What gives you peace? Well, what image comes to mind when I ask you to think of peace? Is it a mud mask at a fancy spa or is the par three on the back nine? Is it a desolate desert canyon or a popular tropical beach? Is it a sunrise with a hot cup of coffee or a sunset with an ice-cold cocktail? What image comes to mind when I ask you to think of peace?
Years ago, I came across an illustration of peace that has stuck with me over the years. I have used the illustration in a sermon before and I think it comes from a book called A Wardrobe from the King by Berit Kjos, but I don’t remember where I first stumbled upon the illustration. It’s been about 15 years and I don’t remember all the details, but the illustration goes something like this. Two artists decided to see who could paint the better picture of peace. The first artist gently filled his canvass with soft strokes that took the form of a lake on a mountaintop as clear as glass, not a ripple in sight. Still trees surrounded its shores. All was silent, calm, and quiet. That, in the opinion of the first artist, was the truest picture of peace. The second artist painted something quite different. On his canvass paint was aggressively applied with hard strokes that formed a raging waterfall that crashed over a rocky ledge and violently smashed down on the rocks below. Next to the raging waters was a mighty oak tree. One of the thick branches of the oak was nearly touching the mist of the falls. In that branch was a hollowed-out haven where a tiny sparrow made its home. In the midst of all the turbulence and turmoil that swirled around, the little sparrow sat calmly in the protection the mighty oak provided. Both artists agreed, the second painting was the better picture of peace.
Today we are going to take a closer look at Acts 18:1-11 to see how the resurrection hope of Easter gives us peace in the midst of the turbulence and turmoil that swirls around tiny sparrows like you and me.
In our gospel lesson Saint John tells us the disciples spent Easter evening fearfully huddled behind locked doors. That morning the women had brought the disciples news of an empty tomb. Peter and John ran to the tomb and confirmed that it was indeed empty. No sooner had Peter and John returned to the house where the disciples were huddled when Mary Magdalene and the other women showed up and started rambling on about a resurrection. They claimed to have seen the Lord, but woman say a lot of crazy things, at least that is what the disciples must have thought. So, in the midst of all the chaos and confusion the disciples thought it best to lay low. After what had just happened to Jesus, they didn’t want to take any chances, especially now that His body was missing, thus the huddling behind locked doors.
As they huddled Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”[1] Greeting people with a proclamation of peace was as common an expression among first century Jews as it was among the hippies of the 60s. But considering the context of this particular greeting, Jesus’ proclamation of peace was, at first admittedly confusing, but very much needed. The sounds of a murderous mob probably still echoed in the disciples’ ears. The sight of their Savior’s bloody corpse probably kept them up at night. The fear that an angry mob would come for them and do to them what they had done to Jesus, was debilitating. Considering everything these disciples had been through over the last I am fairly certain they were happy to hear Jesus’ proclamation of peace.
I wonder what images came to the minds of these disciples when Jesus spoke to them about peace. They were fishermen, we could probably assume some of them imagined a relaxing day out on the Sea of Galilee casting nets under a warm sun as a light breeze gently rocked their boat. However, if they thought this was the peace that Jesus’ resurrection was giving them, they were quickly dispelled of that notion when Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you!” “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”[2] As you know, Jesus didn’t exactly send His disciples to a spa or a golf course, rather He sent them into the world. As the disciples went out into the world It didn’t take long for them to learn that the peace Jesus gave them had very little to do with lazy days fishing in the Sea of Galilee.
It seems no one was taught this lesson more thoroughly than the apostle Paul. Our lesson from Acts begins with the words “after this” but first let me tell you what happened before this. Before this Paul had been kicked out of Antioch and narrowly escaped a stoning in Iconium only to be stoned and left for dead in Lystra. Later in Philippi Paul was stripped, beaten, flogged and imprisoned. The Thessalonians chased Paul out of their city through Berea all the way to Athens where the men of Athens sneered at Paul when he tried to tell them about the UNKNOWN GOD. Now, we are told “1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.” Meeting Aquila and Priscilla was a blessing that Paul would enjoy for years to come. However, the reason they met in the first place was because Emperor Claudius was so sick and tired of dealing with the Jews that he kicked them all out of Rome.[3] (According to historical documentation it seems the Jews were still fighting over some guy named Christus). Paul went to see the refugees Aquila and Priscilla because “3 he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Jesus had told His disciples not to worry about money because the worker is worth his wages. Unfortunately, the Corinthians hadn’t gotten the memo.
But no matter, Paul was not opposed to hard work. It just meant that his mission work had to become his side hustle. So, while everyone else was using the Sabbath to rest, Paul was hard at work. “4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” Week after week Paul tried to reason with them week after week, he tried to persuade them. Paul worked nonstop like this until Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia. Finally, Paul was able to devote “5… himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”
However, it seems poor Paul couldn’t catch a break. I say that because in verse 6, we read, “6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Think about how this abusive opposition and subsequent separation must have hurt Paul. These were his people, elsewhere Paul describes himself as a “Hebrew of Hebrews”.[4] To be driven away from his own people must have been incredibly painful for Paul.
Now, I don’t know what kind of turbulence and turmoil swirls around you, but I can’t imagine it is any worse than the turbulence and turmoil that swirled around Paul. Your homelife might be a hot mess, your career might be in the toilet, your friends might be acting like a bunch of jerks. As I said, I don’t know what you’ve got going on in your life but if you are looking for someone who can relate to what you are going through, I am not sure you can find a more relatable person than a guy who has been homeless and hungry, bounced from jobsite to jobsite, and has been abused and abandoned by his own people.
I tell you all this because if anyone had a reason to doubt the peace that the risen Lord proclaimed to His disciples on that first Easter evening, it was Paul. And maybe Paul did doubt. Maybe the turbulence and turmoil of life that swirled around him caused him to doubt the peace the risen Lord proclaimed. Maybe Paul could relate to you. Maybe, like you, he wanted to huddle behind locked doors because he heard despair and depression knocking.
Maybe that is why we read in verses 9-10, “9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” Jesus reminded Paul how the resurrection hope provides peace. Jesus said, “I am with you”. That is not something Jesus could have said to Paul prior to the resurrection, at least not in the way He says it here. You see, sin creates conflict between God and man. Sin makes us hostile toward God, it makes us want nothing to do with God, it makes us push God away. Paul, when he used to be known as Saul, demonstrated this desire to push God away by actively hunting down followers of Jesus in order to persecute them. As long as there is sin there is conflict between God and man. But on Easter morning, when Jesus rose from the dead, He proclaimed peace. He proclaimed peace because the conflict between God and man had been resolved on the cross. He proclaimed peace because our sin which caused us to push God away was removed. When Jesus said, “I am with you” He was reminding Paul that he was at peace; he was at peace with his God and no amount of persecution could ever disturb that peace.
Regardless of the turbulence and turmoil that swirls around you, my little sparrows, you are a people at peace. No matter how messy things get at home, no matter how much your job stinks, no matter how hurtful people might be, Jesus is with you. Jesus is with you because your sin that pushed God away has been removed. Jesus is with you because the conflict between you and your God has been resolved on the cross. The risen Lord stands among you and proclaims, “Peace be with you!”.
I am all for spending a day at the spa or on the golf course. If you can get away to a desolate canyon or popular beach, go for it and, if you can’t get away, I pray you at least find time to enjoy a sunrise or sunset. Such things can be wonderful distractions and provide a temporary escape. But the reason why the illustration of the little sparrow and the raging waterfall has stayed with me all these years is because it reminds me that even when we can’t get away from the turbulence and turmoil of life that swirls around us, our risen Lord is with us and we are a people at peace. Amen
[1] John 20:19
[2] John 20:21
[3] Suetonius, in the life of Claudius, speaks of this decree in the ninth year of his reign, and says, The reason was because the Jews were a turbulent people—assiduo tumultuantes; and that it was impulsore Christo—upon the account of Christ; some zealous for him, others bitter against him, which occasioned great heats, such as gave umbrage to the government, and provoked the emperor, who was a timorous jealous man, to order them all to be gone.
[4] Philippians 3:5