“Not Losing a Vision of Peace”                    Micah 4:1-7      11/13/11

¹ In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. ² Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ³ He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. ⁴ Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. ⁵ All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. ⁶ “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. ⁷ I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

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     In the past week we have heard of how Iran was taking something meant for peaceful purposes- like nuclear energy, and turning it into harmful purposes- nuclear war.  It is interesting how peaceful things can be converted into war-like tools.  Micah- and Isaiah 2 speak of beating sword into plowshares- (I might call them tiller tines), but Joel 3:10- says just the opposite that there will be a time when plowshares will be beaten into swords and pruning hooks made into spears.

     On the side of the United Nations building is inscribed in stone- this verse in Micah- they shall beat their swords into plowshares.  A sword is not a multi-use tool.  It is not a Swiss army knife.  A sword can only be used to hurt, to scare, to destroy, but also to defend and protect. 

     We have been in so many wars and threatened wars lately, that it is hard to keep track of them all.  There is the war in Iraq.  It appears we are finished with that one finally.  There is the war in Afghanistan- meant to kick those who were sheltering Al Quaida out.  There is the undeclared war in Libya. Then there are the threatened conflicts.  There have been numerous firefights and shots fired between the forces of Iran and our own troops in Iraq and the navy in the Persian Gulf.  We have been involved with Israel in cyberattacks to delay Iran’s nuclear weapons program.  But now they are close to having them and the Israelis are speaking of beating their plowshares into swords to take out Iran’s nuclear weapons which are a clear threat to them.  There has been in the last two years the usual saber rattling of North Korea and their threats to send nuclear missiles into South Korea.  Pirates in Somalia have been fired upon by our troops. We have sent advisors to Uganda last month to help defeat the LRA there.  Overall, we have 369,000 troops in 150 different countries. We want to support our military men and women- many of whom serve peace-keeping roles, but we also want to keep our vision of peace.   Sometimes with so much conflict/potential conflict it is hard to keep a vision of peace.
  God’s ultimate desire is that we have peace with Him, peace with each other, and peace within ourselves.  We are called to seek peace and pursue it.

     Why should we seek peace?  If you do not have peace with God- if you do not know and love God- you will not have peace within or with neighbor.  The vision of hope is when we have peace with God, it leads to peace with neighbor (afterall God is the One who tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves).  When we have peace with God it gives meaning and hope and eliminates restlessness and coveting within. 

     There is a tremendous price to be paid when we give up on peace.  Of course there is death.  175 million died in the last century as a result of war.  If you include the famine and disease caused by war the number pushes 203 million.  People are also displaced. The latest statistics say there were

 42 million displaced people last year. The environment- nature- suffers when war occurs.  Trees are destroyed.  Perhaps you remember images of WWI’s no-man’s land or agent orange’s destruction in Vietnam, or the oil fires lit by Saddam’s forces when they left Kuwait in the first Persian Gulf War.  If you have seen pictures of the last war that was on South Carolina soil, and see the destruction left in Sherman’s wake here, you may have seen the crops and trees burned.  We know that war is not the goal, and we should do all we can to restrain it.  We do not need to be embarrassed  to say war is only the last resort.  Having a right to fight is not the same as saying all fights are right.

     But only 8% of recorded history has the world been at peace about 286 years. There have been 8,000 treaties and they average lasting only about two years.  Peace seems to sometimes be the goal that we can never quite obtain- the ring on the merry go round just out of reach.  But Micah and Isaiah say that it is the possibility with the Lord to turn weapons into tools for peace.
     You know, we take for granted that Christ wants us to pursue peace, but it doesn’t always ring true.  It’s about like in that movie,
“Miss Congeniality” where every beauty contestant was supposed to say what they really want is “world peace.”  World peace can seem so vague and broad- but yet nice.  Some say it is not attainable in their life times, therefore they do not care about it.  But it affects us-In a nuclear age- if Iran drops a bomb on Israel- it affects us- and the oil we get in our cars, and the hope we have in our hearts.  But there is something we can do- as individuals- we should seek peace and pursue it.
      At the same time, there are times when war is a necessary evil.  I am not a pacifist who believes that war is so horrible that there is no excuse for it. Ecclesiastes (3:8) says there is a time for war and a time for peace.  There is room in the church for pacifists for we join with them in fighting war.  But like I told my Quaker friend, if someone breaks into my house and threatens to shoot my wife, children or grandchild, I will not be a pacifist or a doormat.  I will do all I can to protect them.  Jesus did not lead a rebellion with physical weapons.  But Jesus did tell his disciples (Lk. 22:36) that if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one- for protection.  When clear evil threatens the good and peaceful it is not evil to resist it.  But this is not the way it should be.  Ideally there would not be evil in the world to resist.  Ideally the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea and evil will be ashamed and eliminated.  There have been times in history where we can see peace.  In times of great revival- one of the side effects is peace- less domestic violence, more humility and true lasting love.  This leads me to believe that the first step toward peace in the world is peace with God- this brings peace within and peace with neighbor. See, the fruit of the Spirit is love,  joy, and peace.  When Christ came, He came as the Prince of Peace. 
     Friday we celebrated Veterans Day which began as Armistice Day at the end of WWI.  At the signing of that same armistice, the seed for the League of Nations began.  In 1919 Woodrow Wilson said, “The League of Nations is the Only Hope of the World.”  That is a real stretch-especially considering the League of Nations only lasted about 15 years.  The only hope of the world is the Prince of Peace- Jesus.  Peace like hope spreads.  It can spread from one heart to one group and spread to one area. But it starts not with some outside entity- not some magic trick or even governmental will.  The Emperor Augustus had what is called “The Pax Romana” but he did not have inner peace.  In fact, he had a hard time sleeping, but he heard of a Roman who slept well every night.  He bought his bed thinking that would help him sleep.  But, of course, it didn’t work.  Real peace is not a matter of having peace on the outside. However, let me tell you, there are people who have peace- who sleep in peace, who know how to overcome worry.  They are people who take the Prince of Peace seriously.  They do not keep Him at arms length, but open their hearts to Him.  It is possible to escape worry even in a recession. The basic step is to have peace with your Maker- the ground of being.  If you want to have harmony with your world, with your neighbor, with yourself- seek peace with your Maker.
      Jesus offers us peace within.  He said, (Mt. 11:28) “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you peace.”  He said (Jn. 14:27), “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.  Not as the world gives, I give you peace.  Let not your hearts be troubled and neither let them be afraid. “ The woman with th an illness who touched his robe- she received His peace.  The young man with mental illness- troubled by legions of troubles and demons- He received His peace.  The worried and anxious people caught in a storm- He calmed their storm and gave them peace. To Zaccheus and all those who fell guilt and weighed down with regret- He offered His peace.  To all who grieved over Lazarus and others- He offers His comfort and peace.  He turned their mourning into dancing, their swords into plowshares.
    Followers of the Prince of Peace not only seek peace within- many just do that and stop there.  But followers of the Prince of Peace also seek to be instruments of His peace.  Where there is hatred- they try to sow love; where there is injury pardon.  Where there is doubt-faith; where there is despair hope; where there is darkness- light; where there is sadness- joy. 
     Seek to be a person of peace- to make peace your aim- your goal.  Peace with your spouse.  I know some who are always seeking to win with their spouse- they are playing the blame game. Seek to be a person who has peace with your family- with your brothers and sisters; with your neighbors; with your church. God turns swords into plowshares-spears into pruning hooks.
    Calvin said about this passage that until we are made gentle by God’s Word, we should not be surprised by tyranny and oppression. We should seek, therefore to be made gentle by God’s Word. When we are peaceful and work and pray for peace it is a step in the right direction.