"Standing With the Flock"

Micah 5:2-5a

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Introduction: We have talked so far this Advent season about hope, joy, and love. Today we finish our Advent themes with PEACE. People have many different ideas about peace. For some it is about being united with other people, living in peace. For others it is something like the Peace Corp, which travels overseas to make a difference in the peace in our world. Still for others there is this hope that world peace can be achieved.

We see that the topic of peace can lead us to many ideas: the absence of war, the desire to get along, and even the need for inner peace. This morning I want to focus on the latter, and talk about how through Christ we can have inner peace; peace within our own body and mind. The truth is, we cannot seek peace with others, or seek peace in our world, if we ourselves are not at peace with God, and in turn with our own being.

I. Situations of Peace-

a. Unrest- There are many things in life that keep us from being at peace: stress, conflict, fear, guilt, anger... Most people deal with all of these on a fairly regular basis.

1. Let’s start with stress. Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. But stress is usually a negative force. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems. Stress is caused by several factors; being over busy, feeling like you’re always behind, not completing everything you need to, as well as any kind of arousal of your emotions. We need to understand that stress is caused by external forces. We do not cause stress from within, stress is caused from outside of us.

2. Second, we have conflict. Conflict is a state of opposition, disagreement, or incompatibility between two or more people or groups of people. Conflict too can have positive or negative affects in our lives. The positive is that it can move us to the point of dealing with a situation and resolving an issue. However, we usually think of conflict in negative terms. That is because it is 2 parties being in opposition with each other, and it is usually not fun to be in opposition with another. So the unrest comes from either avoidance, not dealing with the issue, which keeps the conflict as an ongoing problem. Or it comes from engaging the one to whom we are in opposition, and seeking to work out the situation. I know for me that when I have to deal with a conflict, I run the conversation through my head before I ever actually talk to the other person. And the conversation I have is usually much different (in a negative way) than how the actual conversation goes.

3. Third, there is fear. The dictionary says that fear is: “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” So again we see here that fear, like stress and conflict is emotional, and is caused by an outside source. The danger is not manifested inside of us, but by external forces. Fear is also seen as the opposite of faith. So, when our faith is weak, or struggling, or not trusting God, we are more apt to experience fear.

Stress, conflict, and fear, are just 3 of the issues of life that can keep us from experiencing peace. As I mentioned before, guilt and anger are two others. As we allow these situations of life to move us away from the faith that God desires for us to have, we will struggle to find peace in our lives.

b. Feeling peaceful- And yet, there are definitely times in life when we experience being at peace, or situations that cause us to feel peaceful. For this, I would like your help….What are some experiences in life that cause you to be at peace?/ (Examples: sitting in a jacuzzi; sitting with my kids and watching a movie; reading a good book; sitting at the beach and watching a sunrise or sunset…)

If you think about it, these kinds of experiences cause us to feel at peace because they stir up in us positive emotions. We feel relaxed when we are sitting in a warm jacuzzi; we feel loved when we are with our kids and enjoying their presence; we feel close to God when we see the sunset; we are in another world, away from our troubles and worries when we are reading, when we are lost, in a good book.

EXAMPLE- Peace That Transcends All Earthly Turmoil

Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied him, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. Until there were only two pictures still covered. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.

A mirror-smooth lake reflecting lacy, green birch trees, under the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed.

Surely, the people thought, this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the last painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this painting represent peace? Let me describe it to you…

First you have a tumultuous waterfall cascading down a rocky precipice; and you can almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power./ AND YET, A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed from the stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. She manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil. (Berit Kjos, A Wardrobe from the King, pp. 45-46.) THIS PAINTING WAS THE WINNER!

II. How to Have Inner Peace- (Micah 5:4-5; Ps. 18:2, 23:1; 1 Peter 5:7; Rom. 8:31)

This illustration reminds us that we can have peace in the midst of stormy surroundings; in the midst of stress, conflict, fear, guilt, anger, or whatever other outside forces may be raging against us. Let’s see how this is possible.

a. Rock and refuge- It is interesting how the quiet and darkness of night can cause us to feel some fear, some unrest. Lately part of Tiffany’s bedtime prayer is for God to keep away all burglars, earthquakes, and bad things from happening. I try to assure her that our house is tightly locked and is safe; plus Tami and I are in the next room. But this doesn’t always calm her fears. And yet, while I am there in her room with her, I know she feels safe and secure and has no fear. As Psalm 18:2 tells us: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”

Remember that we said before, faith is the opposite of fear. When our faith is strong and we know God’s presence is with us, and we know that God is One in whom we can take refuge, then we will experience peace. In our Micah passage, we are told that the Messiah will come and stand and shepherd the flock and the people will live securely. IN THIS SECURITY THERE IS PEACE./ The shepherds job is to watch over the sheep. They are to make sure that the sheep have food to eat, and are regularly cleaned, and are protected from all enemies. The sheep don’t need to worry or fear because the shepherd takes care of all things.

I believe that is why Psalm 23 is such a favorite for so many people, because it talks about God being our shepherd; the One who watches over us. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Just like my kids feel secure when my presence is there in the room, so we are secure and live in peace when we believe that God is with us, and watching over us like a shepherd watches over his flock!

b. God is for me- In the book and movie series of The Lord of the Rings, you have a character named Gandalf. Gandalf is a wizard who has great power, and uses it for the good. At the end of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, there is a great battle between the main characters of good, and the Orcs (who are bad). This battle has gone on all through the night, and still they face thousands of ugly, mean, strong orcs. Their resources are dwindling, and they are tired. But just when it seems like things will end….up on the hill, in a bright shining white robe, Gandalf appears with reinforcements. However, it is not just the fact that there are reinforcements, but that Gandalf himself is leading the reinforcements. You know that good will prevail over bad because of Gandalf and the power he brings.

This is true for us and God. Many times in life it might seem like we are losing the battle. We are facing conflict after conflict, and we are tired and weak. But then we remember what Romans 8:31 says: “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”/ It doesn’t matter if we face conflicts in life, it doesn’t matter if we battle our anger, it doesn’t matter if our guilt is overpowering us: we can have peace because we have the power of Christ with us, and within us!

c. God cares- But most of all I think that we can experience peace, because God Himself, the creator of all things, including you and me, cares for us.

In 1 Peter 5:7 we are told, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”/ God comes to us and tells us that we do not need to have anxiety, but we can give it away. God tells us to give it to Him. Why? Because He cares for us and knows that the stress that comes from feelings of anxiety are not healthy for us.

There is a wonderful, familiar poem called “Two Boxes.” It goes like this: I have in my hands two boxes, which God gave me to hold. He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black, And all your joys in the gold. I heeded His words, and in the two boxes. Both my joys and sorrows I stored. But though the gold became heavier each day, The black was as light as before. With curiosity, I opened the black; I wanted to find out why. And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole by which my sorrows had fallen out. I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud, "I wonder where my sorrows could be."He smiled a gentle smile at me. "My child, they're all here with me." I asked, "God, why give me the boxes, Why the gold, and the black with the hole?" "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, The black is for you to let go."

III. The peace of God- (Philippians 4:6-7)

God wants us to let go. And one of the best ways to let go, is to rest in God. So I want to take a couple of minutes, and lead you through an exercise of Godly meditation. I am going to play some music, and as the music is playing I’m going to talk for a moment to lead you into relaxing and giving yourself to God, and then let it be quiet for a minute or so, so that God can fill you with His peace. (Play medley from Kim Hoffman’s “Dreams of the Forgotten Christ Child.” [O Come Let Us Adore Him, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, His Name Is Wonderful] )

In Philippians 4:6-7 we read: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Conclusion: Christmas will be upon us in just six days. Our Christmas Eve service, I believe, is an opportunity to prepare us for what Christmas is truly about; celebrating the coming of Christ into the world. Receiving the hope, joy, love, and peace of Christmas. I hope that you can find the time to come this Friday, at 7 p.m.. And on Christmas day, before you get into the holiday celebration, and the opening of gifts, you might take a moment and remember that Christmas is about knowing that in Christ, we can be at peace with God, with ourselves, and with experiences we might encounter. Amen.