Carols: Do You Hear What I Hear?, 12/6/15

Sermon 12-6-2015  peace on earth Luke 2:8-15 KJV

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO MEN

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Peace is an obscure idea……..World peace aka miss congeniality

Peace/war as relates to nations

Peace with others on the block

Peace in your heart

THEY ALL GO TOGETHER.  THE ARE INTERRELATED

Whats going on in Syria?

Russians –Iranians –hezbollah -Turks –Kurds -Shiite muslims  -Sunni muslims – Yasitis -Isis –French –Germans –British -americans

Peace on earth.  Good will to men.

 When I was a kid – cold war.  Crawl under desks.  Go to the basement.

Doug Hayes family built a bomb shelter in the front yard

Humans have a long history of hurting others perceived as enemies

PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS

Jesus was born into a time when nations slaughtered nations.  Only the strong survived.  This empire, that empire, the Greeks, the Persians, oh here come the Egyptians, THE BABYLONIANS, the hitities, the jebusites, the phillistines and finally the Romans.  Kill or be killed.  Take whatever you want.

Even the Jews are killing and taking in the conquest of Canaan.  In the New Testament, when they are talking about and praying for the restoration of the throne of David, what they are saying is this:  "We are tired of being the little guys.   We are tired of being beat down.  We want to be on top again.  We don't want to be subjugated.  We want to subjugate others."

Jesus was born into a mind set of national violence.  Winner take all.  And in the middle of this setting, the angels make a profound announcement to the shepherds.  Peace on earth, good will to men.  Not just that the wars will stop, but we are going to begin a new way of treating each other.  Good will to men.  No longer an eye for an eye.  The cycle of violence and retribution is coming to an end.

Goodwill.  Grace.  Love.  This is the work of Kingdom people.  This is what we are to be about.  No more hatred.  No more one upping.  No more who is the greatest.

Peace on Earth.  Good will to men.

Humans have a long history of hurting others perceived as enemies

James and john wanted jesus to rain fire down on the villages

Peter sliced off malchus ear

Sampson, the cycle of violent retribution

Sampson

Life story is a litany of retribution- a cycle of revenge
Title Samson’s life - Revenge. I will show them.

• disagreement over a riddle

.Is going to take a goat as an offering.
• Father gives his wife to another.
• 300 foxes – lit torches – burned up their crops
• Philistines burn girl and father to death
• Since you have acted like this…..i swear I wont stop until I get my revenge on you.
• Slaughtered many of them
• They come to take him prisoner. To do to him as he did to us.
• 3000 men of Judah go to Samson. They are rulers over us… look what you have done…We have gone from 1 goat and one father to 3000 men.
• I merely did to them, what they did to me.
• Samson is bound with 2 new ropes. And handed over.
• Spirit comes upon him. He does not use it for good, but uses the power/ gifts to hurt others
• Finds jawbone… strikes down 1000

Delilah story…..gouged out his eyes…. Put him to work

Party temple of dagon.   Receives spirit, topples the pillars, kills a bunch.

Hurting back may be the human way, but it is not Jesus way and it is not the way of peace.

We take revenge because according to our time table, justice has not been served.
Apparently there is no higher accountability, so I will take action.
When we take revenge, we are saying, god I don’t like the way that you do your job so I am going to take action. The punishment that I feel should be coming, is not coming, so I am going to do the right thing.

But revenge is rarely the right thing

1. Revenge always escalates the situation
What starts with foxes and crops to bodies. Revenge always escalates.

2. Revenge is intoxicating. The crowd will often applaud when you take revenge, but the hearts of good people know better. Your heart knows better.

3. We become shaped – owned by the things that we refuse to release

Good people excuse their bad behavior because of some past hurt. We allow that person to totally change our moral compass

4. revenge never brings about the end- you may feel that you are ahead, but you will never feel that it is over

Jesus offers a new way- the old is gone the new is here

He teaches us to change our ways……

Paul wrote….ROMANS 12:14  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e] 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

and Jesus sets the example……….1 peter 2:23
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

When Jesus suffered, he made no threats.
He entrusted himself to God- and turns others over to god as well.
Father forgive them

Do you want to start the process of being a peacemaker?

1. Peace begins when we admit that our way, may not be God’s way.

2.  peace begins when we surrender the right to revenge- We need to stop telling the stories. Then maybe someone will stop remembering the person in that way

3. Peace begins when we  understand that something has to happen in our hearts between God and us. things change when we realize that what needs to happen is not something between me and the person, but between me and God

4. Finally peace comes when we are able to wish them well. [I agree not to be the instrument of gods wrath, but I hope that someone else gets them.]
Love your enemies, pray for those who use you
We cannot pray for someone and hate them at the same time.

I read this somewhere......"Leaders don't inflict pain, they bear it."  I would add to that:  healthy people don't inflict pain, they bear it whenever possible.

Bearing pain puts an end to the cycle of retribution.  When we decide not to hurt back, we take the high road and begin the process of forgiveness.  On the cross Jesus said this:  "Father forgive them...."  He said this after he was put on the cross...... Father forgive them...

Today instead of hurting back, absorb the pain.  Take it in.  I know it may not be fair, but it may be just what is needed to heal the breach.

Do You Hear What I Hear?':  Dec 6 Do you hear what I hear? lyrics (edited for time) Said the night wind to the little lamb Do you see what I see, way up in the sky little lamb, Do you see what I see A star a star dancing in the night with a tail as big as a kite Little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear Ringing thru the sky shepherd boy, A song a song high above the trees With a voice as big as the sea Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king Do you know what I know In your palace wall mighty king do you know what I know A child shivers in the cold Let us bring him silver and gold Said the king to the people everywhere Listen to what I say Pray for peace people everywhere Listen to what I say The child, the child Sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light In October 1962 – the Cuban Missle crisis Noel Regney a composer was asked to write a Christmas song………. During a time of national fear. “En route to my home, I saw two mothers with their babies in strollers. The little angels were looking at each other and smiling. All of a sudden, my mood was extraordinary.” A glimpse of these babies filled Noel Regney’s heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs. Thus, the song begins, “Said the night wind to the little lamb....” “Do You Hear What I Hear?” carried a beautiful message close to people in all walks of life. It became a popular Christmas carol, “a song high above the tree, with a voice as big as the sea.” But the message of peace was lost on many people. “I am amazed that people can think they know the song and not know it is a prayer for peace,” Noel Regney once told an interviewer. “But we are so bombarded by sounds and our attention spans are so short.” Let us hope and pray that, when it is sung in churches worldwide during the Christmas season, this song of peace will remind us that “The Child, The Child sleeping in the night” came to “bring us goodness and light.” So you want to talk about Christmas Peace on earth/good will to men Peace for nations Peace for neighbors/relatives Peace in your heart They all go together…….. Peace on earth, goodwill to men and women.