Sermon(Mt 10:34-39): Jesus' peace

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025221832

 

 

 

Scripture reading:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt 10:34-39)”

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There are true peace and false peace in the world. False peace results from ignorance. If the neighboring country is almost ready for war and has fixed the day of war, but if the whole country, not noticing the crisis, is in peace, it is a false peace. By the way, there are also real pain and crisis and fake pain and crisis. Let's say you have a disease that can be certainly cured. Before and during surgery, you may feel pain and crisis. But this is a fake pain and crisis that is on the way to the true peace.

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Jesus is the King of Peace. This Jesus speaks strange words. "I came to give you a sword that destroys peace!" No, what does it mean? He goes on saying: "Father and son, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will become foes because of me." How scaring! And what is strange, such a family war occurs in the process of loving Jesus more. Is Jesus a little selfish because he asks believers to love only him even if there is strife in the family? Jesus says that believers must stick to him (Jesus) even if they lose their lives. Aren't the death and the process of death the opposit of peace?

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Of course, the above words would be about a fake crisis and pain to achieve the true peace. Jesus gives us a sword not for us to kill others but for us to cut off all wrong relationships with others so as to be more free and love Jesus more. Some parents regard their sons and daughters as their possession and even try to control their children's religion. If parents serving idols order their children believing in the true God to abandon their faith, they should cut this evil rope of coercion even if they die. I'm not saying that they should renounce the relation between parents and children but that they must go to church even if they get chastised. Then the parents will feel betrayed and think their children to be, in a sense, foes. A mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law are both women, but sometimes they are on the very bad relationship. I can stand my sons' disobedience, but must you not follow the laws of this family (that serves an idol) if you has gotten married into this family? Of course, it was the mother-in-law's words of thunder at the daughter-in-law. At this moment, Jesus gives the daughter-in-law a sharp knife, into her hand, saying, "You have to cut the cord of compulsion boldly if you want to live." (The mother-in-law is a non-Christian.)

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That unfriendly hostile atmosphere is a crisis indeed, but in fact it can be a bigger crisis if you are in a humane loving atmosphere. False peace is actually scarier. A father-in-law or a mother-in-law says to the daughter-in-law kindly and genially, "My daughter, our family has been Buddhist for generations. I know you are cultured for you graduated from a prestigious university. You know the atmosphere of this family, so you'd better go to church a couple of times a year without anyone knowing. You should never conduct yourself as a Christian in our family. Oh, how good and lovely you are!" Then Jesus gives her the sharpest knife, saying, "Cut the cord right away!" Jesus gave you the sword to help you cut all the violent or loving cords that hinder your faith. Cut it off even at the risk of your life. If you keep that cord on you, you'll be dragged into hell with them (the interrupters of your faith) when they go to hell.

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There is another reason why Jesus gives the sword. You can be a true Christian by your painful self-denial. It is compared to the way of the cross. Let's cut off a wen of laziness. Let's cut off a tumor of pride, Let's cut off the dirty temper without hesitation. There are some Christians who really offend others with their nasty character. A man of nasty disposition is suspicious of others, badmouths others in the absence of others, is extremely contentious, retaliates secretly, looks down on others, etc. It is not easy for us to find and recognize such anti-religious disposition in us, but our shortcomings are revealed, split and cut off by the sword of the Holy Spirit. It's going to be a painful process when you cut the rope by which those inner enemies have bound you, but only after that process can your peace be perfect and mature and extend to others. There must first be the inner peace by that process in order that your peace may affect others. Some Christians give us peace while several Christians give us anxiety. The difference results from a good character and faith that creates peace, and a bad character and faith that destroys others' peace.

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Yes! Christians must first cut the cords of violence and love with the sword Jesus gave them and gain religious freedom. Then they must cut away all Devil's tools to clear the mind, and receive the Holy Spirit to have the true peace. So, after securing a sure eternal life, they can tie the dying family and loved ones to the cords of the truth of Christianity, and rescue them from the pit of death. They should be messengers of peace preaching the gospel of peace.

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Jesus says, Jn 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Oh, here Jesus says he will give his peace to his disciples. That's exactly what I at first expected. Such strange words as 'sword', 'foes in the family', 'death' are not what Jesus really meant. Jesus says that there is a false peace that the world gives. Sinners taste this false peace for a while on earth before they go to the eternal hell. The Devil, who are sure to be thrown into hell, uses false-peace tactics in the world in order that he may go to hell with those who are foolishly caught in the trap. "Live to your heart's content. Live as your body wants. Put off till tomorrow what is to be done today. If you want to believe in Jesus, It is most profitable to believe in him on the brink of death. Give up Christianity for the peace of the family. Even if you give it up and become a Buddhist, there is no difference between the salvation of Christianity and that of Buddhism. Why should you preach the gospel despite people's objection? That kind of peace is the best" - This kind of peace is a false peace. Jesus says that he does not give such worldly peace.

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What peace is Jesus' peace? His peace is the opposite of the worldly peace. In the early days of his ministry, his family did not understand him. He had to leave his family at the golden age of his life, in his early thirties, in spite of the family's opposition, to fulfill the mission God the Father imposed on him, although he should have done many works as the eldest son who had lost his father. The peace of his family was broken. (So Jesus cut the line of blood.) Jesus cut also the line of violence. He was constantly threatened by hypocritical religious leaders and eventually was killed by their violence on the cross, but he didn't succumb to such secular threat. Jesus cut also the line of love. His followers tried to crown him king, but he refused it to the end. Jesus cut also the inner line. Devil whispered in sweet words to the vanity of the humanity of Jesus, but Jesus cut this line resolutely, too. Jesus' peace is the peace he has gained after he cut all these lines, completed the work of God and received a glorious name, that is, the Savior of all human beings, from God. No one can take this glory and peace from him. Jesus says he will give us this peace, or his peace. We who believe in Jesus, too, have that eternal peace from now on if we live like Jesus now.

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Jesus' peace is the peace only the victor can have. Those who won the war enjoy peace. on the contrary, the defeated are anxious about their life and future. Jesus is the final victor. He has the authority to open and close the gates of heaven and hell. Above all, the final judgment is on Jesus. We, believing in him as Savior, enjoy the absolute peace. At the seat of the last judgment, Jesus our King will judge that we be led to the eternal heaven. We can overcome the passing tribulation, pain and anxiety of the world, considering this glorious Jesus.

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Jesus made this promise of peace to his disciples the day before he was crucified. He gave this promise to his disciples when all of them were most terrified. But that promise was fulfilled. Jesus promises you the most certain, true, eternal peace in the world in the moment of the most terrible anxiety in the world. Fear not! Jesus, the King of Peace, promises to give you peace.

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Brethren, are you in peace? Please check in the light of the Bible if your peace is genuine. Brethren, do you worry about something? Remember the promise of Jesus the King of Peace. Are you already enjoying peace? You have a very precious faith. Blessed men of God, then preach true peace to many who remain at false peace. Let them know the truth. Let them go in the road of peace that Jesus presents.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                     - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -