We Have Peace With Christ-Based on Romans 5:1-8

This morning’s message is a personal message and one that I have talked about many times before, but I feel the need to share it with you yet again to make a point. Finding peace in our life is difficult, but finding peace with God, at times can be a serious struggle. This is my story at finding peace.

Ten years ago this past March, my life was changed forever when my mom called me and told me she left my father. I was in the middle of college and doing well, but knew the home life wasn’t the greatest for my mom and sister. They decided to move in with my grandmother at the time and try to see if the situation could work itself out. Now, there are some of you here who already know the story, but I want to say it again, because the scripture ties in to this experience. Through the whole separation and divorce situation, I saw my father become remorseful and angry. Early on in the separation, he wanted the family to be together and promised he would try to get help for the multiple issues in his life. The next day would be different where he would blame everyone except himself for the problems of the family.

My mother, sister, and myself had an important decision to make, and that is where should we go from here. After prayer and deliberation, we made the decision to start all over again in life and find a new road to travel. I tried throughout college to stay in contact with my father and to maintain some kind of relationship. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was awful. I knew things would head south when graduation approached and dad was non-committal in coming. Even when I returned home, he still said some evil things towards me and everyone else in my life. I finally had a decision to make and that was to try and make peace with him. One day, I ventured over to his house and it was about a month after we had a huge argument and my heart was heavy with pain and sadness. As I knocked on the door, I wanted to run. He answered the door, and I told him that I was here to make peace with him and to try to work out any differences we might have. I wasn’t quite ready for his response, because he told me that he didn’t want anything to do with me, and then proceeded to slam the door in my face. That was five years ago.

Since that time, I have reinvested my life into the church and rediscovered my faith after straying away from it for some time, and I feel more alive than I ever have. All of this is due to the presence of Christ in my life and the sacrifice he made for us many years ago. Part of the reason I share this very personal episode of my life is that this was my time of personal sacrifice in order for me to be reborn into a new and improved person. It is also through this very painful period of life that I found peace with God for the first time. God has a way of leading us through times of trouble and knowing how to deal with those times of trouble is what makes us all the greater in our faith.

When Christ was sent to Earth, he was sent here to transform the lives of those who did not know God in their lives. He was sent, not to put a temporary fix on a wound, but he came here to solve our problems. When we go through life experiencing pain and heartache, we have different medicines to address those problems. Some people result to alcohol and drugs. Some people result to sex and violence. Others resolve their problems through their words and actions. Very few turn to the real answer and that answer is Christ. Christ poured out his blood for us at the Last Supper, which is also his love for all of us. When we are faithful to God, we are loved so much, that we find comfort in a world that is very harsh and mean-spirited.
Christ gives us the ability to share with others in our sufferings. I share this story not to show you my battle scars, but to tell you the wonderful power that Christ has in our lives when we believe in him. I would not be in the position I am today, had it not been for Christ stepping into my life and showing me the way. I would not have peace given the situation with my father, had Christ not entered my life and opened my eyes. My sufferings have not transformed me, but instead, Christ has transformed my sufferings. Every time I go through a challenging time, I have to rely upon my faith and common sense to make it through. I don’t personally suffer during major problems, but it is the sinner within me that suffers the most. To use the Star Wars lingo, my “dark side” becomes less and less visible. Christ is able to build endurance and character along the way. We are able to use those attributes in addressing future situations that come into our lives.

Christ came here to earth in order to bring peace to the earth. Along the way he is able to bring that peace, yet he died the most violent possible death and abandoned on the cross. He bears the brunt of our self-destructive nature. Everything he does is according to the father’s will, and yet it brings him more suffering on the road to his death. Paul states that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, but for Jesus the only thing suffering produced was death on the cross--or so it seemed! But, in fact, Christ's death on the cross won a victory over death that produced from the tomb resurrection into new life. And all for us!

So what do we do with this new found faith, peace, endurance and penchant for suffering? Our next step as a church is to go into the world and share the message with those who do not know the life giving spirit that Christ has for them. So many people in this neighborhood are in the throes of poverty. Some people are victims of discrimination, racism, and violence. There are others who once knew Christ, but all they know is loneliness. The lonely ones have been forgotten by: the church, friends, and sometimes even family members. There are others in this community who are the victims of broken homes and domestic violence. As a church, we need to share in their suffering and show them that there is the answer for peace in their lives and that answer is Christ. We are already addressing the needs of those who go without toys during the Christmas season, those who are unable to pay their bills, and even those who need basic toiletries, but our work is never done.

Just because you have found peace with Christ doesn’t mean that your relationship with him is the only one that matters. As a matter of fact, because you have peace with Christ, you should be the one standing on the frontline leading the charge towards those who need to know Christ’s peace. We have so many opportunities to boast in our sufferings and show others how Christ has worked through our lives to make them so much better. What makes our lives even more extraordinary is that we have each other in this room, ready willing, and able to lend a hand when the time comes for help. I cannot tell you how many times where I have been in a pinch and have been able to get help from a person who goes to Dover Place. As believers, we have a duty to one another to keep our faith up and to share the peace of Christ with others.

In closing, I feel blessed for going through a divorce and dealing with difficult situations, knowing that Christ is in my life. Even though I thought Christ may have abandoned me, there were still people around who guided me in the right direction. One person in particular tried to reach out to me and bring me back home, and that was Steve Earhardt, who is a former member of Dover. Steve bought me audiotapes of “Mere Christianity” which was written during World War II, while the British were being bombarded by the Nazis. I listened to those tapes every morning as I drove to school, and found myself again over a period of time. C.S. Lewis wrote this series of essays, as a way of boosting the faith and morale of the British people, while they were facing the greatest threat to their existence. What these essays did for me, was bring me back to having peace with Christ.

The past four years of my life have been some of the most exciting and peaceful years of living that I have ever had. I found new life in the church. I found new life in finding to woman of my dreams. And I found peace with Bert Flowers, who is the greatest step-father I could ever ask for. Even though he doesn’t say a whole bunch, he has brought stability and calm to a rather chaotic bunch of people. (The only time Bert isn’t calm, is when he is trying to study for school…Then you have to steer him into finding peace with Christ and everyone in the house!)
I encourage each and everyone of you to find Christ and find peace. Any suffering you go through pales in comparison to the suffering he did for us. Let us also reach out to those who are in need of knowing the peace of Christ and give them the support and love that we have received. Thanks be to God for the peace we have in Christ!