The God of Peace

9:00 Service | 10:30 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. Happy Labor Day weekend.

Today’s Scripture is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 through 9. Let’s hear God’s Word.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. This is the Word of the Lord.

Today I want to talk about peace. And just to make sure we’re clear on what that means, there’s a phrase in this passage that tells us what the opposite of peace is. Verse 6 says Do not be anxious about anything. The opposite of peace is anxiety.

So what is anxiety? Here’s a simple definition: a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. That’s what it means to have anxiety. A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease. Any of you felt any of that recently? Maybe this past week, with the difficult challenge we’re dealing with at The Chapel? Maybe something in your personal life? I was recently talking with a friend who’s a licensed therapist, and she said the biggest life issue that people are dealing with now is uncertainty. There’s just so much that’s up in the air. And all that uncertainty can make us really anxious.

A few years ago, Time magazine ran an article entitled: “Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why The Kids are Not Alright.” One teenager who was interviewed said, “We're the first generation that cannot escape our problems at all. We're all like little volcanoes. We're getting this constant pressure, from our phones, from our relationships, from the way things are today." That’s heartbreaking, isn’t it? I’m currently reading a book by Jonathan Haidt called The Anxious Generation. It’s an extremely important book that you should read, especially if you’re a parent of young kids. But let me just read you one quote: “This is the great irony of social media: the more you immerse yourself in it, the more lonely and depressed you become.” And I think we’ve all heard that, but it’s hard to change habits, so the anxiety levels keep rising.

And everybody knows it’s not just teenagers. If you’re having a hard time sleeping, it’s likely because of anxiety. If you find yourself drinking more than you used to, that’s a clear sign of anxiety. If you feel yourself getting constantly angry at all the idiots who don’t see things the right way, like you do, it’s likely because of anxiety. Anxiety is a big deal.

Did you know that if you read on a Kindle, and you highlight things as you read, Amazon keeps track of your highlights? That’s kind of creepy, I know. But this is fascinating: they recently released the most highlighted portions when people read the Bible on their Kindle. What do you think the number one passage is? I would have thought maybe John 3:16, or the 23rd Psalm. Maybe the Lord’s Prayer. You

know what number one is? Philippians 4:6-7. Which is part of today’s passage. And it’s all about anxiety and peace. Isn’t that revealing? This is a massive need in the world, and I have a feeling it’s a massive need in your life as well.

I’m feeling a little crazy today, so instead of my normal three points, I’m going with five. Yeah, you heard me right. And they’re actually based on the five commands in this passage. If you think about it, any time there’s a command in Scripture, that means we have a choice whether to follow it or not, right? And that’s so relevant, because when we feel anxiety creeping in, it’s easy to feel powerless. It’s easy to feel like we have no choice in the matter, and life is just happening to us. But that’s not true. The most important choices are always completely open to us. So this short passage gives us five choices we can make to overcome anxiety.

Here’s the first one: Choose Joy. Verse 4: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! It almost seems weird to command someone to rejoice, doesn’t it? Like, “Start being happy, now!” But that’s only because we’re so used to thinking of joy as a feeling that happens to us, and you can’t command someone to have a feeling, right? But joy is not primarily a feeling. And we’re so used to thinking that joy always comes as a result of life going well. But that’s not how the Bible sees it. Paul the Apostle was a joyful person, because he had learned to anchor his joy in something that never changes. Paul was sitting in a Roman prison when he wrote this letter. So his outer circumstances were a mess, and they could change any time…but God never changes.

A few years ago, Rick Warren, the pastor and author, experienced a tragedy when his 27-year-old son committed suicide. I can’t think of anything that could cause more grief and sadness and anxiety than that. So at Thanksgiving that year, Time magazine asked several public figures what they’re thankful for, and this is what Rick Warren said:

This year became the worst year of my life when my youngest son, who’d struggled since childhood with mental illness, took his own life. How am I supposed to be thankful? God doesn’t expect me to be thankful FOR all circumstances, but IN all circumstances. There’s a huge difference. The first attitude is masochism. The second shows maturity.

I’m thankful that God sees all I go through. He cares. He grieves with me. I’m thankful that even though I don’t have all the answers, God does. I’m thankful that God can bring good even out of the bad in my life, when I give him the pieces. It’s his specialty. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections, and then benefit the whole world.

Guys, I don’t have to tell you this: life can be brutal. So if you anchor your joy in your circumstances— your job’s going well; nobody in the family’s fighting; no migraines, etc., you’re setting yourself up for a collapse. But if you learn root your joy in God, it’s like drilling deep down into the earth—way beneath the changing stuff on the surface—and finding this well that keeps giving water. There might be drought going on in your life, but the Water of Life keeps giving. That doesn’t mean you’re always laughing and joking—that’s not what joy is. You can be joyful through tears. But it’s real joy. And that’s why I deeply appreciate the example Rick Warren, which is very similar to the example of Tony Dungy, the former NFL coach, whose teenage son also took his own life. And it’s similar to the stories of other people much closer to home. They grieved and mourned and stepped away from their work for a while—and of course it was devastating. But the anxiety didn’t eat them alive. Because their joy was anchored in something deeper. Man, I want more of that.

Here’s the second choice we can make: Choose Gentleness. Verse 5 says Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. That word for “gentleness” was a word that was normally used when you would expect someone to strike back or to seek revenge because they’ve been wrongly treated…but instead they respond with self-control. So it’s a very surprising kind of response—gentleness when you would expect anger and aggression.

You’re merging from Route 3 West onto 46 West, and you’ve been patiently crawling along in a long line of cars, and someone comes up on your right, driving on the shoulder, and cuts right in front of you. And instead of leaning on the horn and saying something you’ll regret, you just let him go. And you say, “Maybe his girlfriend just broke up with him, or something worse.” You post something online that you feel strongly about, and someone writes a harsh comment, disagreeing with you. You feel your heart rate start to elevate. But instead of jumping into the fight and proving them wrong, you put your phone away or you close the laptop and you think about it: “Lord, what are you trying to show me here?” Let your gentleness be evident to all.

And the only way you can do that is if you know the second half of the verse: the Lord is near. Jesus modeled this incredibly. Look at 1 Peter 2:23…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. In other words, Jesus responded with gentleness and self-control…why? Because he knew God could handle it. He didn’t have to take matters into his own hands, because He knew His Father was in control. So when I get all stressed out, I have to ask myself: Do I believe my Father is in control? Do you? When we believe God is near, it has an amazing effect on our anxiety level.

Here’s the third choice: Choose Prayer. Verse 6 is the first half of that most highlighted passage in the Bible. Here’s what it says: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This one little verse is like a mini course on how to pray. There’s so much packed in there! Let me call out three big things.

First, Pray always. It says in every situation. There is not a situation in life where it’s good to not pray. Not a single situation. And if you think about it, this is how good relationships work, right? I’ve been married for 35 years, and I’ve worked with countless couples over the years. You know what really healthy couples have in common? They talk in every situation. They talk on the phone; they find time to have coffee together. They text each other a lot. If you saw my text history with Norma Jean, you would see that we don’t let half a day go by without checking in and just hearing from each other. Communication is the glue that holds relationships together, so healthy couples talk all the time. And healthy Christians pray all the time.

Maybe you think, “Well, I just don’t agree. God has bigger things to worry about than the details of my day.” Um…no he doesn’t. There is not a single part of your life that God is not interested in. Jesus said your Father knows the number of hairs on your head; he knows every time a sparrow falls to the ground, and you’re infinitely more valuable than a bird. God cares. He cares about your love life or lack thereof; he cares about your workout at the gym; he cares about your hobbies; he cares about your job interview that’s coming up. Parents, like you care about everything in your kids’ lives, God cares about his kids. So talk to him! Because every time you pray, you’re reminding yourself that you’re not alone. You’re reminding yourself that there’s this someone way bigger than you who’s always with you. It’s hard for anxiety to compete with that.

This verse also teaches us to Pray specifically. It says present your requests to God. Not, “Pray for a general blessing.” Present your individual, itemized requests, directly to God. The specific things that you roll over and over in your mind when you lie awake in bed; take those very things and speak them

to God. Recently I’m finding myself turning off the music more often when I drive. Because I’m driving along and my mind naturally drifts to some problem in my life, right? You too? And I find myself thinking about how to handle that problem, and worrying about what could happen. And more and more, I’m turning off the music or the podcast, and I’m using that moment of solitude in my car to talk through it with God. “Lord, here’s how I’m feeling about this. I’m confused about this. My heart is breaking over this. How should I approach this? Lord, please intervene and change her heart. God, please give him strength to resist that temptation.” Pray specifically. God has all the time in the world, and he loves hearing from you.

And then third, Pray gratefully. Notice, it doesn’t say: when you pray for something, and God gives you what you asked for, make sure you say “Thanks.” That’s not what it’s saying. It says when you’re presenting your requests to God, do it with thanksgiving. Before you even get any kind of answer, be thankful. How is that even possible? Well, because you’re convinced that God knows more than you do, and that he’ll always do what’s right. In the words of Tim Keller: “God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knows.” So if I believe that—that God is infinitely wiser than I am, and that he loves me, I can be thankful even before I get an answer.

I think of some of the things I’ve prayed for over the years. In college I prayed that certain girls I wanted to date would say “yes” to me, and that prayer was not answered, because God had someone different for me. When Norma Jean and I were looking for a house years ago, I prayed for certain houses, and said No; now I see that he was placing us in a certain neighborhood for very specific reasons. I’ve prayed for certain injuries to heal quickly, and they healed very slowly, because God wanted to teach me patience, and maturity, and compassion for other suffering people. So as I pray for things, even though I know the answer might wind up being “no,” I can still be thankful. Because I trust God. I’m working on that. I’m growing in that.

So when you feel the anxiety rising up, choose to pray. Pray always; pray specifically; and pray gratefully. There is literally no prison that can stop you from praying.

Okay, fourth choice we can make: Choose Beauty. Verse 8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. You have the power to choose what things will fill your mind. And Paul says, “Decide to fill it with things that are noble and right and pure and lovely…” and the word I’m using to represent all those things is “beauty.” Choose to fill your mind with beautiful things.

There’s a famous Japanese-American artist named Makoto Fujimura. When he and his wife were newly married, they moved to Connecticut for his wife, Judy, to pursue her master’s degree. Makoto was teaching in a special education school and he was trying to paint at home. So he said they had a very tight budget and they had to eat lots of canned tuna to make it through the week. One evening he was sitting at home in their small apartment, worried about how they were going to pay the rent; the fridge was empty. And his wife walked in with a bouquet of flowers. And Makoto got angry. He said, “How could you buy flowers when we can’t even afford to eat?” And his wife’s reply has been burned into his heart for more than thirty years. She said, “We need to feed our souls, too.”

Listen: we need to feed our souls. And we can choose to feed them worthless things or beautiful things. If you drive around all day, listening to political talk radio, is it any wonder you’re feeling angry and anxious? If you spend hours a day on social media, comparing yourself with everyone else’s friends and bodies and houses and vacations, can’t you see that’s raising your anxiety? Take control of what you put into your mind. You actually have that authority. In the morning when Norma Jean and I

are getting ready for the day, we carefully choose what music we put on, because that sets the tone for the day. Lately my favorite album is Jon Foreman’s new album called “In Bloom”—it’s so good. Norma Jean usually says, “Alexa, play Christian dance music.” Which is a thing, and of course I’m a great dancer, so I love it. Here’s my point: listening to music like that is a choice to fill ourselves with beautiful things, and we walk into the day with our souls a little larger. There are other times we listen to things or watch things and we say, “Why did we watch that?” Do you know that feeling ? So choose beauty. Beauty is so much stronger than anxiety.

And then one more choice we can make: Choose Action. Verse 9: Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. When you feel anxiety coming on, one of the wisest things you can do is to put into practice the things you know are right. In other words, don’t just sit there and be a passive victim of anxiety; get up and take action.

In my early years at the Chapel, I got to mentor under Pastor Marsh Davis. When Marsh was helping people who were battling depression, he would always tell them to fight the tendency to just sit around, or sleep too much, because that just breeds more depression. So he would tell them to do something constructive: clean out the garage or the junk drawer or the fridge. Call someone. Go to the gym and work out. And of course that wasn’t the whole solution for depression. But it’s an act of obedience to God, and it gets you moving in a good direction.

If you’re feeling anxiety right now—for any reason—maybe God’s wisdom for you is as simple as taking action. Put into practice the things that you know are good and healthy and honoring to God. Sometimes, that will feel like a sheer act of obedience—you don’t want to do it; you don’t really have the energy to do it; but you choose, because you can. Because God has given you that freedom.

So…Choose joy. Choose gentleness. Choose prayer. Choose beauty. And choose action. And if we make those five choices, all the anxiety that we’re feeling will instantly melt away. Right? Mmm…probably not. Because this is not a self-help technique. Did you know the Bible is not a self-help manual? It’s not set of principles that you can put into practice, to produce certain results. In fact, if you follow everything I just said to a “T”, you might still be totally stressed out. You know why? Because ultimately peace is not just a psychological state that you can talk yourself into. True peace—the kind we really want—is a relationship with a person.

So making these five choices is really wise. But as you’re making those choices, realize that you aren’t creating peace; you’re just opening yourself up to the One who brings peace. Does that make sense? It’s kind of like sailing: when you get out on the water, you can raise your sails and position your sails perfectly, but you’re not going anywhere unless there’s…what? Wind. So making these five choices is like raising your sails. You’re opening yourself up to the wind. You’re putting yourself in the path of the Prince of Peace. Because unless he shows up, there is no peace.

Verse 7 has this awesome promise: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God. The peace you only get from a relationship with God. And verse 9 says it differently: And the God of peace will be with you. That’s even better, isn’t it? God doesn’t just give you his peace; he gives you himself.

As he sat in a German prison for daring to defy Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this poem:

“In me there is darkness, But with You there is light; I am lonely, but You do not leave me;

I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help; I am restless, but with You there is peace.”

The level of stress was so intense, he needed more than the peace of God; he needed to know the God of peace himself was with him. And it was the same for Paul: there was so much that was out of his control, but he knew deep in his soul that God was right there with him. And as we experience our own prisons, we need to know that. The God of peace will be with you. Peace is a person.

And it’s a peace that transcends all understanding. It doesn’t make sense. It defies logic. It doesn’t make sense that Rick Warren could return to loving his congregation and fighting poverty and preaching the gospel after he lost his son. It transcends all understanding. It doesn’t make sense that Tony Dungy is working as an NFL commentator, and writing, and speaking, and loving his family, after what happened to him. It really transcends understanding. You would think they would be ruined, right? You would think they would slip into despair, and turn to drugs, or other destructive things. But they haven’t. And the fact that they’re walking in peace instead of anxiety is testimony that our God is real.

I realize you might have prisons in your life that are preventing you from doing certain things. That happens. But I’m telling you today that the most important choices in life are wide open to you. There is no one who can stop you from choosing joy, and gentleness, and prayer, and beauty, and action. No prison can take those freedoms away! So choose wisely, and the God of peace will be with you.