Becoming A People of Peace

Becoming a People of Peace

My message today is titled Becoming a People of Peace — though you could also say a person of peace, because it's about you as an individual and about us as a collective.

Notice the word becoming. This is a journey. It's not something you instantly attain. You don't suddenly wake up one day and declare, "I'm a peaceful person." Instead, you go on a journey of growing into being a person of peace.

Why does this matter? Because Jesus talks a lot about this — and I'm sure you'd agree that we live in a world that seems to be getting more and more anxious. There's a lot of stress, for all kinds of reasons. Let's take some time to get into that.

Jesus Appears and Speaks Peace

Let's begin by reading from God's word in the Gospel of John — one of the four eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. We're picking up the story right after Jesus has been crucified, a horrible way to be put to death, on a Friday. Now it's Sunday, and the disciples are together.

At this point, they don't yet know that Jesus has overcome the grave and risen again. They're living in the pain, the disappointment, and the discouragement that it's all over. Everything they hoped and dreamed of following after Jesus felt finished. And not only that — they're thinking, we're next; they're going to come for us. This is a scene of high anxiety.

John 20:19 — "That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! 'Peace be with you,' he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord. Again he said, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.' Then he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"

Picture the scene: anxiety, worry, stress. And suddenly Jesus appears — and the first thing he speaks is peace. Peace be with you. He would likely have spoken the Hebrew greeting, Shalom Elohim.

But the peace he speaks of is much deeper and far greater than their understanding of peace — and deeper than the way we often see peace in the world today.

Three Aspects of Shalom

1. Wholeness and Completeness

The root word is shalam, and it means to complete, to make sound, to make whole what has been broken. Imagine a broken wall being restored brick by brick to a state of shalom — every missing piece put back, made whole again.

When Jesus says Shalom Elohim, "Peace be with you," he's speaking restoration and wholeness — into where things have been broken in you, in me, wherever things have broken down. He is not merely wishing that they would stop being stressed. He is speaking a blessing of total well-being — spiritually, physically, and relationally.

2. Restoration and Restitution

In the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, shalam is often used in legal contexts regarding the paying of debt. If someone lost or broke a neighbour's property, they had to shalam — to make full restitution.

If your donkey were stolen and you knew who did it, shalom is what would have to be paid to restore what was taken. This is fascinating, because the word Jesus is speaking also carries the sense of your debts being paid.

Where you are anxious, thinking, I can't pay it — shalom means peace, wholeness, forgiveness of debt. What you thought couldn't be paid has been paid. The balance has been restored.

Isaiah 9:6 — "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

The Hebrew term would have been Sar Shalom — Prince of Peace. Jesus is the ruler of this peace. He is the one who brings peace into our hearts, into our lives, and into this world.

3. Presence Over Circumstance

The Greek word for peace is eirene. But the Jewish context of how Jesus speaks shalom is about inner versus outer peace.

Worldly peace often depends on quiet circumstances. Shalom, however, is an inward sense of safety and connection to God that can exist even in the middle of a storm or intense suffering.

Remember the story where a massive storm hits while Jesus and his disciples are on a boat. Jesus is asleep, and his disciples are going crazy: "What are you doing, Jesus? Wake up! We're about to die!" Why is he asleep? Because he is the Prince of Peace. He can get up and calm the storm — but even while the storm is still raging, he can be at peace. This peace is what he offers to us.

Worldly Peace vs. Shalom Peace

Let's compare worldly peace with the shalom peace Jesus offers, across three areas: focus, duration, and action.

Focus

• Worldly peace focuses on the absence of war or conflict. It's external. We pray for that — we want world peace.
• Shalom peace focuses on the presence of God and his wholeness coming into what is broken in our lives. It's internal.

Duration

• Worldly peace is temporary. One conflict ends, and another begins.
• Shalom peace is permanent, because Jesus has completed the work. In his restorative role, restoring us back into relationship with God, he has brought a sense of permanence. You can know this peace in your heart, even in a difficult and stressful world.

Action

• Worldly peace is passive — the idea that peace just means not doing anything.
• Shalom peace is active. It is at work in my heart. It is me communing with God, saying, "God, I need this peace to come alive," and him restoring, healing, and doing his work.

Have We Misunderstood Peace?

We are carriers of his peace. Jesus said, "Peace be with you," and then, "Receive the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit enables us to have his peace at work in and through our lives.

So here's my question: Have we misunderstood godly peace? Have we reduced peace to an unachievable goal in an anxious world? We start to feel: I could never really be at peace. I'm always a bit anxious, always a bit worried. We let the world dictate whether we can truly live with inner peace.

One reason we do this is a false assumption:

If I care enough, I'll worry enough. And if I worry enough, things will go well.

We link caring with worrying. But caring and worrying do not have to be linked. You can learn to care deeply without carrying worry, because you know his peace.

Here's the thing: anxiety feels like responsibility, but it doesn't produce fruit. Peace, on the other hand, often feels too passive — yet it is the very condition that allows God to work powerfully through us.

We serve Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace, who is present, who restores, who completes, and who provides lasting wholeness.

What Causes Anxiety — and What Peace Produces

Let's be honest and name some of the things that cause us anxiety:

• Fear
• Relationships
• Work
• Finances
• Future uncertainty
• Health
• Family and children
• World leaders and government

We could keep going — there is no shortage of things in our world that stir up stress.

But what does peace bring?

• A sense of calm
• Clarity — when I'm anxious, I tend to be confused
• Wisdom — when you walk from a place of peace, wisdom begins to flow
• Better decisions — how many of us look back on decisions made in panic and anxiety with regret?

This is not a new struggle. Here's the good news: Jesus addresses it.

Matthew 6 (NLT) — "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?"

If Jesus had to say this to his own disciples, we can be sure that anxiety is not just a modern problem — it's a human problem. And Jesus offers us a better way: Shalom Elohim, peace be with you.

The Real Difference Between Anxiety and Peace

Anxiety says: It all depends on me. If I don't control this, things will fall apart. I need to fix everything now.

Peace says: I have a role, but I'm not the source. God is at work even when I can't see it. Faithfulness matters more than control.

• Anxiety tightens; peace opens.
• Anxiety rushes; peace relaxes.
• Anxiety is rooted in self-reliance; peace is rooted in trust.

Much of this tension comes from a desire to control. Think of parents teaching a child to drive. There's usually one parent who can do it and one who can't — the control freaks (and that's okay, we love you). When your son or daughter is behind the wheel and you're just the passenger, it's scary. There has to be a level of letting go.

This is where our faith comes in — trusting God and releasing things to him.

John 15:5 — "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

If you want to do anything of spiritual value and fruitfulness, you cannot do it in your own strength. You have to be attached to Jesus. When you stay attached to him, his power and Spirit at work in you begin to produce fruit.

Philippians 4:6-7 — "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Paul is not saying to stop caring. He's saying redirect that care toward God in prayer. The result isn't necessarily a solution to every problem — it's something deeper: a peace that guards you even while you're still going through it, even in the midst of the storm.

What Flows Out of You Affects Everything Around You

Anxiety doesn't just affect you — it shapes your entire world. It affects your family, your team, everything around you.

Proverbs 4:23 — "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

When we operate from anxiety:

• Our decisions become reactive. We feel pressure and panic instead of acting from purpose.
• Conflict happens quicker.
• We become guarded and defensive, and we lose compassion — we stop truly seeing, listening, and hearing others.
• Worst of all, anxiety can cause us to lose the ability to hear from God clearly.

When anxiety gets loud, it creates inner confusion. When peace is present, it creates inner clarity.

My friend Mark Sayers, a pastor, wrote a book called A Non-Anxious Presence. He points out that when anxiety takes over, the most emotionally immature people begin to shape everything:

"Any goals or programs of an institution that becomes overtaken by chronic anxiety will be replaced by the task of keeping the most dysfunctional members happy."

When an environment gets panicky, the most dysfunctional members can end up ruling. Be careful of that — in families, in teams. When anxiety takes control, all kinds of bad things start to happen.

Matthew 6:28-30 (NLT) — "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"

God's care is not conditional on your anxiety. Worry doesn't add to your life — it subtracts from your faith.

Peace Is Not Passivity

Godly peace is not avoiding problems. It's not running off to a mountain to seek your "spiritual nana," disengaging from the world and all responsibility. That's not what godly peace is about.

Real peace is:

• Acting decisively without inner panic
• Carrying responsibility without being crushed by it
• Staying grounded even when everything feels urgent

It's not doing less. It's doing the things that really matter, from a different place.

That's why we're called to remain in him. Jesus is the source of this peace — you can't get it anywhere else, but you can get it freely from him. When you remain in him, he gets to work, cutting away the things that won't produce fruit in your life.

John 15:1 — "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me."

Stay connected to the Prince of Peace, Shalom, and you will produce fruit — things of significant spiritual value.

Learn to Shift from Control to Trust

This is a lesson for all of us, and I'm on this journey as much as you are. Everyone faces the same daily tension: Do I try to control outcomes, or do I trust God with them?

Think again of parenting. As parents, we want to control every decision our child makes — especially as teenagers. We think, I could make a great decision for you if you'd just listen to me. And they're thinking, the last person I want to listen to is you. But if you want them to become mature, you have to trust them to make their own decisions. They won't make all good decisions — but neither did you, and you learned along the way.

If God did the same to us — controlling everything — we'd be robots. There would be no real love, no connection, no trust. Instead, he gives us room: You make your choice, but I offer this peace to you if you trust me and allow me to work in your heart.

• Control leads to micromanaging, paranoia, exhaustion, and decisions based on fear.
• Trust leads to clarity, confidence, courage, and resilience — flowing from inner peace.

This kind of peace doesn't mean we stop planning or making decisions. It means you do everything you can, and then you release control. A friend told me as I prepared this message: "That's the hard part. I like to know the outcome, but sometimes I just don't, and I have to leave it to God."

In The Message paraphrase, Eugene Peterson speaks of the unforced rhythms of grace — this rhythm of working in relationship with God so that his peace flows in our lives.

Peace at the Centre

In the most anxious of times for his disciples, Jesus' first words were, "Peace." He repeated it — "Peace be with you" — and then breathed on them: "Receive the Holy Spirit."

None of those disciples went on to live a quiet, peaceful life. Every one of them went on a radical, crazy, scary adventure following Jesus. But peace was at the centre of their hearts as they followed him. That's our journey too. We live in a real world, but we can know the depth of his real peace.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) — "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Maybe there are things you need to give control of to God today. You've been holding on too tightly, and you need to say, "God, I have to give this to you."

Lord Jesus, let your peace flow. May your words, Shalom Elohim, be felt in our hearts today. Where we need to, Lord, we give control to you. We activate the peace of God in our hearts — to restore, to make whole, to heal, to forgive. Any anxiety, any worry, anything of this world, we give it to you, and we ask you to replace it with your peace.

An Invitation

Everything I'm talking about today begins by surrendering your life to Jesus and inviting him to forgive you and begin a relationship with God.

Maybe you once walked with God but you've left that place, and you need to come back home. Or maybe you've never done that, and you're saying, "I need this. I need his peace." It begins with a simple prayer of surrender — a prayer that says, Jesus, Son of God, forgive me. Give me a brand new start. And that's exactly what he does when you pray it from the sincerity of your heart.

He loves you. Have the courage to say yes to him today. His peace is going to fill your heart.