The Rocky Road to Peace
Advent/Christmas Message Series
Matthew 3:1-12; Isaiah 11:1-10
- I. Concepts of peace by worldly standards
- “Peace and quiet”—Denial?
- “Keeping the peace at any price”—Avoidance?
- “Finding peace and quiet”—Flight?
- “I am peaceful but my neighbor isn’t”—Blaming others?
- Détente—Delaying?
- II. Isaiah’s view of peace—The Messianic Rule
“The wolf will lie with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11: 6-9
- III. How does a wild man eating locust and honey fit into this picture?
Matthew 3:1-12 revisited.
Repent! –Creates dissonance even today in a world of me-and-my-Jesus attitudes
Peace—the tension between energy and stillness, tranquility and churning, “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comforted.” The Biblical picture of peace does not jive with our ideas of the absence of disturbance. It is the picture of the presence of something. It is the presence of covenantal relationship with God in the midst of our lives.
Proclamation—The kingdom of God is at hand, we are called to be bearers of God’s peace in a world of discord.
Table Talk:
Reflect on how much your concept of peace has been influenced by worldly standards and how you may incorporate a biblical understanding of the concept.
God’s peace is offered to us not just at the coming of the age, but rather this very day. We are called to participate this day in the fullness of the Kingdom, partaking of as well as bearing the Peace of God wherever God may lead us.
December 5, 2010. Dcn. Kirsten Gardner, Teaching Pastor. The Way Christian Fellowship.