Sunday, December 16, 2018

Be Peaceful Like a Prince

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.  Romans 12:21(NLT)

There is a hinge that holds Romans 11 and 12 together.  In Romans 1-11, you read all about God’s gracious sacrifice of grace for our sins.  The great divide between grace and duty begins with the hinge that connects chapter 12.  Paul tells us that, as a response to all that grace he described in chapters 1-11, we are to offer our lives to God in service.
And when that is so in the life of a believer, what happens to us is like the life of a caterpillar as he changes to a butterfly in a cocoon.  God uses His grace to transform a believer into a different strain of the human species – a child of God, born from above, living a life of sacrifice – in His name. 
The practical conclusion about that change is that our theology – what we know about God – must determine and drive the actions of our everyday lives.  We follow Jesus, not the world’s fads, customs and behaviors.  So, this is all about relationships, not just how we treat one another, but how we act and work together, so we can serve as God’s ambassadors to the world. 
Paul tells us to faithfully serve together to transform a world steeped in anger, hostility, rage, and vengeance into a place of peace.  This peace is shalom, not just a treaty signed, but a condition of the heart which is characterized by everything that makes life worth living.  It’s that place where the lamb and lion can lie down together, and everything will be just fine![2]

Commit to Being Peaceable                                                                                                                     

Never pay back evil with more evil.  Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.  Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.  Romans 12:17-18(NLT)

There can be nothing transformative about our lives without an intentional decision to be, and promote “peaceableness”.  There must be a decision to roll against the tide of our culture’s anger, and our own human nature’s desire to respond to evil with evil.
In short, our lives need to be bent towards peace.  A decision at the altar to vote for peace means more than just going back home, feeling good about our lofty thoughts.  After we decide for peace, we must begin to display it for the world to see (and change).
Displaying peace means filling your life with peace by doing things in a peaceful way, as well as intentionally saturating your thoughts with peace.  As dangerous as a gun pointed without forethought, is our unguarded and undisciplined possibilities for anger.  Rather we must plan to respond peacefully in everything; we must be on guard to display peace.  The life of a disciple of Jesus Christ is a peace-pointed life.   

Commit to Peace-Making

 Dear friends, never take revenge.  Leave that to the righteous anger of God.  For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.  Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them.  If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”  Romans 12:19-20(NLT)

Peace making is different than peace-loving; it’s hard business.  Peacemaking is pro-active; it doesn’t just sit back and not get angry.  Peacemaking means you get involved to destroy anger, violence and the destruction of relationships.  You go to war against war!
One afternoon, when our children were very young, there was a knock at the front door.  Elizabeth and I answered the door together to see a very angry woman we’d never met before.  It seems one of our kids had made her daughter really unhappy with something said or done that was very unkind.  Her white-hot words began:  If you think I’m going to stand by while your (&%$#@ expletive deleted) kid….  I had no idea what had happened, but I held out my hand and said:  Hi, I’m Russell, and this is Elizabeth.  I’m sorry this has been a bad day for you and your daughter.  Why don’t you come in and sit down; maybe we can figure this out together.
Now, my natural, human-self wanted to kick-in with:  Look, lady, just who do you think you are to come to my door and…...  But that would have fueled the fire, not put it out.  Peace-making is not possible when everything is about “me” or “my space” or anything that doesn’t include me caring for you.  That requires sacrifice, and that kind of sacrifice is only possible when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  Jesus came to our door two thousand years ago, but His mission wasn’t to condemn.  He didn’t knock on the door to blast an enemy; he invited us to open the door and to sup together – to have a meal.  And that’s what we’re celebrating this morning; it’s the meal of friends remembering the sacrificial rescue of Calvary…how Jesus overcame evil with good.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Let the church say “Amen”!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
[2] Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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