Peace
Summary
Dominic Jackson reflects on what it means to let “the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15) in a world that feels anything but peaceful. He begins by examining anxiety and invites us to see that peace is not simply calmness or the absence of conflict, but shalom—wholeness, restoration, and reconciliation in the midst of the mess. Christ’s peace comes as a gift we receive rather than an achievement we earn. We are invited to look forward to the healing of all things, look back to Christ’s first coming, look around at our present worries with honest prayer, and then pass peace on as peacemakers in our homes, workplaces, and world.
Questions for reflection
Dominic begins by admitting he often feels like he is in “fight or flight” internally. Where do you most recognize that same inner restlessness in your own life right now?
How have you typically defined peace—quiet, comfort, a lack of conflict, everyone getting along? How does the biblical idea of shalom (wholeness, completeness) challenge or deepen that definition?
Paul’s command is to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15). What might you need to let go of—fear, anger, defensiveness, control—in order to make room for that peace?
The sermon compares peace to a lifeguard saving a drowning swimmer: our job is to stop “helping” and allow ourselves to be rescued. Where are you still trying to save yourself instead of receiving Christ’s peace as a gift?
Shalom is pictured as broken pottery mended with gold, not shattered pieces thrown away. What cracks, wounds, or failures in your story might God be inviting you to let him mend rather than hide?
When you think about the “end of the story” in Revelation 22—healing of the nations, God’s presence, no more curse—how might that future shape the way you face your present anxieties?
Dominic distinguishes peacekeeping (avoiding conflict) from peacemaking (moving toward repair). Where in your family, friendships, or workplace is God inviting you to move from keeping the peace to making peace?
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Today we talk about peace and I want to confess something, just get in front of this. I feel like the least qualified person to be giving this message in a lot of ways, which is probably why God has me giving this message. The calendar just kind of worked out and so I've been doing a lot of work with God this week to prepare for it. So I didn't feel like a hypocrite up here. But on the surface, this confession might surprise some of you. I'm mostly a calm person. I've not been diagnosed with clinical anxiety. I'm not a violent ... I'm not a person who causes division by nature, divisive person. Thank you. But even still, when it comes to the peace of Christ, this isn't exactly easy for me. In many ways, I always feel like I'm in fight or flight just constantly, internally.
Even if that tension is happening and most people can't see it. It's the reason why I'll always choose the furthest booth whenever I go to eat by myself. It's the reason I never park in front of the place I'm going into. It drives Megan crazy. I'm so sorry. It's why I have terrible shoulder pain each morning that I wake up because I clench my pillow every night. And no matter what position I'm in, and my blood pressure goes up not when my body is active, but when my mind is allowed to wander. Thank you, Jesus, for modern medicine. All this to say, this sermon is for me. You guys could just ease drop for the next half an hour or so, though maybe I'm not the only one here. Either way, we continue our series in Advent where we look at the arrival of Jesus.
We look at the arrival as a baby 2000 years ago, as one day returning with the second coming, and also in our lives daily. As Gregory of Nissa called the third advent, that following Jesus means ushering in his arrival every single day. And in those arrivals, Jesus doesn't come empty-handed. With him, he brings joy and love and hope and peace. However, what we'll quickly discover is that world peace, or at least our understanding, the world's understanding of peace and the peace of Christ don't always look the same. And contrary to what Webster might suggest, peace is not actually synonymous with calmness or quietness or tranquility. In fact, peace, true peace, is often best seen at least this side of heaven in the mess, in chaos, in the dark, which is what we're going to look at here today. Before we look at our passage again, would you guys pray with me?
Lord, I pray for your peace this morning. Peace as I share what I believe you put on my heart. Peace for each person who walked into this room or who's tuning in online, each person listening, peace in our hearts, our spirits, our souls. And I pray too, especially during this advent time, that we may be vessels of your peace in a world at war with itself in many ways. And so just as we took time to pass the peace of Christ as we do each Sunday, I pray that this peace that comes from you, Lord Jesus, continues to move around this place, around this community, and within each of us here today. Pray this in your name. Amen.
Turn with me to Colossians 3:15 if you have a copy of the scriptures. And as you're turning there, since we're talking about peace, you may notice that during this season, you will see that word all over the place. Just go to Hobby Lobby. It almost seems mandatory for it to be painted on everything. We have a few photos, I think, from coffee mugs, the yard signs, candles, plenty of other things. Peace is everywhere. And yet, if there was ever a prescription that this world needed, I think peace would be at the top, which is ironic considering we see it written on just about everything. According to national data, 42% of people admit they feel more anxious than the year before. And this number only climbs each year. In fact, the next generation, Gen Z, is typically referred to as the anxious generation. It seems that this anxiousness or dread or paralyzing fear is affecting us younger and younger.
It's supposed to be the opposite. The older we get, right? The more grumpy and things that we struggle with, but it's actually affecting our younger people. We are in many ways living in the safest timeline. In all of human history with modern medicine and technological advancements, and of course, not needing to run from pirates or vikings or saber tooth tigers each time you want to leave the house. And yet, the stats would show the opposite internally that we are the furthest thing from being at peace in the world. And Christmas has a special power to only maximize this, from family expectations, to travel plans, to the temptation of going into debt to find the perfect gifts, to finishing up work projects for the year, to unpredictable weather, and tax season being right around the corner, and so on. So considering we are all longing for some peace, I think, as a society, let's look at Paul's take on peace in Colossians 3:15.
It reads, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Since as members of one body, you are called to peace. That first word lit, your translation might say allow, as in not something we are doing, but something being done to us. It is actively passive. And this idea of the peace ruling in our hearts means letting go of something else that is already there, whether that be fear or anger or disillusionment or discomfort. And then Paul ends with reminding the church of our identity and our calling as people of peace. He writes, "As members of one body," he's talking about the church here. "We are called to peace. And you'll find this idea all over the New Testament, over and over that peace of Christ is about letting go, that anytime we experience conflict or tension or disruption, peace has the opportunity to advent itself to arrive if we allow that to happen.
It's like how the best thing you could do if you're drowning, I hope you're not in that situation, but the best thing you could do if you are drowning and a lifeguard jumps in the water to save you is to allow that person to save you and just stop trying to help. It's choosing to allow yourself to be saved. This is the same experience with the peace of Christ. Let the peace of Christ rule, Paul writes. "Allow the peace that comes from Jesus to take its rightful place. And by the way, this word rule in the New Testament has a double meaning. It references both the ruling of a king, but also the ruling of like a courtroom verdict. It's the same word used. Let the peace of Christ rule as Christ our king. His way above every other way. Don't allow anyone else, anything else to be ruling you, but also let the verdict of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ rule as our savior.
Paul is saying that Christ is king, yes, but also through Christ, you have been pardoned. So live like it. You are free. So live like it. Imagine committing a crime and then a judge throwing out your case and then still showing up each morning in a yellow jumpsuit ready to do community service. Paul is saying," Let the ruling stand. You are free. You are offered peace. Take it. Accept it. "And then he goes on to explain what happens when we do. Oneeness, unity. Or another word for that is completeness. He goes on in the text. See, most people today would define peace as the absence of war. However, in the Hebrew scriptures, we get a fooler picture. When we study how the word peace or shalom isn't about removing something, it's in spite of something. Back to the idea of peace happening to us, not because of us.
Tim Mackey from the Bible project explains it this way. Peace is not just about the absence of conflict. True peace requires taking what's broken and restoring it to wholeness. This is why from a world's perspective, our best solutions for peace when it comes to conflict typically involves separation. On a small scale, two siblings are fighting. You go play in the front yard, you go play in the backyard for a while, right? Remove the differences and then eventually you can coexist alongside each other. All the parents know what I'm talking about, right? Which is typically what happens with fighting nations as well and why they rarely last. Eventually, somebody wants more of the other line when it's removed. Somebody believes they are entitled to it, but for true Shalom, it's not about removal, but instead it's about renewal. According to the biblical author's life is disrupted through sin.
And even the Psalmist compares us to life as a broken vase. And so when life is broken, you can either remove the broken pieces and discard them, but this is not going to help what broke it to begin with. Or you can mend it, piece it back together in an act called Shalom. This reminds me of the Japanese term kintsugi, if you're familiar, repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with gold. The philosophy behind this is to treat the breakage and repair as part of the history of that object rather than something to hide or discard. Likewise, the picture we get of Shalom isn't of ending the brokenness, but repairing it. But this is where any ideas of world peaceful, at least how most of us would probably define it. If we're honest, most of us believe the only way two nations at war with one another could ever truly experience peace.
Not silent tolerance, but peace is by the removing or the conquering of one of the nations. Think about it. The Confederacy died when they lost the war. Not when one side woke up and realized that in order to have peace in their hearts and their lives, they needed to let go of what brought them to the battlefield. No. The only way for peace to ring out is with the removal of a threat, and that is always temporary because there are always seeds that remain or a new threat, or by true Shalom, by not removing the threat, but by mending it. This is why many of the Jewish believers holding onto prophecy completely missed Jesus when he arrived on the scene in the first Christmas. Take Isaiah, for example. This is the prophecy. This is who they were waiting to come and save them. Isaiah nine: five, every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning.
It'll be fuel for the fire. For to us, a child is born. Two as a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father Prince of peace. This is who they were waiting for. And for so many, the assumption hearing that prophecy like this was the Messiah would show up and remove the threat, remove Babylon or Assyria or eventually Rome, which was the only way that they could possibly imagine peace existing. This prince of peace is going to show up. Obviously, somebody needs to be destroyed or conquered. No war, we read in the text, the weapons being destroyed. No more weapons needed. Clearly that means no more enemies. However, when Christ arrived, he made things right, not with war, but with sacrifice and the ultimate act of Shalom. Colossians 1:19, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
Peace comes as reconciliation of some things, no, of all things. And how does this happen? Not by dropping bombs or the extinction of one's enemies, but peace comes through the cross. And of course, this peace of Christ, this is universal, cosmological. It's not about a nation at war with another. It's about a battle between good and evil. One that isn't just happening out there or on the news, but one happening in here, in each one of us. When Jesus is teaching, he says," My peace I give to you. "What he's not saying is my calmness or my ability to take away all your problems or hear my composure I offer to you or I'm here to put your mind at ease. No, he says," My peace. "Or another way you can read this, " My completeness. Remember the connection to oneness, a translation of Shalom.
My completeness I offer to you. I am here to make you whole, to return you to how you were created to be all along. This is at the heart, the concept of renewal.
"But sinlessness or sinless is a four act play to conquer sin. There's the garden, the birth of Jesus, the defeat of sin on the cross and the return to the garden, a new earth, a new Jerusalem. And we find ourselves in the intermission between the third and fourth act, which is why we still hurt and struggle and have anxiety when we turn on the news. Jesus does not transport us away from it. He meets us in it. Notice these verses. I'll just kind of go through them quickly. John 14, peace. This is Jesus. Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Or 19, Jesus came and stood among them and said," Peace be with you. "Or John 20:21. And again, Jesus said," Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And with that, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. "Do you see the connection there with peace? Or lastly, John 20:26. A week later after his resurrection, his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with him. And though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. And what's the first thing he says? Peace be with you. The invitation isn't Jesus dangling peace like a carrot that maybe they'll be able to catch up to him and travel up to him and maybe they'll be able to achieve it. Instead, we receive it by him coming to us. We have that backwards. Jesus talks about peace like a gift. Look at John 14 one more time. Peace I leave with you. My peace, I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The invitation for us is to simply open our hands to peace and receive it. Accept it. It's not about us doing more. It's actually about us doing less. And allow the peace to quote the Psalmist to like a river wash over us. So what do we do with a message like this? It sounds all great on paper, but what do we do? Sin still exist. And Jesus may have atoned for this sin, but I still get angry when my wife leaves the house and is driving and the roads are icy. I still feel uneasy about World War III starting. It seems like at any moment. I still desire to live in a bubble and send my kids to school wearing helmets. I still want that. I still desire this peace. How can this possibly exist in the world we are in now?
How can I possibly experience the peace of Christ in my day today? Remember, we're talking about advent here. Think back to that definition from our friend, Gregory. We have three arrivals, three advents. Jesus came to earth, the cross-defeated sin. The return of Jesus ushers in the kingdom where sin will have no more power. But the third arrival, he says, is today. Not a physical arrival. There's only two, by the way, but still is in the now and not yet every single day how we experience peace. Last week, I proposed a recipe for hope was to look back, look forward, and then look around. I believe the invitation for peace is similar plus one. One more category, to experience peace and to live peacefully. We look forward, we look back, we look around, and then lastly, we look for opportunities to pass it on. So first, looking forward, forgive me.
This is the dumbest example. I shouldn't say dumb. This is a silly example that I could ... This is the best one I could think of. So forgive me. Usually you get two sports references from me a year and like 45 Russian philosophers. I'll stick with the former for this one. On December 6th, 2002, I was 18 years old. I was working at A&W Root Beer in California. I was trying to clean the kitchen as fast as I possibly could, because maybe I would get home and catch the end of the Lakers versus Maverick's game. But I wasn't too worried because I had something called Tivo, which was quite miraculous at the time. I recorded the game. Before streaming existed, Tivo was a thing. And after somebody came in five minutes before we closed and ordered six burgers, I knew I was going to miss the game.
And so 40 minutes later, after cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the grill and then getting into my 1972 Dodge Dart, I turned on my car to head home, but I wasn't fast enough because the radio station spoiled the game for me. In just a blip, half of a second, all I heard was a very excited DJ yelling that the Lakers had won. So I turned it off real quick. Pretended I didn't hear that. But you could imagine my surprise when I did get home and I started watching this game and started watching as the Dallas Mavericks were up 30 points going into the fourth. And at first I wondered, did I hear the DJ wrong? But I knew I didn't. Even 30 points down, even though I had no idea how it was going to happen, I knew the end already. I knew that the Lakers would win and somehow they did.
Sure enough, Kobe Bryant had 21 points. I remember in the last minute, eight seconds to go secured the game, 105 to 103. The second greatest comeback in NBA history. Knowing how the game ended changed how I watched the entire thing. That's the point. Let me read a different ending, not a basketball game, but a different ending. Revelation 22. "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for ... Hear this, the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any courage. The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city and the servants will serve him.
They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more nights. They will not need the light of a lamp or a light of the sun for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. That's how the story ends. That's how our story ends. And so when we face trouble today, here's the good news. We have this declaration, this announcement, this prophecy. Even when my team was down by 30, I didn't bat an eye because I already knew how the story ended. I knew the final score. And this is the final score of the battle between good and evil, peace on earth. And so in order to experience peace, we look forward. Additionally, we look back. Christmas is a time we look back before we can look forward. Luke 2:14, Jesus is born and the angels cry out glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth.
Peace. Christmas is a time where we are reminded not just on decorative pillows and coffee mugs and calendars and candles, but we are reminded that peace on earth came to earth in a manger. And that because he was born, because of his arrival, we live. And so in order to experience peace first, we look at the end of the story. Then next we look at the beginning, the first Christmas. And then next, here we are. We look back, we look forward, and now we look around to the moment we are in. In between the two advents, the two arrivals of Jesus. So outside of therapy and going for more walks and reading more, Mary Oliver or Wendell Berry, or maybe this being the year that I start listening to smooth jazz willingly, I don't know. I can try a lot of things to be more peaceful.
Peace and healing for trauma and in my heart and in my mind. But what can I do to find peace in my soul? Paul writes, the apostle Paul in Philippians four," Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "It's worth mentioning that Paul is writing this from prison. He has been beaten, tortured, shipwrecked, and here he's writing this just a couple years before he's going to be killed, beheaded, actually. And he knows that he's getting closer and closer to his death. And the thing about Paul is for all he has experienced, all the pain he has both endeared and carried out, Paul is incredibly peaceful in all of these situations. It's almost like he's on this whole different planet.
I mean, at one point he's like, " Whether I live or die, glory to God. "And you think, " How do you have this perspective of all the things that you have gone through? "And yet here lies the how. We get a clue as to why Paul is so at peace. We get it right here in this passage. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding or another way to read that, it makes no earthly sense. Well, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus acts as a layer of defense against the world's difficulties. And how does Paul open up to that? Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation. By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Or the NLT translation says it this way. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.
I read this as pray about it as much as you worry about it. Or the message paraphrase says it this way. Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers. Letting God know your concerns before you know it. A sense of God's wholeness. Shalom. Everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. I love this. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. The point. Here's the point. When I am feeling the opposite of peace, which internally is often, it's always because I am staring at these things of this world as like a chamber or a box and I'm in it wandering around in it and then I'm looking for God. Whatever that is, I find myself wandering around uneasiness and then or fear or whatever is going on.
And then I start looking for God when I'm in the mess. Instead of turning to God serving as like a window and then looking at the problem, the fear, the soundbite through the perspective of God. Listen one more time from the message. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. I love this part. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. That's the problem is worry is at the center of my life. And then as an add-on, I'm looking for God instead of switching those the other way around. Since I'm full of confessions this morning, my entire family, even the little ones, can walk into a room every morning and know within five seconds whether or not I've had time with God and a cup of coffee.
I do those things together at the same time. They could know right away if I've had that or not because it changes me, but it changes my entire day. And when I do start my morning that way, I carry that peace with me throughout the day, which changes the way that I interact with people, how I see people, how I hear news stories, how I talk to God throughout the day. It changes everything. Paul writes, let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers. So if you want to experience more peace in your life, the best thing that we could do is spend time with the prince of peace. Next year, we will be looking in a series at the spiritual disciplines and I can't wait for that. And we're going to be exploring these ancient ways that the historic church has long connected themselves and oriented themselves to and around Jesus.
For now, I'll say, do what makes you feel closest to Christ and what makes you more like Christ. That's the invitation we're given every single day. For some it's fasting, others it's feasting. For some community, others, it's isolation and time alone. For some it's prayer, others, it's silence. And what you'll find is there is a place for all of it in our lives. Whether you're introverted, extroverted, social, antisocial, our souls needed, all of it, this connection with Jesus daily. But start with what comes natural to you. What does moving toward Christ look like? Well, first, creating time. Most of us, to quote Spurgeon, ignore Jesus all day and then ask him to remember us at the end of each night. The truth is, and I don't mean this to shame anyone because again, the sermon is for me, but the truth is whatever is most important to you is what you make time for.
Want to know what is important to you? Look at how you spend your time. Doom scrolling or binge drinking at the end of a long day, escaping to avoid reality. Whatever is important to us, we will make time for. And so I'd say in order to receive peace, make time for the one who offers it. Also, another way we look around, we talked about moving towards Christ, whether that be waking up early or studying the scriptures or creating a prayer rhythm or fasting or whatever that looks like in your life. The second invitation we have is not just to move toward Christ, but to bring him with you. We can't all be monks and sit around and pray and read and smoke pipes and stare out a window all day. If so, sign me up. That sounds like fun, but still, we can't do that.
We have to leave this space at some point, but what does it look like to experience peace in the school drop-off line or when your boss sends you a passive aggressive of email or when your kid doesn't appreciate the gift you spent hours searching for or when your family is being unrealistic about expectations for the holidays or your roommate doesn't know how to do a single dish in their life or when you feel like you're in a rut in your marriage, what does it look like to bring Christ into the mess? Remember, Paul is not writing to the Philippians from his church office, staring out at the window. He is in prison writing these words. The invitation is go about your life, but do this not alone by yourself within your own power.
Talk to God throughout the day. Even if it sounds crazy, what do you say during those talks? Thanksgiving and petition. Look at what he's done in your life and invite him into what is happening in your life. An easy one. Thank you God for giving me another day. Thanksgiving. I want to honor you with it. Petition. Help me. Or whatever that prayer looks like for you. Lastly, the way we experience it, another way, last way we experience the peace of Christ is we pass it on. We become purveyors of Shalom. Here's where we come in. Here's how the peace of Christ doesn't just stay with us, but it moves through us. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. The invitation Jesus gives us all is not to be peacekeepers, but to be peacemakers. Especially as we enter this holiday season.
But honestly, always we have an opportunity to make peace. By making peace and keeping the peace are not always the same thing. Peacekeeping is avoiding conflict. Peacekeeping is manipulating a room so that no one's feelings are hurt or nobody is uncomfortable. Peacekeeping is laughing at that joke from your coworker, even though it's actually kind of sexist. Peacekeeping is biting your tongue when somebody makes an inappropriate comment during Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Peacekeeping is passive. But to make peace, which is the invitation that Jesus gives us to make peace is active. It's going against something. It costs us something. It's shaking things up. It's seeing something broken and feeling compelled to fix it, to renew it. Sometimes it's speaking out. Other times, it's as easy as apologizing or seeing a need and feeling it. Peacekeeping is taking the broken pieces of the jar and instead of discarding ... Well, peacekeeping is discarding them, but peacemaking is turning it into something beautiful like those pieces of pottery that we saw.
Shalom means wholeness. It's repairing, reconciling, healing. It's being an agent of peace because we have experienced peace. And so the invitation is for us to look around and see things that are broken. To look out into the world, to look into our own relationships, to look in our homes, to look in our hearts, and partner with God in bringing Shalom into that place. That is the invitation that we are given. Not only in this advent season, but every day. Let's pray together.
Lord, as the spirit instructs us through Paul's words, we start our prayer with thanksgiving and petition. Thank you for what you're doing here. Thank you for the glimpses we get each day of hope and healing and joy and love and peace. I think of just the stories I've heard this year from many people in this room who have experienced the supernatural presence of you, who look back at things and the only rational explanation is Jesus, whether it's jobs offered or relationships being mended, reconciliation happening. And so we thank you for your peace and for your presence. But God, as you know better than any of us, we also see so much hurting in this world. And so we petition for your peace, your light to find us in the dark. We know how the story ends, but we're not there yet. And so help us to be agents of Shalom.
Help us to experience your presence in our own formation, in our lives, and help us to share this with all we come across in the big events and also in the daily ones, the small ones. We pray this in the name of the prince of peace, Christ Jesus. Amen.