PENTECOST 5 (PROPER 8), JULY 2, 2023
Not Peace, but a Sword

Introduction: There’s so much conflict in our world today. All you have to
do is turn on the news and see how many of the headlines are about violence,
hatred, death, conflict. And I can’t help but feel that somehow this isn’t how
it’s supposed to be. Just six months ago, we celebrated the birth of the Prince
of Peace. And yet here we are, surrounded by conflict. Conflict between
nations, between groups of people, between families, and even conflict within
our own families and our own lives. Didn’t Jesus come to bring peace to all
this mess? When do I get to stop fighting? stop struggling? Where is my
peace?
Well, exactly what are you asking for?
3. The reality is that we like peace, even when it’s false.
a. Peace is comfortable.
(1) No one likes to come home to a house where people are constantly
arguing. Ask any child who’s had the tragic experience of living in
a house where the parents are in conflict. It forces you to be
constantly on edge, ready for the war to start back up. It’s
exhausting.
(2) And so we chase after peace, even if it means ignoring things we
know we shouldn’t.
b. Peace is safety.
(1) When things change, it unsettles us.

(2) This is what keeps the young woman trapped in the abusive
relationship. She knows it’s wrong and broken and unhealthy, but
it’s familiar and safe in its own way.
(3) And so we refuse to change, even knowing that what exists is
killing us.
c. But that’s not really peace, is it?
(1) We can avoid talking about it, but we haven’t really figured
anything out, have we? Have you ever had one of those meals
when two of the people at the table have this relationship that’s just
broken and they’re dealing with it by not dealing with it? It’s
miserable! You can cut the tension with a knife. Even if we tiptoe
around the topic, it’s plain that this isn’t what real peace is
supposed to be.
(2) It’s no use pretending. When you do that, you live in fear. Things
covered are eventually uncovered, and while we wait, they own us.
It looks like peace, but it’s fake.
d. And fake peace comes with a cost.
(1) How many of us have that one relationship where we know things
aren’t how they should be, but we don’t know how to change it?
How many of us have a family member with whom we’ve just
agreed to disagree about those subjects that everyone knows not to
bring up?
(2) And so we compromise; we “live and let live” in the name of
peace.

e. But fake peace even brings death.
(1) As long as we view life primarily as being about pursuing the
appearance of peace, we live a lie.
(2) As long as our friendships are about getting along instead of loving
discussion, they’re mere shadows of what they’re intended to be.
(3) As long as our relationship with God is primarily about concealing
our sin from him, from others, and from ourselves, we can’t find
real peace.

2. So Jesus came to bring not peace, but a sword.
a. Real peace is the ancient Hebrew idea of shalom.
(1) Shalom isn’t just a matter of not actively fighting in this moment.
(2) It’s about having restored relationships. Shalom is about wholeness
in body, in mind, in relationships with other people, and in our
relationship with God.
(3) And God knows that true shalom begins by dealing with the broken
relationships that divide us from him and isolate us from one
another.
b. That’s why Jesus says, “Don’t think I’ve come to bring peace, but a
sword.” He’s coming to cut through that false peace, the lies, to give
shalom.
(1) Taking a stand brings a sword. Speaking the truth will bring you
into conflict with the lies our world embraces. Don’t believe me?
Just try it:

(a) Say that every life is precious and sacred, from conception to
natural death . . .
(b) Say that human sexuality is a gift of God to be enjoyed in the
context of marriage between a man and a woman . . .
(c) Proclaim in any sense that there is an absolute right and wrong
to the universe and that some actions bring life and joy and that
others bring death and destruction . . .
(2) . . . And watch the sparks start flying.
(3) Our world is comfortable with its lies, but for real peace to take
root, the lies must first be challenged and revealed for what they
are.

1. And that conflict, that sword, brings true peace, shalom.
a. When we confront the lies, we know that, ultimately, things aren’t
how they’re supposed to be in our relationship with God.
(1) We’ve done things we shouldn’t have, and we’ve said things we
know we shouldn’t have. And sometimes, the things that own us
are because we didn’t act, didn’t do that thing we should have, or
we had that moment when we should have spoken and we kept
quiet.
(2) There is simply no peace in our world, our relationships, or in
ourselves. And we extend that to our thoughts about God. How
could God love someone as broken as I am?
(3) And that’s the greatest lie of all. That somehow we’ve done too
much or said too little for God to love us. That somehow we’ve

pushed it one too many times, and this time there can’t be peace.
That we are too fundamentally broken even to begin to make peace
with God.
(4) And the real problem is that there’s truth in that. We can’t make
peace with God. We try, and we fall so far short. And so some of us
settle for the false peace where we just ignore the whole thing,
though underneath it all we know it’s not really peace at all.

But here’s where the sword cuts:

GOD LOVES US TOO MUCH TO LEAVE US WITH A FALSE PEACE.
b. So instead, God makes real peace with us.
(1) He sent his Son to this world of skinned knees and broken hearts
not just to bring a sword and cut through the false peace this world
seeks, but to establish real shalom with us.
(2) The Son, Christ Jesus, fell on the sword, took the nails, the spear,
the death of the cross to take on himself all those reasons we were
at anything but peace with God and are at anything but real peace
with those around us.
(3) Now he calls us by name in Baptism, and week after week he feeds
us with Christ’s body broken and his blood poured out. We do not
have to be good enough, worthy enough, or able enough to make
peace with God, because God has already made peace with us.
Conclusion: So now when we confront the lies, something remarkable
happens. When we lovingly deal with the things we’re brushing aside and
hiding from, everyone involved is set free. We exchange a false peace for the
true shalom Christ gives. Amen.