The Fourth Wednesday in Lent, 2008
Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier
John 14:27
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
We hear these words from Jesus, “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.” John 14:27 (ESV)
The other day, I watched the movie “The Alamo.” If you’ve seen this movie, you know that it is very intense. The city of San Antonio is under siege by the Mexican army. The Texans are taking refuge behind the walls surrounding the Alamo. There is a scene in the movie that takes place as the sun starts to go down. The military band of the Mexican army starts to play a song. The Texans in the Alamo are wondering what is going on. They speculate that the Mexican soldiers are preparing to celebrate a great victory. Then in the movie, William Travis informs the people that this tune is a cavalry march which they got from the Spaniards who got the tune from the Moors. They did play the tune right before their victory to psych out their opponents. Thus in the movie, as soon as the music stops, they bombard the Texans with cannon fire. The people are in utter dismay. Eventually the cannons stop for the night and morning comes.
Then the next night the same thing happens. Then the next night the same thing happened. They hear the tune and they know as soon as the song stops the cannons will fire. Now these people in the Alamo could understand the need for peace in their souls in the midst of all of this. Could you imagine the city of Los Alamos under attack? Could you imagine first hearing a song and then hearing explosions? Every night they try to sleep wondering if it will be there last night on earth. They are in constant anxiety hoping that this night is not the night that the Mexican army will advance upon the Alamo. Eventually, the Mexican army did come at night and take the Alamo.
Those people in the Alamo could truly understand the need for peace in the soul. Jesus came that we might have peace. He doesn’t come to give peace like the peace of the world. He doesn’t give like the world gives. Rather, He comes to bring true peace and comfort to troubled hearts that we would not be afraid.
We gather to hear those words of Jesus that we would have peace in our own lives. There is something far greater than the physical attack of the Mexican army on San Antonio. Are enemy is death which is at our door all the time. We don’t know if this is our last night on earth, but it may be. We don’t know if it is tomorrow or the next, but it may be. For this reason, we gather this night to hear the words of Jesus. You see, if this is our last night and we die and stand before God, because of our sin we stand condemned. If those cannonballs don’t strike fear in you, the threat of God’s judgment should.
We gather once again this night to recognize that we are sinners and put our faith in Jesus. As we anticipate the end even with the threat of judgment, because of Jesus we can know that we have peace. Jesus promises us so and we cling to His words. We know that God is merciful because of Jesus. We can be assured that because of the death of Jesus if we were to die, we can die in peace.
For the Christian, each night is really a rehearsal for the resurrection of the body. Each night that you go to bed and go to sleep it is a preparation for your last day when you go to sleep in the grave. Just like when you rise up from your sleep the next day with newness of life, so too on the Last Day, your body will rise from the grave. Because of Jesus, you can be confident that as He rose from the dead, you too shall rise from the dead and live with Him forever. That is the peace that Jesus gives. If it were our last night tonight, we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to worry. We don’t need to be troubled in our hearts.
We already know the judgment. Christ has been judged in our place and our punishment has been laid on Him. He takes our sin and He gives to us peace. He doesn’t give like the world gives. There are no strings attached. He gives freely by grace. Jesus wants to continue to speak His words of peace into our ears and way deep down inside our hearts. He wants us to have peace that if tonight were our last night we can rest assured that we have peace with God. Whether it is tonight or next week or next month or next year He wants us to have peace. We gather this night to sing hymns. These songs are not about slit throats from the hands of another army. Instead, we sing about Jesus and His death for us. Because of His death we have peace. We gather tonight so that we can go to sleep quietly this night and have peace at the last. Amen.
