The Prince of Peace

3rd Sunday in Advent – C                                                                              LSB #’s 349, 842, 412
Text – Philippians 4:6-7
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & your minds in Christ Jesus.
 
THE  PRINCE  OF  PEACE
 
 
Then the eyes of both of them were opened & they realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together & made coverings for themselves. Then the man & his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden, & they hid from Him among the trees.  But the Lord called to the man, “Where are you?”  (Genesis 3:7-9 NIV) 
When Adam & Eve fell into sin, the peace of the Garden of Eden was shattered. Adam & Eve & God were no longer in harmony as when God created them. Ever since the shattering of that peace, God has been calling to men & women, to you & to me, “Where are you?” 
Overcome with fear because they knew they were no longer at peace with God, Adam & Eve hid among the trees.  Doesn’t that sound silly?   Whenever I hear that verse, I picture a small child playing hide & seek, by covering his eyes.  Hiding from God can be no more effective than that. He sees & He knows all things. 
Here’s an illustration of the childish ways in which we, as sinful human beings, play hide & seek with God. On an exam I gave during vicarage, I asked the 7th grade class if Jesus wants them to trust in Him & pray to Him when they are being tempted. I asked if forgiveness is available when we do the wrong thing.   Everyone easily wrote yes to both questions. 
Then, I asked if anyone had ever cheated on one of my exams or quizzes. This, you might say, is where the rubber met the road. Here was the written response of several of my students, “Like I would tell you!”   These two students had the same answer, word for word, & one sat right in front of the other.   Now,   it was probably just coincidence, but do you think that one of them might have cheated & copied the other on that very question? 
How would you have responded? If you had cheated, would you have placed your trust in Jesus & answered honestly, even though it was obvious that you had not been caught?  Doesn’t human logic & reason tell you instead, that it would be foolish to admit to cheating when you have not been caught in the act? 
My sinful nature tells me it would be very foolish, because Satan goes by the rule of thumb that it ain’t illegal if you don’t get caught. How often have you fallen for that line of reasoning?  Have any of you exceeded the speed limit without getting a ticket?  If you’re not sure about something on your tax return, do you normally give yourself the benefit of the doubt? 
Even if it were true that it ain’t illegal if you don’t get caught, Satan is not telling you the whole truth.   Remember, God sees & knows everything we do.  With God we’re always caught, & we are always guilty.   And we look mighty foolish pretending to hide our sinful actions from God, by covering our own eyes. 
The world would have us believe that we’re best off if we never admit that we’re wrong.  Don’t admit that you’ve sinned & no one will be able to prove it, or punish you because of it. Only a fool would admit that he did something wrong, when no one caught him in the act. 
That’s how life in a sin filled world trains us to think. When you get caught, you get punished, so don’t ever admit to anything.  The paradox in this story is that all the students taking the exam knew – if you fall to a temptation, forgiveness is available. 
Yet, when asked if they’d fallen to a specific temptation, some of them said they would not be so foolish as to admit it. The paradox is that common sense tells us, “If we haven’t been caught & don’t admit our sin, we will not be punished.” The truth is God does catch all sinners. Therefore, the only way to be forgiven is to admit that we are sinners, even when we think we have not been caught.    
Sin brings anxiety & worry into our lives because we’re always wondering if & when the other shoe will drop.  Sin brings guilt into our lives because we know, no matter how much we deny it, our sinful nature is opposed to our Creator. Sin brings sorrow & grief into our lives through all manner of tragedy, illness & death. Yet, our sinful nature loves it. 
That last point sounds harsh, but listen to the Gospel of John, “…people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”  (John 3:19 ESV)  Before God destroyed the world with the flood, He said, “…that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”  (Genesis 6:5 NIV) 
All of us are still hiding among the trees & covering our eyes. And in response to God’s call, “Where are you?”  we, in our arrogance say, “Like I would tell you!” Putting ourselves at the center of our own world is the essence of what sin is.  It’s also an easy thing to become comfortable with. 
Nations often make out as heroes, people who are willing to die for their country.  Yet, the high rate of divorce reveals that many people are unwilling to actually live for their spouse or children, let alone for their Lord & Savior.  It’s easy to enjoy the comfort of being the center of my world. That’s something we do very well.   You could say it comes naturally to us. 
God is still calling, “Where are you?” How are you answering that question?   Are you blaming your wife or God, as Adam did? As Eve did, are you blaming outside forces, like the devil? And if you think you’re innocent, why are you not at peace?   Why do so many things in
this world disturb you?  Why do you worry & why do you ever feel weak or insecure? 
John the Baptist told the truth very well: “…You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to
flee from the wrath to come? Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.  Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down & thrown into the fire.”  (Luke 3:7, 9 ESV) 
The reality is this; the day you die might as well be Judgment Day.  Once you take your last breath, there is no more turning back.  There’s no more repentance.  Your fate is sealed.  Every time someone dies, they are being cut down. Those who don’t believe are being cast into the fire. “Where are you?” The Creator is calling to you because He loves you. 
After hearing the law that sharply, the people whom John the Baptist was preaching to asked a question of their own: “What then shall we do?”  (Luke 3:10 ESV)  To sum up John’s answer, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”  (Luke 3:8a ESV)  What he means is this, live your lives like you are no longer the center of your own world.    Sounds simple enough. 
But the illustration about people never admitting that they’ve cheated reveals that it’s much easier to say, “Bear fruit,” than it is to actually live that way. The problem is John’s answer to the crowd is simply more law.  Do this, & do this & do this.   Our sinful nature does not want to do anything   for anyone else. 
Our sinful nature wants to serve only ourselves. That is why our lives are not peaceful. That’s why peace in the Garden of Eden was shattered.   It was destroyed because Adam & Eve did not want to trust God.  They wanted to trust themselves.  In effect, they wanted to be god; to be the center of their own world. 
The only true answer to this problem is Jesus. He’s the only way, the only truth & the only life.  “He is the Prince of Peace.”  He’s the source of peace with God.  Whether cheating on an exam, whether failing our spouse or children,   when putting only ourselves at the center of our universe, the Holy Spirit still, always is calling us to turn back to Jesus in repentance. 
We need only look to the cross of Christ for our forgiveness & healing.  There He said,
“It is finished.” Do you believe those words?  Then you are forgiven.  You are at peace with God, whether you feel that way or not, & there will always be times in life when we do not feel at peace with God.  But our feelings do not determine our salvation.  Only faith in Christ does that,  & God Himself has created that faith in us, at baptism & through His Word. 
It’s Satan who comes to us & says, “Did God really say that you are His child?  Did God really say that He will provide for your every need?   Shouldn’t you worry just a little?”   
And that’s where the sermon text from Philippians comes in.  The Apostle Paul tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & your minds in Christ Jesus.”    
That peace is something deep within us, yet it is not from us. That’s because it comes from the faith which Yahweh created in your heart.  That faith & peace are alien to us. Their source is from without   rather than within. 
Martin Luther put it this way.  Worldly peace consists in removing the external evil that is creating the unrest in our lives. For instance,  there’s no worldly peace when poverty & sickness surround you.  There’s no worldly peace when your career or family are failing you. Only when these problems go away do outward peace & quiet return. 
Spiritual peace works in the opposite way. It works against human logic & reasoning. That’s why scripture says it surpasses all human understanding.  Though outwardly our senses tell us to grab all we can get in order to survive, inwardly, by faith, we know that we can trust God to care for our every need. 
Though outwardly nothing but anxiety & sadness meet the eye, inwardly, Christ is present as He was in the manger.  Meek & mild, looking helpless & completely vulnerable, He was also God almighty, the Creator of the universe. Everything was in His hands that day, & all things are still in His hands today. 
With that kind of peace, the kind which comes from the presence of Christ in our hearts, we are enabled to live our lives producing works that show our repentance. We are enabled to take our eyes off of ourselves as the center of our world & instead, we look upon others with compassion & love. 
It’s that spiritual peace that causes us to say with Zephaniah, “Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!  …Rejoice & exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!   The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies.”  (Zephaniah 3:14-15a NASB) 
With that kind of peace, when God calls to us, “Where are you?” we don’t respond with “Like I would tell you!” Rather, we say, “Here am I Lord.  Send me.”  Amen. 
 
 
 
The peace of God that surpasses all human understanding will guard your hearts & your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.