It used to be and maybe still
is that when asked what you would like to see in the world was world
peace. And truly, most of the world’s
citizens just want to live their lives in peace. They want to be able to raise their
families. They want safe
communities. We have a President who ran
on being a peacemaker, but that certainly hasn’t happened. I’m angry about Venezuela. I’m angry about Syria, where historic
Christian communities have been wiped out.
I’m angry about Gaza where only 500 Christians and one church building
remain. The Ukraine/Russia conflict
continues to rage. Militias in Sudan,
Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of Africa continue to
terrorize citizens. Myanmar has been in
a state of civil war for decades. Our
own cities are riddled with crime and violence.
Children can’t even go to school without wondering if they will go home
at the end of the day. Yes, we need
peace! While some places have been more
peaceful than others at various times, we have always lived in a world of
violence and conflict. The devil, whose
modus operandi is to kill, steal, and destroy, is very active in the
world. People continuously come up with
new ways to harm other people. And still
we pray for peace. It is not a futile
prayer, for it reminds us that there is only One who can bring lasting
peace. And one day, He will.
In verses 2-9 of today’s text, we have a prayer for
peace. Verse 2 gives us the specific
request: “O Yahweh, be gracious to us;
we have waited for You. Please be our
strength every morning, and also our salvation in the time of distress.” In this short prayer request is a cry for
mercy. Asking for mercy is sign of
repentance. The request for salvation is
also from a people who have come to the realization that no one else and
nothing else can save them. Repentance
is a key to answered prayers. If you are
harboring sin, don’t expect God to grant your request. Self-reliance and trusting in other things or
people are blocks to answered prayer. If
you can do it, then you don’t need God’s help.
If someone else can do it, you don’t need God’s help. The truth is
without God, we can do NOTHING, but we must acknowledge that fact in order to
see God at work. When we reach the end
of ourselves, God says, “Now I can do something!”
Verses 3-9 provide the confidence in asking this
request. When God gets active, people
pay attention! When God starts to judge
the nations, they scatter like, as our text says, “locusts rushing about”. I would say like cockroaches when you turn on
the light! I think Eugene Peterson
missed it when he didn’t use that as his metaphor when he wrote the
Message. He leaves metaphor out
altogether. God is going to collect what
is His. Verses 5-6 are written in
present tense. This is who God is even
now. He is exalted. He is in control. He reigns.
He fills Zion with justice and righteousness. He is our stability. His wealth is salvation, wisdom, and
knowledge, all of which He graciously shares with His people. And He values when people fear Him. For us the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Knowing who God is we can
make our requests confidently.
There is debate among scholars as to whether the brave
men and peace ambassadors who are crying at their wits end because they have
failed belong to Zion or Assyria or the other nations. I don’t know that it matters who they
are. We all know that peace treaties get
broken, negotiations fail, and covenants get broken. We have seen Israel break them with Qatar, Yemen
Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. We have
seen efforts in Ukraine and Russia fail.
We saw our own country fail miserably in Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Vietnam. Often sabotage has come from
the inside. We have seen good people die
and be permanently wounded in body, spirit, and mind. We have seen honest people betrayed, people
who have dedicated their lives in service to their country. Only God can bring lasting peace. If Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is not
involved, peace cannot last. Peace takes
trust. If people prove to be
untrustworthy, then the best you can ever have is a temporary truce. Broken covenants are hard to remake. What’s so great about the covenants that God
makes with us, is that He takes full responsibility if they are broken, even
though we do the breaking, and He does not.
He did this in the Garden of Eden, when He promised the Seed of the
Woman would crush the serpent’s head. He
did it with Abraham, when He alone passed through the sacrificed animals as a
firebrand and smoking pot. And Jesus
Himself did it when, at the Last Supper, He gave us the New Covenant of love of
the forgiveness of our sins, by the giving of His own flesh and blood for us
and not requiring ours. He is the
repairer of broken covenants because He alone is fully trustworthy. When we are praying for peace, we must put
all of our trust in Jesus, and ask Him to take His rightful reign over the
nations, in our communities, and in our relationships. People will betray our trust, but Jesus is
the restorer of covenants. He is the
only One who can make lasting peace.
In verses 10-16, we have Yahweh Himself answering the prayer for peace. Because God’s people have humbled themselves, God declares that He will take action in such as way that His reign is made more evident. God rightly says that we reap what we sow, and in our case, it’s not good fruit, but that which will be burned up in fire. Just in case we think God is only talking about the people of the nations, He says in verse 14, “Sinners in Zion are terrified.” But God tells us how to avoid the fire. He says in verse 15-16 that the one who walks righteously, speaks with sincerity, rejects unjust gain (doesn’t exploit others and isn’t greedy), who agrees via handshake instead of bribery, who doesn’t engage in evil via gossip or gory fascination will dwell on the heights, will find refuge in the impregnable rock, and will have daily bread. We heard that Jesus is the Rock in a weary land last week. We avoid the fire by taking refuge in Jesus. Paul puts it this way in I Corinthians 3:11-15:
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames."
The only way we can be the kind of person Isaiah writes about in 33:15-16 is if Jesus is our foundation. Then we do not have to fear the fire of God. It is a purifying fire, not a punishing fire. The peace we find in Jesus is not just peace between nations and people, it is eternal peace, peace within our own soul, and peace with God.
The final part of our text, verses 17-24, is an oracle of
God’s ultimate answer to our prayer for peace.
Our eyes will see the King in His beauty. Everyone will be able to understand everyone
else. There will be no violent
people. Jerusalem will be permanently
established in peace. Yahweh will be
there, and He will be for us. He will
save us. There is no need for boats as
there will be no need for trade, because we will have no needs. Everything will be provided for us by the
Lord. There will be no need for warships
because the city cannot be attacked. There
will be no sickness. The weakest will
thrive in abundance. And the people who
will live in this new, peaceful Jerusalem are those whose sins have been
forgiven. Notice the language in verse
22—Yahweh is judge, lawgiver, and king.
These are words used to describe Jesus.
We can see the oneness of God.
Jesus is the same as Yahweh. Jesus
is coming again to reign on earth. All
will be peace.
On this second Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of peace, we
join in the billions who’ve gone before us and around the world who have prayed
for peace, knowing that one day soon, that prayer will be answered. Peace begins with Jesus, not with us. We can’t make peace without Him. When we confess our sin, the failures of our
efforts, our trying everything but Jesus, then Jesus will bring us peace and
transform us into peacemakers, even then, we cannot bring peace on earth, but
Jesus will when He comes again as King.
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