"Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem"

December 4, 2022

Passage: Psalm 122

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Psalm 122

December 4, 2022

Read Psalm 122

This is the Word of the LORD.

Peace. Peace is the Advent theme for this morning. We are going to dwell on the topic of peace as we await the coming Lord Jesus Christ. Ordinarily, you might expect me to address “peace” generally or talk in terms of God’s being our peace. Those are great topics, but that’s not where we are headed this morning.

Our text today, Psalm 122, talks about “praying for the peace of Jerusalem.” If we look at this psalm in an historical context, we understand, of course, Jews want to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. In the psalm, a pilgrim travelling to the city for a festival, marvels at his surroundings. He invites (or exhorts) his companions to offer up greetings and prayers for this place. It is like praying for the strength, vitality, and blessing of our nation’s leaders in Washington, D.C. If Jerusalem does well, it is likely that the nation will prosper.

However, because it is in the Bible and, thus, part of our songbook of faith, Psalm 122 also is an exhortation for us as well. We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. What does that mean?

What Is Peace?

Our Christmas cards and advertising all portray peace in moments: they are the “aaaahhh…” moments. It is the old Coke commercial, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…” Most times, when I try to define peace, I think of a blue-sky sunny day with clouds lazily drifting by; and there I am sitting comfortably by a glass-top stream – no bugs, no rippling, no action, just quiet. The only people around are those whom I really love and, even then, it is mostly quiet as we simply enjoy the state of tranquility. The reality is that I might last about 10 minutes in that situation: either I would fall sound asleep in a wonderful nap or would start to think, “Now, what?” and I would get up and find something to do.

But even that 10 minutes seems far away from us these days. We are nowhere near peace in almost any aspect of our lives. That may seem harsh, but let me do this little exercise with you – I am just going to list words and invite you to consider if they make you experience peace:

World events: Ukraine, China, North Korea.

National events: Inflation, supply chain issues, Twitter, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kanye West, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy

Natural events: hurricane Ian, volcano Mauna Loa, wildfires, drought and climate change

Words and names that have become part of our lexicon: COVID, vaccines, N-95 masks, active shooters, gun control, gender pronouns, fake news, reality television, Kardashians, taxes, health care.

Local events: the cost of housing, homelessness, the church budget.

Family: Christmas shopping, presents, family dinner.

I could spend the entire time we have going through words. I am confident that I triggered a rise in blood pressure for most of you; if not, it would not have been long before I landed on your hot button. The point is that we live in an environment and culture devoid of peace.

What is peace? Would we recognize it if we saw it?

The temptation is to look back to find a moment or period of time in which things were good and care-free. The problem is that those times – if real at all – were personal and not universal. History is a constant parade of the opposite of peace. It is fraught with conflict, violence, tension, brokenness, and breaching of peace.

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song by Billy Joel. Its lyrics include brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front.

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
  South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
  Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
  North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

  Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
  Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"
  Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
  Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

  We didn't start the fire
  It was always burning since the world's been turning
  We didn't start the fire
  No we didn't light it but we tried to fight it[1]

The point Billy Joel was making was that the world has been in perpetual crisis. The world is in crisis now, has been in crisis throughout our lifetime, and was in crisis for generations before us.

Here are some blunt truths about peace:

Peace on earth without God is not going to happen.
Pursuing peace on earth without God is futile.
Praying for peace on earth without turning to God is meaningless; if you do not believe in the living God, your prayers are empty sentiments being sent out into the universe.
Anticipating peace on earth outside of God’s covenant is folly. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

This does not free us from responsibility to seek to be peacemakers; rather, it is simply to be clear-eyed about what it is we are doing and what it is we are facing. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

We are not going to be able to accomplish peace without God. That much is clear.

We will not accomplish peace through political Do you trust your legislators to make it happen?
We will not accomplish peace through military The greatest empires in human history have ruled through intimidation and force, which are not the foundational pillars on which a lasting peace will be established.
We will not accomplish peace through economic The free market – to the extent it is free – is a turbulent competition of winners and losers. Yes, many enjoy the fruit of that competition, but not all and there is no full satisfaction ever achieved.
We will not accomplish peace through social As much as we admire – and may even agree with – our artists and social movers, they function best in conflict, not peace. Though they strive for peace, they thrive in chaos.
We will not accomplish peace through isolation. Separating ourselves from the rest of the world does not make things peaceful; rather, it makes us fearful.
We will not accomplish peace through insisting on following the rules.

There is a story about two monks who came to a river. The current was swift and turbulent. There was a woman having difficulty crossing. The older monk told her, “Not to worry. I will carry you across.”

The younger monk said, “Master, you know it is one of our rules that we are not to touch a woman.” The older monk carried her across anyway.

As they continued on their journey, after some time, the younger monk said to the elder, “Master, you should not have carried that woman across the river.” The older monk replied, “I put her down a mile ago, but I see that you are still carrying her.”[2]

Obviously, that story has a larger moral than violating the rules of a religious order. How many of us hold grudges? How many remember all the ways someone slighted us or disappointed us or failed to live up to our expectations? Oh, it may not come out in conversation with others, but have we pulled away from one another without saying why or working to reconcile? How many of us carry the grudge for the extra mile, either waiting to bring it up at an opportune moment or to justify feeling a little better about ourselves? These are all ways in which peace eludes us – how we cannot accomplish peace on our own.

Peace in the Kingdom of God

Friends, peace on earth will come only on God’s terms, in God’s kingdom, by God’s sovereign and holy will being exercised. The announcement of the angels we hear repeated in Christmas ads over and over – “Peace on Earth” – is incomplete: the whole phrase is “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” (Luke 2:14) It is a Kingdom of Heaven peace. The birth of Jesus signaled God’s eternal kingdom intersecting in time with the world in which we exist.

When we talk about praying for the peace of Jerusalem, our prayer is for that Kingdom Jesus ushered in through his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. Praying for the peace of Jerusalem did not begin with Jesus’ birth; it had been a significant theme throughout Scripture from very early on. In Genesis 14, Abram was heading home from his campaign to rescue his nephew Lot – routing by military the kings who had taken Lot captive. On his way, he encountered King Melchizedek of Salem. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. As the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews noted, “His name, in the first place, means ‘king of righteousness’; next, he is king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace.’”

In 2 Samuel – centuries after Abram – David established Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom of Israel. David had been anointed king when Saul went off the rails; eventually, David was made king. David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and wanted to build God a temple. Through the prophet Nathan, the LORD told David:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

So, when Jesus was born in the line of David, he was fulfilling the promises God made. On Palm Sunday, as he rode into Jerusalem, he wept, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:42)

Then, in Revelation 21, John wrote to the early church, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

The reason I am harping on this is because it is critical we understand where our hope lies – and where it does not. Our hope for salvation and life is only in Jesus Christ – not as a concept – but in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior here and now. Let me spell that out a little more: receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is our peace. “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5)

Paul explained it to the Ephesians this way (Ephesians 2:14-22):

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

God is the author of reconciliation and God is the author of peace. Thus,

Until and unless we understand human sin against God as the root cause of the brokenness in the world,
Until and unless we confess our part in that sin and recognize our inability to fix it on our own,
Until and unless we repent of our wayward rebellion against God’s holiness,
Until and unless we turn towards God and seek to be pleasing in his eyes – as opposed to our own, and,
Until and unless we put our trust in God’s word and live for God’s kingdom,

we are going to be tossed about in despair in chronic crisis. But being reconciled to God means we have peace in the kingdom of heaven even while dwelling in the midst of the brokenness of the world we experience.

In other words, Jesus has built us – and is actively now building us – together spiritually into the New Jerusalem. When we pray for Jerusalem, it is the new Jerusalem we are longing God for to fulfill. It is the heavenly kingdom of God. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is the kingdom where we know the one who is called Wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of …say it with me … Peace.

Peace is a gift of the kingdom of heaven. It does not come naturally – it is supernatural. Peace is something that is rooted in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Christ there is no true foundation upon which a lasting peace can exist.

Praying For The Peace Of Jerusalem Now

Now, it is important to keep that in mind. The prayer for the peace of Jerusalem is for peace among believers – brothers and sister in Christ. It is for the fulfillment and perfecting – making without spot or blemish – the bride of Christ in preparation for that day. It is founded in the mutual position of believers as servants of Jesus Christ.

Paul is very specific that peace outside the community of believers is something beyond our control – he often uses the clarifier, “when possible,” or “when in your control”, be at peace with those around. Thus, believers should expect hostility from the world. In contrast, within the community of faith, peace is a command and a way of being that is a mark of our discipleship of Christ.

Peace does not mean that there is uniformity or agreement on anything. If everyone agreed about everything, there would be no need to exhort “all the brothers” to peace. Peace is a way of being when there is disagreement or conflicting values at play. It is a way of behaving with each other when things are difficult. Peace often is most difficult with people you know well and care about – because you have expectations of them and count on them to be consistent with whom you think they should be.

To be clear: living in peace with the whole community does not mean there is something wrong with us if we do not like everyone else at every moment. Jesus’ disciples were a fairly unruly lot; they were often at odds with one another.

Peace in the whole community means we are committed to reconciling with one another on the basis that Christ died for you and Christ died for me – we are equally sinners in need of a savior. By being obedient to the call to pursue peace with brothers and sisters in Christ, we bear testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and we submit ourselves to his will.

We are reminded of that truth when we come to this table. When we approach the Lord’s table, it is because Jesus invited and commanded us to come. We do not come because we are worthy or have earned the right to be here; no, in fact, it is just the opposite: we come because we are unworthy and need saving. That common foundation is the basis for peace among believers – we are all empty handed and in need of the peace with God that comes only in Jesus. This meal is a tangible – very real – reminder that we belong to Jesus. It is our only comfort, that:

That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

That is peace. As we remember the wonder of Christ’s incarnation – “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors” – we also pray for Jerusalem; the new Jerusalem, that is. We pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”

Amen.

[2] https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/letting-go-of-the-past/