TRUE PEACE

| Sermon Thought by PKD Lee |

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The world offers us a peace that seems to work, but is it peace or escapism, not willing to face the real world? The usual means of peace is meditation and withdrawal from the world. Both are ephemeral, since one separates our mind from the world around us and the other separates our bodies from the world around us.

What is wrong with that? Can’t we live in isolation? Unfortunately, the day-to-day activity of life requires interaction with people, whether we like it or not. Vendors, service providers, doctors, colleagues all makes demands on our time.

Jesus promises us a peace that the world cannot give. One thing the world cannot give us is a purpose in our life. In our younger age, we create a purpose for life, like success, money or just fulfillment of my potential. But when I reach mid-life, we hit the mid-life crisis where we realize that all this will end with our death. It is not an eternal purpose, just meaningless activity.

So, what does Jesus offer?

• Peace in our internal life, as we have a purpose that is eternal.

• Peace in our relationships with people since we have dropped out of the world of competition.

• Peace with the physical world, since we trust Jesus to look after us in the midst of the turmoil around us.

What is our eternal purpose? To be used by God for His kingdom and glory. So, we disassociate with worldly goals and live for eternal goals. We see our worldly life as a part of the eternal life.

Why do we have peace with people? Once we stopped running after material things, we become at peace with people. James 4:1-4 emphasizes this.

Why do we have peace with the physical world around us? Since the physical world is not the focus of our life, we leave it in Jesus’ hands and trust Him to care for us.

The secret of peace is to replace the world with Jesus as the center of our life.