The Pathway to Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:13b
1/07/07
audio
“Live in peace with each other.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:13b
We all know that peace is a precious and rare commodity in this world. It is something that people long for and strive for but it seems so elusive. Today we are exploring the Bible’s exhortation that we should “live in peace with each other” – what does that mean, and is it really possible?
Living in peace with one another is one of the most attractive aspects of Christian community. However I am concerned that because of a lack of real understanding of what the Bible means when it talks about peace, we have settled for something far less than what God wants for us.
Let’s start off by coming up with a definition for the word “peace”. There are many different ways of thinking about what peace is, so we need to first of all make sure that we are all thinking about the same thing. We’re going to start by briefly looking at how the concept of peace has been understood generally in history, and then we are going to compare that with what the Bible has to say about it. We don’t want to settle for less than God’s intention for us, so we need to find out if what we think of matches up with what God thinks of when He speaks to us about peace.
In the days of the Roman empire, peace (“pax”) was defined as “absentia belli”, which means “the absence of war”. That’s the idea of peace that many people still hold to today. They would go a little further to say the absence of conflict, not just the absence of war.
So if you are going to strive for peace, what you are going to try and do is get rid of all of the sources of conflict within your situation, or you are going to at least try and control those things that cause conflict.
If you are part of a nation divided by ethnicity or religious beliefs for example, you will either try and separate those groups and wall them off from each other so that they cannot get into arguments or violent confrontations; or else you will try and control what those people are allowed to say and do so that opposing groups do not stir one another up or attack one another. That’s why in Australia for example we have things like racial and religious vilification laws. In the Middle East we have Palestinians walled off from Israeli’s for the same reason. This sort of thing happens around the world wherever differences between people lead to conflict.
As strange as it sounds, it even works this way in families. There are often certain subjects that are not allowed to be discussed because they produce conflict. In order for their to be peace in the home, there are unwritten rules about what may or may not be spoken about or done and even sometimes who is welcome and who is not. The presence of some topics, behaviours and even people leads to conflict, so the only way to achieve peace is to either ban or tightly control those things.
That might sound pretty logical, but it actually falls a long way short of what real peace is.
Let’s move on from the Romans to a much more recent time. There have been many people throughout history who have noticed that conflict is not actually the real problem. Peace is more than an absence of conflict, in fact the way to real peace often involves conflict.
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. summed up this understanding when he said “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” For people like Martin Luther King, the real problem is not conflict or tension, but a lack of justice.
Let’s give a really basic example of what that looks like.
Let’s just say that in our church you have to be a landholder in order to cast a vote in any of our meetings. You cannot have a say about who holds positions within the church, how the church utilises it’s resources, how our activities are conducted and so on; unless you belong to the landholders club. Landholders can even determine who may attend weekly gatherings. If you are a landholder, you will probably not feel at all tense or conflicted about the situation, in fact you may feel that it is the wisest course, since landholders are generally more stable and responsible than people who do not own their own properties.
Those who are not landholders either don’t come, or they dare not speak out because they (for some reason) still want to be allowed to attend this church; but there is an injustice that they are keenly aware of. Martin Luther King would say that while there is no visible conflict, there is also no peace. Even for those who feel perfectly content, they are not living in peace with those who are being treated poorly, or in peace with the God who loves all people equally. Peace and justice go together.
What does the Bible have to say about this?
The Bible is actually in agreement with what we have just been talking about, but it goes one step further. The Bible says that peace comes with right relationships. Justice talks about the fact that people should be in right relationship with each other. There should not be any exploitation or discrimination or abuse of any kind within society. However the Bible talks about some other areas of right relationship that are necessary for peace to be a reality.
The Bible uses the word “Righteousness” to describe the ways in which we need to be in right relationship with God and each other. It also describes the fact that peace and righteousness go together…
Psalm 85:10 -
Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other
Peace comes with…
1) Right Relationship with God’s Person
In John 16:33 Jesus says to His followers:
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus says that even in the midst of our troubles, we can have peace in Him. The way to pursue peace is not to avoid or control conflict, but to pursue a right relationship with Jesus. In right relationship with Jesus is where peace is found. It is through faith in Jesus that we have a right relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit also.
Remember the words of the angels who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds in Luke 2:14…
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests”
How do you become someone on whom God’s favour rests? Through Jesus!
2 Corinthians 5:18 says “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ”
But this is not the same as being free from conflict. Remember the idea that society had in Jesus’ day? Most people thought the word peace meant “absentia belli”, the absence of war. This is what Jesus says to these people:
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own
household.’
- Matthew 10:34-36
If you are going to be at peace with God, then you may indeed experience great conflict in relationship with others. To be in step with Jesus is to be out of step with the world. You can’t march to 2 different beats at the same time. You will either be out of step with one or out of step with both. Trying to fit with both will mean that you don’t fit with either.
Real peace begins with being in right relationship with God no matter what it costs us in our relationships with others. This is a hard truth for many people to accept. It flows on to another difficult truth. To be in right relationship with God’s Person means to also be in…
2) Right Relationship with God’s Standards
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched’
49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
- Mark 9:43-50
God is very concerned about issues of good and evil, right and wrong. As this passage in Mark demonstrates, our right relationship with God’s standards determines the state of our relationship to God and to each other.
(Now, for those who are a little shocked at the idea of cutting off body parts to escape being thrown into hell, I want you to understand the nature of this teaching. Jesus is using a method common in his culture called ‘hyperbole’, where you paint a very striking picture that will stick in people’s minds so that they will remember your point. The point is that sin is a very serious matter, and we should do everything possible in order to escape the corruption of sin, and the judgement that will follow. Jesus knew that sin does not come from our eyes or hands or feet – it is a part of our very nature. The Bible teaches that it is only God Himself who is able to perform the internal surgery needed to cleanse us from sin).
What do I mean by having a right relationship to God’s standards?
It means being in a position of understanding instead of a position of ignorance. It means being in a position of obedience not a position of disobedience. A position of submission not a position of rebellion.
In regard to the law you are either guilty or not guilty. Whether it’s because of ignorance, a lapse in judgement, an accident or a deliberate choice, if you are guilty then you are guilty. Of course there is always forgiveness in Jesus, but you cannot be at real peace with God, with other people or within yourself if you are not in right relationship with God’s standards.
That means that when you discover that you have sinned, you need to confess that to God and ask for His help to turn that behaviour or attitude around so that it is no longer a part of your life.
There’s a well-known passage in the book of Philippians that deals with the subject of peace…
Philippians 4:4-9
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Notice how the first paragraph is primarily concerned with how we relate to the person of God, while the second paragraph is about how we think and act in accordance with God’s standards. The result of both of these things is that we experience the peace of God.
So the Pathway to Peace is the Road of Righteousness. Being in right relationship to God through our personal relationship with Him and our obedience to His commands is what establishes peace between us. Being in right relationship to God moves us toward right relationship with each other.
Now, let’s get back to our passage (1 Thess. 5:13b)…
“Live in peace with each other.”
Let’s think about how we do this in the light of the principle of righteousness.
1) How does our right relationship with the person of God affect our lives with each other?
There are two obvious answers that are demonstrated time and time again in the New Testament for us.
a) We Will thank God for one another
(eg. Acts 28:15; Romans 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Philemon 4)
b) We will pray for one another
(eg. Luke 6:28 – pray for those who mistreat you; Luke 22:32 – Jesus prays for Peter’s faith; John 17 – Jesus prays for his disciples and later followers; Romans 15:30 – we join in other’s struggles by praying for them; 3 John 2 – praying for the health of others….)
When God brings us to the point of earnestly thanking Him for one another and praying for one another, that is the point where we begin to experience a real peace that is more than the absence of conflict. There will be a sense of love and belonging and support and loyalty and honesty and enjoyment which will be incredibly attractive to people.
Whenever I see a group of Christians who do not seem to want to be together – a group that seems to have competing cliques within it – that’s where I sense a group of people whose relationship with the person of God is stunted and incomplete. You can’t know God intimately and then not care for other people. All people matter to God.
2) How does our right relationship with the standards of God affect our lives with each other?
Well for a start we won’t murder each other!
The answer to that question becomes really obvious when you read the commands of Scripture.
What would it be like to be a part of a group where people consider the needs of others and not just themselves? What would it be like to have people want to listen to you rather than forcing you to listen to them? What would it be like to not have to worry about being lied to or manipulated or cheated or neglected or discriminated against or gossiped about or slandered or stolen from or bullied?
What would it be like to live in community with others who are genuinely striving to live as God instructs us to live? Are you going to feel at peace in a group like that? You bet!
Do you know how many people are nervous about making mistakes in churches because they worry about what others think of them or say about them? There is a lack of peace because whether for good reasons or bad, people suspect that others will not adhere to the standards of God in relation to how we think and talk about them.
Do you know how many people carry hurts because they feel as though God’s standards have not been lived up to in the way they have been treated by others within the church? That failure in the lives of others in the church is then very often used as an excuse to justify their own disobedience.
Neither of these situations reflect what it is like to live in peace with each other, yet both are true of our church at times. I know this because you have told me so!
When you are feeling as though things in our church family aren’t right, where we are not as close to each other as we should be or there are divisions among us, I want you to remember the two categories that we have been talking about today, and I want you to ask yourself these 2 questions and even recruit some spiritually mature people to help you with them:
1) How can I take this situation to God?
2) What principles has God given me to guide my thoughts and actions?
If we each do this, we will experience what it is like to live in peace with each other. Satan would like to get our attention onto things like:
¯ the nature of our disagreements with people
¯ their behaviour that we disapprove of
¯ conflicting goals that we may have for the church
¯ ways that we feel hurt or rejected
¯ possible hidden motives or agendas
We need to stop that train before it leaves the station!
The Pathway to Peace is the Road of Righteousness. True peace is possible if we learn to ask these 2 simple questions:
1) How can I take this situation to God?
2) What principles has God given me to guide my thoughts and actions?
That’s the road that leads to peace.
I said at the beginning that I am concerned that we settle for less than God’s best when we live by the wrong definition of peace. We often live by the Roman definition instead of by God’s definition.
The result is that we avoid conflict, but to avoid conflict is to avoid growth. God uses difficult situations and inner tensions to cause us to grow. Satan puts difficulty in our path to try to stop us from doing God’s will. Either way, there’s going to be difficulty, just as Jesus promised. There are going to be issues that need to be worked through.
Often when a group is being challenged to change there is a resentment toward those who are causing all the fuss. “Why can’t you just leave us as we are?”
We often don’t realise that these people may well be playing the role of peacemaker. How is that possible when they are stirring up trouble and causing tension? If they are causing the group to be challenged to live in right relationship to God and each other, then they are fulfilling the role of peacemaker.
James 3:18 says:
“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”
If we used the Roman definition of peace, that verse would simply not be true. It is only true when we understand God’s idea of peace.
Be at peace. Be a peacemaker. Regardless of what it costs.
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