Grace, mercy and peace be to you all in Jesus Christ.  Last week the theme for our service was "Reconciliation and Love."  A result of reconciliation is peace - peace with God, peace with each other and peace with ourselves.  We surely have a hard time finding peace these days.  The newspapers certainly won't give it.

          Every morning I read the paper hoping to find something good, but instead I find stories of conflict and death, corruption and destruction, of charges and counter-charges.  Seldom is there good news, like someone overcoming great odds, or a sick person getting well, or a local team winning a big game.  Instead, we hear of poverty in America, or the lack of health insurance, or a critic analyzing why our team always loses.  The news these days is all about pointing fingers, blaming others, labelling people, or name-calling.

          Every day I search for some good news about the Iraqi conflict, such as how our soldiers are rebuilding their schools, hospitals and sanitation departments.  Our soldiers come back telling of the joy they've seen in the eyes of Iraqis, but all we read about is the burning car, the dead G.I. or the rejoicing rebel.  As I read this, many questions come to mind.  Will we ever have peace?  What will be the price of that peace?  What kind of peace can we expect today?  How many more Americans will die before terrorism is rubbed out?  Can we stop the human suffering?

          Recently I watched a good movie, "The Pianist", about a Jewish concert pianist who hid from the German army nearly 5 years during World War Two.  His home city Warsaw, and much of the Polish country side, was totally destroyed by war.  There were 500,000 Jews living in Warsaw when Germany invaded Poland, but only 20,000 - just 4% - were alive at war's end.  96% died - can we even imagine this?

          The encyclopedia showed me a table with the toll of lives lost in America's major wars:  Revolutionary War: 5,000, Civil War: 500,000, World War One: 110,000 (of 10 million), World War Two: 410,000 (of 50 million), Korean War: 35,000 (of 1.5 million), Viet Nam: 55,000 (of 2 million), Iraq I: 300 (of 100,000), Iraq II: 900 of an est. 50,000 deaths so far.  That table also said 30 million people died in the Communist purges under Mao and Stalin.  Then I read that 42,000 Americans died in car accidents last year - Nearly two million auto deaths in America during the past 40 years.

          While we cannot play down the sadness caused by the 900 deaths in this latest war, we don't always put that number into perspective.  We construct a wall to honor the 55,000 deaths in Viet Nam, but where is the memorial for the 42,000 who died in auto accidents last year?  Six million Jews in the Holocaust is a horrific number, and yet the thirty million people killed by Stalin and Mao go almost forgotten.

          Thomas Jefferson once said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."  We must never play down the horrific nature of war, and we dare never forget all those who have died in them.  Disagreeing with the war doesn't give us the right to demean even one of the flag-draped caskets flown back from the Middle East.  But we do need to put things into perspective.  All human life, no matter what stage of life it is in, is precious to God, even the life of those who tried to destroy Jesus and His followers.

          In our text Jesus told His disciples, "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."

          Peace is a gift from God.  It's a sign of His blessing and it gives us a rest and tranquility we can't have by ourselves.  Jesus once said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God." (Matthew 5:9)  Peace is not something to be sought.  It's a gift from the Holy Spirit.  Peace with God comes when we have a right relationship with Jesus Christ.  Everything in life depends on our relationship with Jesus.

          Last Thursday I conducted a service at our local funeral chapel for a biker, a man who had lived hard and died young.  The funeral director calls me now and then when he needs a service for the church homeless.  I tried to make the service and message as simple as I could, since the Bible meant little to these folks.  Typical dress was jeans, leather jacket, bandana and a pack of Luckies.  They were plain folk but they lived life as best they could.  Cars and motorcycles were more important than stocks and bonds.  T-shirts and ponytails were everywhere.  And when the country western CD played, "High Up On a Mountain," there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

          I believe we people are basically all the same, despite how differently we may dress or act.  We all need to belong, to have someone to love and to understand us.  A lot of rough-looking folks came up and thanked me for the service.  But one of the women was different.  She smoked and she drank and she had a lot of miles on her tires, but something was different.  Her comments told me she knew the Lord.  There was a sense of peace about her the others didn't have.  I hope she shared her faith the best she could, because they'd listen to her more than to me.

          I don't know if I was able to share God's peace with those folks, but they were all seeking some peace.  You and I need the peace of God in our hearts, today more than ever.  But we will never find it by ourselves.  Peace comes from having God's righteousness in our souls and tranquility in our hearts.  The Holy Spirit blesses us with peace.  It doesn't come from reading a book, or from the gym or from personal meditation or from yoga.  Peace comes from God and from having complete trust and faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

          The peace of Jesus exists in the hearts of those who live in peace.  Peacemakers don't have to be conscientious objectors.  They can carry the peace of Christ with them even while they carry a sword or a rifle.  Just like the love we have for each other is founded in the love God has for us in Jesus, so also the peace we have in life is founded on the peace God gives us in Jesus.  "Go in peace, serve the Lord" is not a suggestion, but a command.  It is a divine order given to God's people.  And we respond, "Thanks be to God," not because we're glad the service is over, but because we know peace is a gift God has given us in Jesus.  We thank God we can go in peace, and as we go, now we can also serve the Lord.

          Living in the peace of God will show itself in our lives.  It shows itself in the small acts of kindness or the great deeds of love.  I began this message with the words, "Grace, mercy and peace be to you all in Jesus Christ."  Grace and mercy go hand in hand with peace.  Where God's grace is made known, there is peace.  Where mercy is shown between people, there is peace.

          Peace can also come when we make a decision to change our life, maybe lighten up our load a little.  A few nights ago Carol and I heard a terrible crash in our garage.  One of our storage cabinets had come loose from the wall and spewed most of its contents on the floor, nearly anointing my car with 5 gallons of old paint.  I had put a heavy box on top of that cabinet earlier in the day and it was just too much for the few nails holding it up.  A dozen long screws later, and its contents were returned to the shelves.  I had made it stronger, but still hadn't gotten rid of the real problem which was the junk I should have thrown out long ago.  You and I like to keep too much with us in life.  We should check our cabinets regularly and lighten the load a little.  Peace with God can come when we lighten our loads.

          The Bible says "There is no peace for the wicked." (Isaiah 48:22)   False prophets can give us no peace.  The wise men and women of this world can give us no peace.  It only comes from knowing Jesus Christ.  "Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)   "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)   What more is there to say, but "Amen!"

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.