Rev. David Holwick ZN First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey December 6, 2015
I. We live in a time of violence. A. We have one mass shooting a day in America. 1) If you characterize a mass shooting as 4+ people, the San Bernardino atrocity was the 355th in 336 days. [1] 2) This one was different. a) 98% are carried out by a man, and usually one shooter. 1> This one involved a married couple. b) Becoming more common - a terrorist motivation. 1> The woman gave allegiance to ISIS on Facebook. 2> The attack was not impulsive but required much planning. B. Nations take violence to a higher level. 1) A century ago we saw one of the most brutal wars in history. World War I shattered tens of millions of lives. It was known for miles of trenches, blasted no-mans-lands, thunderous bombardments - war on an industrial scale. The new movie "Testament of Youth" is the true story of a young English woman named Vera Brittain. In the space of two years she lost her brother, her fiancé (on the day she was to be married) and two close friends. Her desire to be involved in the war resulted in her volunteering to be a nurse near the front lines. In a poignant scene, she is told her brother was at their field hospital but had already died. She frantically searches through the bodies, finds him, and discovers he is still breathing. Over time she nurses him back to health. He is sent back to the front and is killed soon after. Just before his death, he sends her a letter that describes the quiet peacefulness of a battlefield at twilight. But Vera also saw that war has several sides. Her first assignment was in a hospital that treated wounded German prisoners. She discovered that they were just like her fiancé and brother, with the same loves and fears. They were human. As a result, she became a life-long pacifist and noted writer of the anti-war novel "Testament of Youth." She continued to oppose war even after Hitler came to power. #65003 C. How do you respond to violence? 1) Most people shrink from it. a) We want to live peaceful lives, with no fear or danger. b) Violence may be necessary, on occasion, when our lives or the lives of our loved ones have been threatened. c) Even then, we want someone else to take the responsibility - the police, or an army. 2) God's response is found in Christmas. a) Our heavenly Father sent a little baby to earth. b) His mission was to bring peace to all of us. c) Do you think he succeeded in any sense? II. With Jesus, you can experience personal peace. A. Are you at peace right now? 1) The busyness of this holiday can unhinge anyone. a) There are so many events you want to take part in, so many people to buy gifts for. b) But most of us are unsettled by the deeper things like news coverage of terrorist attacks or mass killings. 1> Will it ever touch us? 2> Will they get their hands on nuclear weapons? 2) Often the inner turmoil is more intimate. a) Your marriage may not be what it appears to the world. b) Money problems may keep you up at night. c) You may be struggling with secret demons. B. God wants you to feel contented and secure. 1) You won't get this feeling from finding the perfect gift or listening to an All-Christmas radio station. 2) True peace can only come when you discover the secret of faith. a) The book of Romans has several helpful verses on God's peace. b) Romans 8:6 says, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." 3) Only faith can get us right with God. a) Romans 5:1 ties our salvation with God's peace: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." b) Notice that we are justified through faith, not through good works. 1> It is not that we churn up some faith within us, but the object of our faith - Jesus - who saves us. C. Peace comes through a daily trust in God. 1) We can depend upon him to work things out, eventually. 2) Our future is in God's hands. Notice how Paul puts it in Romans 15:13 -- "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." III. You can extend that peace to others. A. If you have it, you should share it. 1) When you come across someone who is anxious and dispirited, encourage them to find peace by putting their hope in God. 2) Is it just wishful thinking? a) Newspaper headline: "God Isn't Fixing This." There has been a heated discussion following the San Bernardino attack on whether politicians should ask us to pray for the victims. Some say it is just pious gobbledygook that accomplishes nothing of value. What we really need, they say, is to control guns. We need solutions instead of more piety. #65001 b) I disagree. I think we need prayer AND solutions. 1> When it comes to peace, we can do more than pray. 2> We can try to reconcile people who are at odds with each other. 3> If friends or family are fighting, your own peace will be diminished. B. Peaceable relationships should be the goal of every Christian. 1) Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." 2) It doesn't say "live at peace with every Christian who agrees with you," but "live at peace with everyone." a) As Paul suggests, it is not always possible. b) Just make sure YOU are not the one making it impossible. c) If you are able to pull it off, Jesus says you will be blessed as a peacemaker. 3) Peace is something that needs to be worked at. a) Romans 14:19 says, "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." b) Edification is building people up - peacemaking is always positive in its nature. c) Keep in mind how your actions affects your relationship to others. IV. Someday the whole world will have peace. A. Isaiah's prophecy looks to what we call the Millennium. 1) It is a time when God sends a special king to rule the earth. 2) All wars will stop. a) Verse 5 mentions that weapons will be burned up. b) The United States is doing that right now, by converting weapon-grade Plutonium into fuel for nuclear power plants instead of bombs. c) Of course, we still keep plenty of Plutonium to make bombs, we are just converting the excess. 1> The Messiah will burn it all. 3) Besides success at peace, the Messiah has a special trait. a) He is a baby. b) And he will rule so effectively, peace will never cease. c) Christians know that that baby is Jesus. B. Why is there still war? 1) It is obvious the world has not burned all its weapons, or established a lasting peace. 2) Hatred and violence still roam the earth, even though Jesus has been born. 3) Peace between all nations has to wait for his second coming. a) His first coming did not focus on nations, but individuals like you and me. b) People must be changed before nations can. V. The world has had glimpses. A. In Flanders' fields, 1914. During World War I the battles were fought from trenches that were only a few hundred feet apart. To gain territory a side would cram hundreds of thousands of men in their trenches, then have them climb over the top and charge headlong over to the enemy's side. The invention of the machine gun made these tactics suicidal. As soon as they climbed out of their trenches they were cut down, Vera Brittain's brother and fiancé among them. In battles like Verdun and the Somme, literally millions of young men lost their lives and the battle lines hardly moved at all. The bloodshed only stopped once, on Christmas Day in 1914. German troops began to put small Christmas trees, lit with candles, outside of their trenches. Then, they began to sing carols. Across the way, in the "no man's land" between them, came carols from the British and French troops. Many of the Germans were able to speak good enough English to propose a "Christmas" truce. They held up hand-lettered signs that said, "You no fight, we no fight". The British and French troops, all along the miles of trenches, accepted. In a few places, allied troops fired at the Germans as they climbed out of their trenches. But the Germans were persistent and Christmas would be celebrated even under the threat of impending death. A spontaneous truce resulted. Soldiers left their trenches, meeting in the middle to shake hands. They exchanged gifts. It didn't last forever. In fact, some of the generals didn't like it at all and ordered their troops to resume shooting at each other. After all, they were in a war. Soldiers eventually did resume shooting at each other. But some of them spent a few days wasting rounds of ammunition by shooting at stars in the sky instead of soldiers in the opposing army across the field. #28691 B. There's something about Christmas that changes people. 1) Has it changed you? ========================================================================= SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON: 1. “The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the 355th this year,” Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, December 2, 2015; <link>. #28691 “The Christmas Truce,” (original writer unknown, but checked by Snopes and found to be accurate), most recent update December 11, 2013; <link>. #65001 “God Can Fix This!” Illustration Exchange Staff, Illustration Exchange, December 4, 2015; <link>. #65003 “A Young Woman's Anti-War Experience,” Rev. David Holwick, based on the movie “Testament of Youth,” BBC Films, 2014. The movie may have taken some dramatic license with the facts: other resources mention Edward being wounded but not declared dead at her hospital (see link). Also, while I think the battlefield letter was from her brother, my memory of the movie could be faulty and in that case it would have been from her fiancé, Roland Leighton. These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html ========================================================================= |
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