- my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without whom I would be nothing, but through whom I have
eternal life;
- my Christian family at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in West Columbia, SC, without whom I may
never been able to attend ILC for as long as I have (or will);
- the faculty of ILC for allowing me to present these chapel addresses at ILC.
*Note: The chapels listed on this page are ones that I had the privelege of sharing with the students at Immanuel Lutheran College. Some of them are dated the day that I gave the chapel, but unfortunately not all of them were. All hymns are taken from The Lutheran Hymnal.
Sanctify us by Your Truth, Your Word is Truth. Amen.
Body: A couple of weeks ago at church, when pastor was saying the Benediction at the close of the service, I accidentally joined in at the end with the word "peace." At the time it occurred, I was quite embarrassed for I said it quite loudly and everyone around me heard, but as I drove home I couldn't help but think what might have caused me to do this. As I pondered this thought on the way back to campus, I was reminded that there is a great deal going on in my life right now that has gotten me rather stressed out. I am now convinced that the reason why I spoke up was no accident at all. Sure I did it unknowingly, but hearing God's Word that Sunday morning enlightened my heart, released me from my guilt, and gave me peace; so much so that my soul became overwhelmed with joy and peace and caused me to speak with pastor at the end of the Benediction that one little word which sums up the effect of hearing the Gospel message: peace.
In our text for this evening, Christ is speaking to His disciples and tells them that He is giving them a most satisfying gift: His peace. He makes Himself very clear that the peace which He gives is not something which the world could give us. He says, "not as the world gives do I give to you." Let's talk about the peace of the world for a bit. Speaking from a political perspective, we see that the world's peace is very temporal. For example, after World War I was resolved and a peace treaty signed, it was but only a few years later when World War II broke out. We can also look at nature for an idea of the world's peace. One might find great peace and tranquility while hiking up a beautiful mountain side, or sitting lazily on an open beach. But we all know that this peace too is only temporal, for it takes but a thunderstorm and then the mountain becomes wet, cold, and very uncomfortable, and the ocean becomes a vessel for total destruction among any life still on the beach. Not only is the peace of nature not temporal, but it is also not fully satisfying. We human beings can only be brought peace through nature for so long before we become bored and desire a change of scenery. What about the peace experienced between a loving relationship between a man and a woman? I believe it is safe to say that we are fully aware of the incompleteness and temporality of that peace.
The peace which Christ gives to us, on the other hand, is eternal and totally complete. Actually, it is so wonderful that we can not even understand it. A man may write about and explain very thorougly the peace which is found here on earth, but "the peace of God surpasses all human understanding." It is the peace of Christ which allows a man being persecuted because of his faith to give glory and praise God. It is the peace of Christ which causes a man to move his family from the U.S. to Thailand in order to take care of heathen orphans. It is the peace of Christ which causes a mother and father to sing praises to God after their teenage daughter was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver. It is the peace of Christ which allows the apostle Paul to say, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." To those who have but the peace of the world, these actions do not make sense. These people think, "Why doesn't he just deny God, then he won't have to suffer persecution?"; or, "Why would this guy want to give up everything to move his family to Thailand to care for some people he doesn't even know?"; or,"How can these parents be so cheerful after their daughter has been killed?"; or, finally, "How do you gain something by dying? What can you do then?" These people certainly do not understand the peace of God. Even those who have the peace do not understand why it is there. It doesn't make sense that God would take all the countless guilty people of the world and proclaim them not guilty, but take His only, perfect Son and say you have to pay the price. But thanks be to Christ that He gives us His peace through the sacrifice of his own blood and life. It is this Gospel message that we find the source of Christ's peace: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Remember this peace while you are going about your busy lives and share it with others.
Finally, it is because of Christ's peace that when you go to bed tonight you can pray with the Psalmist, "You have put gladness in my heart....I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:7,8) Amen.
Closing Hymn: "Savior Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise" TLH-Hymn 47