace Prize. In that same century, Japan went on to fight in a world war and Russia went on to fight in a world war. They fought in two world wars that same century because that is the way of our world.
Theodore Roosevelt, who received the Nobel Peace Prize, was actually, in a sense, a man of war. He was a war hero. He had fought in the Spanish American War. He had led the Rough Riders; he won the Battle of Kettle Hill and the greater Battle of San Juan Hill. Theodore Roosevelt, in fact, entered the White House in the midst of violence. He was Vice President under William McKinley. It was September 14, 1901. On September 7th, a week earlier, McKinley had been assassinated at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. In the midst of the violent act, Theodore Roosevelt rose to the presidency.
This is our world. Peace is oh-so elusive. The Bible tells us that our world is heading towards Armageddon. That is what the Bible prophesies. That is what the Bible promises. This world, despite all of our glorified technological attainments, despite our increase in knowledge and information, is heading towards Armageddon because the heart of man is so fallen. Our weapons are more and more powerful. The final battle will be fought and it will begin, the Bible says, on the plain of Megiddo in the nation of Israel. This is easy for us to understand, as there is such controversy surrounding Israel today and such hostility amongst the peoples of the world.
That final battle will begin on the plain of Megiddo near the hill of Megiddo, Har-Megiddo, Armageddon. I have mentioned this before. You can travel to Megiddo, as I have many times, and you can see city stacked upon city throughout history. There are 26 cities built on top of each other. The first one dates to about 4,000 BC, 6,000 years ago. One of those cities at Megiddo was the city of Solomon, one of the chariot cities of Solomon. Solomon, king of Israel, had built chariot cities throughout his nation. One was at Megiddo. At every chariot city he had chariots, of course, and established stables for horse stalls. According to 1 Kings chapter 4, Solomon had 40,000 horse stalls in his chariot cities, all of those horses to service his chariots.
I remember when I was at Megiddo this last time, our tour guide, who was a scholar and historian, a wonderful Jewish man, said he had once doubted the accuracy of the Biblical account regarding Solomon’s stables in Megiddo because the archeological evidence at Megiddo showed that where the stables were located did not date back to the time of Solomon but rather to the time of King Ahab. Therefore, he thought that maybe the Bible was wrong. Now, just recently, archeologists have unearthed a new, vast stable area in another part of Megiddo and it dates exactly to the time of Solomon, a chariot city where part of his 40,000 horses were kept. The Bible is true.
I remember the tour guide saying, “We should never forget the Bible is true.” The Bible is true. When the Bible says that Armageddon is coming, I promise you that it is true. Yet, Christ is also coming. The Bible promises that. He will not let the human race destroy itself. Armageddon will not be the end. Christ will come. He will beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. He will bring peace to the earth. Lord of Lords. King of Kings. The kingdoms of this world, it says in the Bible, will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. He shall reign forever and ever. Even now, Christ offers peace between nations. If nations would seek him, if governments would pray to him, he still offers peace to them even now.
Some of you have traveled to the Andes Mountains in South America. Perhaps you have gone up into the mountains. At 12,572 feet there is this great statue, right on the border of Argentina and Chile, called Cristo Redentor de los Andes, Christ the Redeemer of the Andes. It is a vast, beautiful statue. It was erected on March 13, 1904. Argentina and Chile had been at war. Peace was negotiated. It was negotiated in the name of Christ, in the midst of much prayer. Pope Leo XIII was involved; King Edward VII of England was involved. They both came to South America. They both met with the leaders of Argentina and Chile. They had a prayer meeting. It was a different time in history. They had a prayer meeting, they had a time of scripture, they had a time where they negotiated peace, and they did it in the name of Christ.
When you read the plaque at the base of Christo Redentor it says, “Sooner shall these mountains crumble to dust and fall into the sea than shall the people of Argentina and the people of Chile break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.” Pretty cool! Even today Christ would do that. He would bring peace between nations. You know how Jesus came to Jerusalem and he saw the city and wept over it. In Luke chapter 19, as he approached the city it says, “As Jesus drew near to the city of Jerusalem, he wep,t saying, ‘Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace.”‘ In a sense he was playing on the name Yerushalayim itself, city of peace. “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace, but they are hidden from your eyes. I tell you the day is coming when your enemies will cast up a bank about you, surround you, hem you in on every side, dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” They did not understand but Jesus at all times and all places offers peace.
There is a second type of peace that I think, for most of you, is perhaps more important. Most of us don’t think globally. Most of us don’t even think nationally. Most of us think very personally. There is this second kind of peace that Christ offers to everyone everywhere. It is personal peace. Christ offers personal peace. In John 14, the words of Jesus are, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The words of Scripture and the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance, for the Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving may your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.” When our hearts and minds are in Christ Jesus, and oftentimes it is through prayer that our hearts and minds become right with Christ, in those times we find peace. The gospel itself is called the gospel of peace because through the gospel Jesus offers peace to us all.
I know that many of you have heard of Demaryius Thomas. He plays for the Broncos. Many of you are Broncos fans. He is a great wide receiver. He has many receptions this year. His total yardage in receptions is already over 1,000, I believe almost 1,200 yards. He may be heading for the Pro Bowl. I think if he stays healthy over the years that he could be a Hall of Fame type of guy.
Demaryius Thomas stands 6 foot 3 and weighs 225 pounds, which is exactly what I am. There are some differences. Our weight is distributed a little differently. There is a difference in quickness, a difference in speed, a difference in musculature, a different in athleticism. Despite all of these differences, he is somehow still satisfied and has somehow found contentment. Just kidding. Is it not true that peace has little to do with height, peace has little to do with weight, peace has little to do with quickness, little to do with speed, little to do with musculature or athleticism? Peace is far more inward than that. Peace really must be found at the innermost level. Peace must be found in the soul with Christ who offers this peace.
In the year 2000, the movie that won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture was American Beauty. It starred Kevin Spacey. He played the part of a dad who was in a mid-life crisis and was lusting after his daughter’s girlfriend. His daughter had low self-esteem and she felt ugly inside and out. Her girlfriend, though physically beautiful, also had low self-esteem and was vacuous at the core. The boy next door was a drug dealer and that boy’s dad was a military type who was a bigot and he hated gays, lesbians, and homosexuals. Yet, he himself was a repressed homosexual, so he hated the very thing he desired.
The producers of this movie, American Beauty, said that their desire was to make a movie that shows the whole human race as one dysfunctional family. They succeeded. It could have been called American Ugly. When you think about it, there is some truth to it. I like to see movies where there is a little more noble portrayal of people. I like to see movies where there is a little more positive portrayal of human beings, but there is truth to the fact that this human race is fallen, dysfunctional, messed up. In this midst of this, Christ offers peace, a very personal peace. He offers to forgive our sins, to clean up the mess, to wash us whiter than snow.
All through the Bible, from Mary Magdalene, who was possessed by many demons, to Zacchaeus, who was a corrupt tax collector and a corrupt businessman who had garnered money off of the oppression of the people… both of them found peace through Christ, through his forgiveness, through his cleansing, through his washing. They found peace and Christ began to clean up the mess in their lives. They found the security of salvation, the sealing of their souls, eternal life itself all through Christ.
Perhaps you remember just a couple of weeks ago when Mark Mittelberg preached and he talked about one-one-one and how you should think of someone you know that does not know Christ, someone who is not a Christian, and you should make a commitment to pray for that one person for one minute at 1 PM every day. It is a wonderful idea. Try doing that and see if God doesn’t use your prayer in that person’s life. See if God doesn’t use that prayer in your life. As you pray for one minute, at 1:00 every day for that one person, if you don’t begin to view that person differently and care more about that person, love that person more. See if you don’t try and find ways to tell them about Jesus. Jesus is Sar Shalom; he is the Prince of Peace. He is one who offers forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and a cleansing of the soul.
I know that many of you have a great respect for Abraham Lincoln. As you look at the presidents of the United States throughout history, certainly Lincoln was one of the greatest. He negotiated peace and held our nation together in a time of war. There are a lot of stories about him. One story about him that is rarely mentioned, or little told, is a story about his son Robert, who was one day trying to catch a train in a train station in the east. In April of 1864, Robert was arriving at the train station to catch the train. He was late. He was in a hurry. The young man saw that the train was taking off and he made a bad decision. He decided that he would try to catch that train. He ran and tried to catch the train while it was moving and while it was accelerating. He jumped and grabbed onto the handle of one of the railroad cars trying to access the car and he slipped. It was like his life flashed before him and he thought he was going to die.
A man reached out and grabbed him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him up into the railroad car. The man who saved Robert Lincoln’s life that day was Edwin Booth. Edwin Booth was perhaps the greatest Shakespearean actor in the United States of America. Edwin Booth even today is viewed as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors in history. His performance in Hamlet, his performance on the stage, is considered unparalleled. This was the man that saved Abraham Lincoln’s son that day. A week later Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Edwin Booth thanking him for saving his son’s life.
Edwin Booth saved the letter all the days of his life. It was precious to him because he respected Abraham Lincoln so much. Less than a year later, on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at the Ford Theatre in Washington DC. Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth, was devastated and so ashamed that he just disappeared. He ceased to act. The newspapers referred to Edwin Booth as the man of mystery. Nobody knew where he was or what he was doing. He explained years later that he was so ashamed of what his brother had done, and how his brother had murdered the man that he so respected that he, for a time, was dysfunctional and so filled with shame.
I don’t know if in your life you have ever felt shame. I don’t know if you have ever felt shame because of what somebody you have loved had done. Maybe you have felt some shame because you have a son, or daughter, or grandson, or granddaughter who has done something you feel has shamed you. Maybe you feel shame because of something your spouse has done. Maybe you feel shame because of something your mom or dad once did. Maybe you feel shame because of something a friend has done or maybe a group of friends. I don’t know. I do know that for most of us, the shame we should feel is for ourselves. I believe that with all of my heart. All of us should feel shame for ourselves.
I think sometimes, when you feel really good about yourself it just means you don’t know yourself very well. I think the closer you come to the unapproachable light, I think the closer you come to God, the closer you come to Christ the more his light reflects on you and you see your own sin and it breaks you. I think sometimes the people that don’t see their own sin are not that close to God; they have never come into his light. They don’t understand that God looks on your very thoughts. God looks on your very motives. He looks in the innermost person. He looks at your desires. And all of these—our motives, our desires, our thoughts—are not pure. God sees the lack of purity within us. All of us have envy and jealousy and pride and anger and lust. We are all fallen. There should be some sense of shame.
It is that shame that takes us to the foot of the cross. It is that shame that, in a sense, is beautiful because it takes us to the foot of the cross where we find peace by his blood. He forgives us and washes us and cleanses us. When we come to the cross, when we accept him as our Savior and as our Lord, he washes it all away and forgives us of our sin and begins to transform us. It is a slow process. He begins to transform us by his love and the peace is given. I hope that you have found that peace.
As we close, I want to make sure you also understand that Christ is Sar Shalom, he is the Prince of Peace. We who believe in him have been called to be peacemakers. It is not enough to find your own peace; we have been called to be peacemakers. Part of that means we need to share Christ with the world, share Christ with your world so the peace can spread and others can find that personal peace that comes through the gospel.
Part of it is relational. We are to be peacemakers in the sense of seeking to bring peace where there is conflict, and to bring peace where friendships and relationships are broken. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” There is a blessing that God bestows on us when we really seek to be peacemakers in this world. If you have read Philippians chapter 4, you notice that Paul mentions two of his friends who are leaders in the church at Philippi, two women, Euodia and Syntyche. They were leaders in the church of Philippi, friends of Paul, co-laborers with Paul. They labored side by side with him in the gospel, Paul says. They had been close friends.
Something happened. We don’t know what. Some day when we get to heaven, we can ask them if they even care to talk about it. Something happened that broke their friendship. Paul writes to this guy in Philippi and calls this man, Sunzugos, “yokefellow.” That may have been his name. In the Hellenized world Sunzugos was somewhat popular. Or Paul might have just been describing him as “sunzugos,” since it means yokefellow or peacemaker. Paul was asking him to step forward and help these women in the midst of their brokenness, in the midst of the friendship that had once been great to minister in peace. That is what we are all called to do.
On our staff here at Cherry Hills Community Church, we are peacemakers. We have people who are called by God to peacemaking ministries. We have our wonderful counseling department. We have Carson and Brett and Evie and Brad and Kathy and Claudia and Mary Ellen. These are wonderful, wonderful people. They are peacemakers. If in your life you feel like, “Hey, I don’t have inward peace. I don’t have personal peace. I know that I am struggling with anxiety and fear. I don’t even feel peace in my soul,” why don’t you consider coming in and talking to some of our folks who are peacemakers and who would love to help you seek that inward peace of Christ?
Maybe you are in a relationship that is broken. It might be with a friend, it might be with a child, it might be with a parent, it might be with a spouse, but you are wanting some help. We have this wonderful counseling department. We also have interns, many interns that counsel hundreds of people every week. We are peacemakers. We also have others who minister in the area of marriage. Mike Anderson heads up our wedding and marriage department. Such an awesome guy. What a privilege it would be if you are struggling in a marriage to come in and spend some time with Mike. What we say is that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and we who love him are called to peacemaking ministries. We want to be faithful as a church. We want to spread that call to you too so that you in your life and lifetime would seek to be instruments of God’s peace.
One final story as we wrap this up. It concerns Hubert Humphrey, Vice President of the United States under Lyndon Johnson. Hubert Humphrey was a Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1968. He ran against Richard Nixon in 1968 and lost. After that he hated Dick Nixon. He hated him because he felt like during the campaign Nixon had told half-truths. Isn’t that amazing that anyone would ever suspect politics of involving half-truths? He felt like Dick Nixon had told half-truths and sometimes outright lies. That is what Humphrey thought. He had this anger, even hatred, in his heart for Nixon.
In those years after losing the election, Humphrey was diagnosed with cancer. He was told that they had waited too long and he received the shocking news that his cancer was terminal and there was nothing they were going to be able to do. Hubert Humphrey went to see his pastor. He had accepted Christ as his Lord and his Savior. He went to see his pastor to talk about heaven and to talk about his death. His pastor asked him, “Hubert, are you at peace?” Hubert Humphrey said, “I am at peace. I know that Christ has saved me. I know my sins are forgiven and I know I belong to him. It still bothers me to think I am going to leave Muriel behind. It bothers me to think I am going to leave my wife behind. I don’t want to cause her any loneliness or any pain. I worry about that.” The pastor told Hubert Humphrey that God loved his wife more than he did and that God would take care of her. Then the pastor said to Hubert Humphrey, “You have some time left. God only knows the time you have left on this earth, but you have eternity in heaven. You have got time left on this earth and God doesn’t just want you to have peace, he wants you to be a peacemaker. Maybe there is somebody you know that you need to make peace with.”
Hubert Humphrey went home and he talked to his wife Muriel and he said, “I know what the Holy Spirit is saying to me. I know that I need to seek peace with Dick Nixon.” Hubert and Muriel Humphrey called Dick and Pat Nixon and invited them over to their home for dinner. They prayed about and felt like they should do this. The Nixons were shocked. Later they both said that they have never been more shocked than when they received that invitation. They accepted the invitation and had dinner with Hubert and Muriel. It was the first of many dinners they had together. They became friends.
When Hubert Humphrey died, at his funeral, sitting right next to Muriel in the front row, was Dick Nixon. People saw that and thought, “Wow. What is going on?” It was something Hubert Humphrey had requested—that Richard Nixon sit next to his wife at his funeral so that the world might know he sought peace.
I don’t know your life. I don’t know your relationships. I don’t know who you might have hatred for, or who might have hatred for you. I don’t know who has hurt you. I do know that Jesus is Sar Shalom; he is the Prince of Peace. He has extended to us, through the gospel, his grace and his mercy and his forgiveness. He wants us to go out and be instruments of that same grace and mercy and forgiveness. As we leave here today, it is not enough this Christmas season to just rejoice in the fact that Jesus is the Prince of Peace but to remember the call that we, as we go forth every day, are called to peacemaking ministries. Let’s look the Lord with a word of prayer.