Peace Which Transcends All Understanding

Have you heard about Tracy Lyperd? Tracy was a beauty queen in Virginia a few years ago. Shortly after crowning her successor, she drove 250 miles to seek revenge on her ex-boyfriend for jilting her and marrying another. She took with her a pistol, a hammer, lighter fluid and matches.

When she arrived at his house and rang the doorbell, it was answered by his new father-in-law. Tracy faked having car trouble, and asked if she could use the telephone. Once inside the house, she took out her hammer and hit the father-in-law on the head. She stunned him, but didn’t knock him out.

What she didn’t realize was that he was an ex-secret service agent. He grabbed her and as they struggled, she pulled the pistol from her purse and tried to shoot him. That’s when the mother-in-law joined the fray and the two of them wrestled her to the floor, holding her until the police arrived.

I have a suspicion that Tracy, with that kind of disposition, was probably never in the running for the Miss Congeniality award. When questioned, she said that she was driven to seek revenge because she needed "inner peace."

The world, many times, considers this type of behavior to be the best way to deal with conflict in order to achieve peace, but does it work?

The title of this article is "the peace...which transcends all understanding." That phrase is found in Philippians 4:7. And in the verses surrounding it, Paul deals with the subjects of outer peace, inner peace, and peace with God.

How do you define “Peace”? Peace could be defined as "being in a right relationship." So outer peace means being in a right relationship with each another. Peace within means being alright within and peace with God means being alright with God.

OUTER PEACE

First of all, Paul tells us that we need to be considerate of each other and at peace with one another.

But that’s not the attitude of a lot of people today. They’re convinced that if you don’t gripe and complain, argue and fight for everything you want in life, you’ll never get it. So you’ll hear them saying such things as "Me first, & everybody else last," and "It’s my way, or no way!"

But in church it’s different, isn’t it? I mean, after all, we’re all Christians saved by the grace of God. And since we all have that in common, we always get along with each other, never disagreeing. Isn’t that right?

Of course it’s not! We do disagree at times. Even though we’re all Christians, wanting to serve our Lord, there are still times that we disagree.

A couple of years ago a rapidly growing congregation I know very well sent out a questionnaire and asked its members to fill it out and send it back because they were trying to find out what the people felt about certain things. More than 200 members did so, and they compiled the results.

The one thing that the survey revealed most dramatically was that they were a very diverse congregation.

For instance, some thought they ought to go to the bank and borrow all the money they could borrow, buy more land and build all the buildings they needed immediately. But others felt that they shouldn’t borrow at all. Instead, they ought to wait and not build anything until they could pay cash for it.

Some felt they were giving way too much to missions. They wanted to keep the money for themselves, and use it to help pay for their new buildings. But others said, "We’re not giving enough to missions. We need to give more!"

One person responded that the preacher didn’t preach enough on stewardship, and he ought to be encouraging the people to give more. But someone else wrote, "It doesn’t make any difference what the subject is, the preacher always talks about money."

Now that wide diversity should not surprise us because almost everybody has opinions on almost everything - even in the church. But the question is what do we do with the diversity?

Do you allow it to cripple you? Do you say, "We’re so diverse we’ll never agree, so therefore we won’t do anything?" Or do you move forward prayerfully, realizing that some will disagree with whatever course you take?

Now the Bible gives us some guidance on this. It teaches that the way for the church to solve the problem of diverse opinions is to select elders who are in tune with God and also in tune with the needs of the congregation. And as they seek God’s guidance in the decisions that have to be made, pray for them, get behind them, and support them.

Now let’s look at what Paul says in Philippians 4:2-3, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."

Here were two women, both of them really committed Christians who have worked side by side with the Apostle Paul, who have had a disagreement, and we have no idea what they’ve disagreed about.

But there is something that bothers me. This is a letter to the church at Philippi, and in it Paul has dealt with some very important matters. So why on earth, in the midst of such an important letter, does Paul stick in something so personal about two of the ladies in the congregation?

Shouldn’t he have tried to solve this problem much more discreetly and privately? Why so publicly as to write about it in a letter that millions have read now for nearly 2,000 years?

Well, maybe it is because it is important that the church communicate to the world that we don’t handle disagreements the same way that the world handles them - that we’re able to find common ground and agree to work in harmony with one another.

Notice what Paul does and what he doesn’t do. First of all, he doesn’t take sides. He doesn’t say, "Syntyche is right and Euodia is wrong. So you get out of here, Euodia." He doesn’t do that.

Secondly, he doesn’t pull rank. He doesn’t say, "I’m the apostle here and therefore I say if you two don’t agree, you’re both out of here." Instead, he encourages them to find common ground where they can agree. He says, "I plead with you to agree with each other in the Lord."

In Romans 12:18, Paul wrote, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

There is something else that Paul does. He appoints a third party to intervene. In verse 3 he’s called, "loyal yokefellow." We don’t know who he was, but whoever he was, he was a peacemaker. And Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God."

Now there is nothing Satan would rather do than to divide the church. Because if he can do that, then he can so cripple the church that it won’t be effective in getting out the good news about Jesus.

So it’s important that we pledge to one another and to God that we’ll not allow ourselves to be used as pawns in the hand of Satan to divide His church. As we serve God together, we will be at peace with one another. We must project Peace on the outside, even if we disagree about the details.

PEACE WITHIN

Secondly, Paul talks about peace within. Listen to verse 4-7:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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.

Now, I don’t know how you feel right now, but sometimes we feel like we’re on top of the world and everything is going our way. But probably, most of the time, we don’t feel that way.

Are you carrying a heavy burden? Maybe you’re worried about something. Maybe there is a problem in your life that just doesn’t seem to go away. Maybe you feel guilty because of some sins you have committed.

Maybe you’re concerned about finances. Maybe you’re frustrated because you’re trying to get something accomplished and you can’t seem to get it done.

Whatever the reason, here we are. And I think Paul’s words are directed at all of us who carry burdens.

And we need to realize that as Paul writes these words he is not sitting in some ivory tower. Not all the pieces of his life are in place either. He’s in prison and facing trial. He may soon be executed. But in these verses, Paul writes a formula for developing peace within.

He says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." In other words, "Don’t worry. Let God handle it."

I've heard it said that worry is the Christian’s most popular sin because it is one that we don’t even try to disguise. Worry is so common in our lives that we’re not even particularly ashamed of it.

When we go to church we mouth all the right words, "Crown Him with many crowns. He’s Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is Emanuel. God is with us."

But then we leave church and forget that He’s with us. We forget He’s Lord and King, and we take all the burdens that we brought with us and put them right back on again. And we begin to worry more and more.

In Ephesians 3:16 Paul writes, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being." Paul is saying that even while we’re wasting away on the outside, if we’re Christians, we’re being strengthened and changed on the inside.

In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about worry. Now I know you’ve read these words before, but please read them again. Listen to how complete and inclusive they are, and listen to it as though you were standing face to face with Jesus and He is looking right into your eyes as He speaks these words.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these”.

"So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Someone has said that worry is assuming responsibility that God never intended us to have. He will carry the burdens for us. We need to turn our worries over to God.

And 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

It is impossible to project Peace on the outside, if we don’t have Peace on this inside first. It’s this inner Peace we have as a gift from God that makes us capable of projecting Peace to the outside world.

PEACE WITH GOD

Finally, Paul mentions peace with God. Verses 8-9 are verses we need to read often. They’re so special. Here is what Paul says.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Paul is saying here are eight filters. Everything you hear and everything you see needs to pass through them. And if it doesn’t make it through these eight filters then it shouldn’t be in your mind and in your heart.

There is so much garbage in this world. And the old saying "garbage in, garbage out" is true. So think about it. Can the movies you see, and the TV programs you watch, and the music you listen to pass through these eight filters?

Paul says, put everything through these eight filters. If it’s not true, then don’t welcome it. If it’s not noble, if it’s not right, or pure or lovely or admirable or excellent or praiseworthy, don’t let it find a home in your heart. And if you’ll use these filters you’ll have peace with God.

Jesus said in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Do you remember the words that Jesus first spoke to His disciples following His resurrection? The disciples were in the upper room, and they were fearful for their own lives. Their leader was dead, and their future uncertain.

Just then Jesus appeared though locked doors and spoke to them. Do you remember what He said?

`Peace be with you.’ The very thing that they didn’t have was the very thing that He offered - peace. And He still offers it to us today."

So how do you define Peace? Is it inner Peace? Outer Peace? Peace with God? Hopefully through this message you have come to learn that it takes all three in order for Peace to be effective. It’s our inner Peace that God gives us, that allows us to project outer Peace to the world, which gives us Peace with God and creates Peace within the world.

Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek. Proverbs 15 tells us that a soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger. It’s living our lives, following the example that Jesus gave us that contradicts the world’s way of dealing with conflict.