Main Idea: I experience the Spirit’s peace as I allow Jesus Christ to wholly order my life.

A couple of weeks ago we moved our youngest daughter Amy into an apartment at Ouachita to start her senior year at college. One of the pieces of "furniture" that we moved was a very cheap fiberboard computer desk. It used to belong to our other daughter and it had recently passed down to Amy. In the move, we realized that the desk had seen its last days so we took it to the dumpster and headed to Wal-Mart to get another one. We found one that was suitable but on the side of the box in both English and Spanish were those ominous words "Assembly Required."

Those words "Assembly Required" are not my favorite because I am somewhat "mechanically challenged." When we got the desk back to the apartment, I cleared the living room of all other persons and decided that I was going to rise to the occasion and overcome my inadequacies and put the desk together. Now, the first challenge I had was whether to read the directions or not. I choose wisely and actually read them. One thing it advised was to place all the individual parts on the floor, which I did. So after about forty-five minutes of work I had most of it put together and was ready to turn it over on its feet. I asked Kathy to help and it was then that she noticed that one of the pieces was not joined to another piece, which made it unstable. (I noticed that also but just figured it would work out.)

She then convinced me that this was not the way the manufacturer intended it. I noticed two screws on the floor, went back over the steps in the manual and said, "Oops, missed a step." I screwed the two screws in and the desk was complete. I gloried in my accomplishment and was actually finished in less than two hours. I discovered that the pieces fit perfectly when I did an amazing thing – read the directions!

Do you ever feel like your life has the label on it "Assembly required?" Do you see your life as parts that don’t really seem to fit? Does it ever look like just a lot of pieces with no clear instructions? Have you tried putting them together yourself only to discover you have left some steps out and it is just not going to work out by itself? The truth is that we live lives that are little more than a jumble of pieces or fragments that we are desperately trying to hold together. Sometimes they fit and sometimes they don’t. What we want is somehow for the pieces to fit so that life—our very complex, fragmented life—can make sense. We long for a way to know that day by day our life is whole or complete, that it makes sense and that inside of us and outside of us that there is order instead of chaos. As Beth Moore describes it, "striving, churning, tossing, turning, bitter, burning, never learning…." What we want is peace. How do we find peace? What I want us to learn today is that I experience the Spirit’s peace as I allow Jesus Christ to wholly order my life.

Our key text we are working from during this series is Galatians 5:22-23 where Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit. He said in verse 22, "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace…." Today we are going to talk about the Spirit’s peace. There are two verses that I have chosen to help us understand peace. One is from John 14:27 and the other is from Philippians 4:7. In both of these verses the translations give us what we normally associate with peace. They both mention peace on the inside, within our mind and heart. Both of those words--mind and heart--refer to the center of our lives. It’s very hard to separate one from the other because it was a way of saying the same thing—peace down within my core being.

The Greek word "peace" means tranquility or calm. However, the Hebrew word "Shalom," from which the Greek word is founded, meant something bigger. It meant "wholeness" or "completeness." I believe Jesus and Paul had something bigger in mind when they used this word than just my own ability to not be agitated or worried. Now a lot of us would settle for that and I am one of them but I believe that the Bible teaches us that peace, especially the Spirit’s peace, is more than my being carefree.

The first clue that peace is something more than freedom from being agitated is when Jesus contrasted the peace he gives with the kind that the world gives. He said, "…the peace I give isn’t like the world gives." That lets me know that there is a kind of peace that is available apart from what Jesus Christ gives or offers. What kind of peace does the world give? Normally, when we think of peace we think of a condition of the absence of hostility or conflict. So it is possible for there to be peace—the absence of conflict between nations and individuals. It may not be motivated by a spiritual source but it is possible for humans to not be in conflict with each other. It is also possible for a human to achieve tranquility of mind that is not necessarily Christian. Other world religions have techniques that, if applied, can bring about a sense of calm. In fact, medically, through the use of biofeedback, it is possible to achieve tranquility of mind that is nothing more than the discipline of mind over body. None of these are bad; it’s just that all of them don’t need Jesus to be accomplished.

I believe when Jesus said, "I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart" (Jn. 14:27) and when Paul talks about God’s peace being "far more wonderful than the human mind can understand" (Phil. 4:7) that there is more to it than nations signing peace agreements, getting along with a person who irritates you or being able to stay calm when I am stressed. The world already offers that. I can’t imagine Jesus going to the cross to provide something that was already available without him! The Spirit’s peace has got to be more than any of these things. Again, those are all good and needed but you don’t have to have God to pull them off. You don’t have to be a Christian to experience them.

So, if the peace that Jesus gives and that the Spirit produces isn’t like the peace the world gives, what is it? I believe Augustine, who was a very early Christian writer and leader, said it best. Augustine called it "tranquility of order." I like that. I like it because it describes something that you and I can’t achieve apart from God: a life where the pieces fit. When I say "tranquility of order," I’m not talking about having a better schedule or being "balanced" in your time commitments. Again, you can get that through any time management book. It’s good but not God. No, "tranquility of order" is that sense that the pieces or fragments of my life are being held together by something greater than my self-discipline. "Tranquility of order" is a life that consistently asks: Is Jesus holding this together? Is he at the center of this action, activity or moment? Don’t hear me say that this means walking around with a goofy grin like you had too much Nyquil when you have a cold, out of touch with life around you. No, "tranquility of order" means that at the center of who I am Jesus Christ is in control, that he is the one wholly ordering my life. That, my friends, is where, for a Christian, that peace begins.

If there is one foundational place where peace must exist it is that I need to know that my life and God’s purpose for my life fit. In other word, that my life is following God’s order, that I have "peace with God." There are two verses that describe this that I really want you to hear. The first is Romans 5:1: "…we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." The next one is Colossians 1:20b, "…He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross." Both of these verses let us know, first, that our lives were at one time in a broken relationship with God and, second, that because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross that the relationship with God is now restored. Whatever you do this morning, don’t miss this. Unless my life and God’s purpose for my life fit together, then any place else I may find peace is temporary. It will not last.

If you are a person who has confessed your sins to God and invited Jesus Christ to be your forgiver and leader of your life, then you have peace with God. If you have never done that, then the relationship between you and God is still broken. Your life and God’s purpose for your life do not fit together. Your life will constantly be "out of order" as far as God is concerned. Apart from Jesus Christ you don’t have peace with God. If you don’t have peace there, then all other places of calm are ultimately meaningless.

Once a person invites Jesus Christ to be the forgiver and leader of their life then immediately Jesus gives them, in the person of Holy Spirit, his peace, his "tranquility of order." Where their life was once "out of order" with God, now at the center of their life there is someone holding it all together that enables them to confront and face all the other places of disorder in their life. It is because of this "center" of peace that comes into our life through Christ that Jesus could say, "So don’t be troubled or afraid" (John 14:27). This means that when it seems that everything else is shaking loose, doesn’t fit or is coming apart, there is stability, tranquility available to me at the center of my life. Jesus has caused my life and God’s life to fit together perfectly. Whatever else happens, at the core there is peace.

Okay, if I have order or peace in the core of my life, that place where God and I fit, why is there such disorder in the other parts of my life? Why is my life so fragmented and I don’t have peace in other areas of my life? Paul says, "His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7b). That tells me that this peace that is at the center needs to affect other areas of my life as I live consistently under the control and authority of Jesus Christ. Remember, it all comes back to control, for Paul said, "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce…" peace in us. If I am not living "in Christ Jesus’ or if the Holy Spirit is not in control of my life then I will not know peace or order in other areas. My life will not be wholly at peace.

So, what is the solution? The solution is to confront the areas of disorder in my life by consistently asking the question: Is Jesus the one holding this together or am I? Is Jesus at the control of this or is something or someone else? Is Jesus at the center of my overloaded life or is it my inability to say no? Is Jesus at the center of my exhaustion or is it my thirst for success? Is Jesus at the center of my anxiety or is it my fear of letting go? Is Jesus at the center of my choices or is it my desire for approval from others? You get the point. Many, if not most, of the places where we feel we do not have peace ultimately come back to who is in control: Holy Spirit or me?

What happens is that when I choose to allow Holy Spirit to control my overloaded life, my exhaustion, my anxiety, my choices or anything else, I create space for peace to be experienced. In other words, if you take away the guilt, the greed, the fear and the conflict internally, there is space for peace to fill that void. You experience the Spirit’s peace as you allow Jesus Christ to wholly order your life. When you take away all that conflicts with his control, what you have left is the experience of being wholly at peace.

I need you to understand that this isn’t a one-time event. No, it is a lifetime process. You can begin by taking time to ask where your life is truly out of order and then inviting Jesus to be at the center of that issue. That lets you be aware of how far from center you really are. Once you have done that, though, you will still be pulled and stretched in every way because that’s life. That’s why being wholly at peace has more to do with the moment you are living presently than the decision you made when you were being "spiritual." Here’s what I want you to do. As you go through your day and you start to sense that the disorder is overwhelming the order, just ask: Is Jesus at the center of this or is it me? If it is me, what do I need to do to create space for peace? That is the way to experience the Spirit’s peace.

Five years ago tomorrow, September 11, 2001, was a day when the peace that our nation knew and cherished was decimated by Al Queda sponsored terrorists. Almost 3000 people lost their lives due to the hijacking of four commercial airliners. That day has become our generation’s December 7, 1941, a day that shattered and continues to shatter human lives.

In the days that followed the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, New York City firemen discovered this cross that stood miraculously in the rubble of the Twin Towers. The cross was formed by the collapsing debris and stood as a symbol of the presence of peace in the very center of all that was horrible about that day. That cross stands today as it has for over two thousand years in the center of every human heart that has yielded control of their life to Jesus Christ.

Today it may feel like your world has or is coming apart and there is no peace. Yet I invite you, if you are a Christian, to look within at the center of your fragmented life and know that there is the cross at the center. If the cross is at the center, then you can experience peace. If the cross is not at the center, then peace will always be an illusion. If you want to be wholly at peace, then put the cross at the center, today allow Jesus Christ to wholly order your life. Discover at last being wholly at peace.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org