Pastor Raymond Osborne

�Know Jesus, Know Peace. . .No Jesus, No Peace�
St. John 14:26-27

According to www.dictionary.com Peace is:

1. The absence of war or other hostilities.
2. An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities.
3. Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations: roommates living in peace with each other.
4. Inner contentment; the absence of mental stress or anxiety; serenity: peace of mind.

Some words related to �peace� are: amity, calmness, composure, contentment, harmony, hush, placidity, quiet, relaxation, rest, serenity, stillness, and tranquility.

Some antonyms for �peace� include: frenzied, rough, stormy, turbulent, violent, wild, discord, disagreement, conflicted, and war.

As a child, I would ask my Mother each year what she wanted for Christmas and her reply would be, �I want peace for Christmas.� I always thought that bringing world peace was a mighty tall order for a little fellow like me! What I didn�t realize then is that basically what she wanted for Christmas was for me to be QUIET for a little while!

Let me get right down to where we live this morning; how is it with your life? If you could choose a one word description of your life, would it be �peace?� Are you able to say this morning that not only are you at peace in your life, you are one who lives in peace with others?

Or could it be better said that your life is a turbulent life; a life that is frenzied, rough, stormy, even violent, and that you are one who always seems to find yourself in conflicted situations with those around you?

The disciples were a motley crew. There was a tax collector, there were fishermen, there were those who were quiet and kept to themselves, there were those loud mouths who needed a double portion of the fruit of peace in their life; but the one thing that each shared in common with the other was a love for Jesus.

For perhaps three or so years they had walked the dusty roads with Jesus, sat by the sea and listened to Jesus teach about things like the necessity to love one another and to treat each person in the same manner we ourselves want to be treated. They had broken bread with him, grown close to him, they had learned to love him, and to believe with all of their hearts that he was the chosen one of God, the Messiah!

And then, one day, before the festival of the Passover, after eating supper, Jesus did something absolutely remarkable and astounding. He knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

After supper that evening, Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel that he had previously tied around his waist.

When he came to Peter, people became angry, �You�ll never wash MY feet!�

Jesus simply looked at Peter, speaking with firmness kindled with gentleness, �Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.�

Peter�s heart was touched by his Master�s words, �Not only my feet Lord! But my hands, and my head also!�

When Jesus had finished washing the disciples� feet, we are told that he put his robe back on and returned to the table.

Becoming very troubled in his spirit he told them, �One of you will betray me. Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.�

What just happened? What did Jesus just reveal to the disciples? He revealed to them that he was going to die. He had just �rocked their world!� I want you to take whatever version of the Bible you have and look at John 14:1. Somewhere in that verse you will find a word that is an antonym for the word �peace.�

Most translations use the word, �troubled.� Other words that appear in some other translations are, �worried,� �afraid,� �distressed,� and �agitated.� All of these words are the opposite of the word, �peace.� Jesus plainly says to his disciples when their lives became filled with something other than peace, �STOP! Don�t allow your hearts to go there!� Later on in this chapter we find our text that we heard earlier, �I may be leaving, BUT,� hear that word it�s so vitally important! �BUT, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you;� not just any old peace beloved, �MY peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.�

Let me go back to the question I raised at the onset of this message; how is it with you? Do you NOW understand that Jesus wants you and me to have lives that can be characterized by the word, �peace?� As an adult, I now understand that when my Mother kept saying all she wanted for Christmas was peace, peace was available for her and to her through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That very same peace is available to you and to me and the rest of the world this morning!

The subject at hand this morning in the new �Alternative Bible Study� was predominately, �war.� Unfortunately our nation seems determined to head into a war with Iraq. The �official� stance of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church is one of arriving at a �peaceful solution� rather than engaging Iraq in war.

It seems to me that responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. Does it not make sense that if we are going to ever live in a peaceful world, a world that is comprised of human beings, that we human beings must first be filled with peace ourselves? Let me go on record here and say that the only kind of peace that will bring true peace into the world comes from the Prince of Peace, Jesus, the Christ!

When we ourselves have inner peace that comes from Jesus, then we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on. Then and only then will our world experience peace.

There is a brilliant portrait of peace on earth recorded in the Isaiah 11:6, �The wolf will live 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.�

There is also a beautiful song written in 1955 about peace on earth. Jill Jackson and Sy Miller, a husband and wife, who longed for world peace, wrote this song. They thought that the beginning for such peace would be with each individual. The words are:

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me,
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Creator, neighbors all are we,
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now,
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow,
to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!

Did you know that this song was first introduced to a group of 180 teenagers who were selected for a weeklong retreat in California? On a summer evening in 1955, these young people who were purposely from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, all locked arms high atop a mountain and sang this simple and beautiful song about Peace. Sy Miller later wrote, �They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.�

It is utterly amazing to me, that doing the simplest things can often bring the greatest gratification, joy, and most of all peace. The simplest way to K-N-O-W peace, in the world, and in our lives, is to KNOW Jesus as Savior of our lives! Do you have peace this morning? You can! Remember the words of Jesus, �MY peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.�

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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