24 Sermon Illustrations on Peace in Christ

Amid the horrors of World War I, there occurred a unique truce when for a few hours, enemies behaved like brothers. Christmas Eve in 1914 was all quiet on France's Western Front, from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. Trenches came within 50 miles of Paris. The war was only five months old, and approximately 800,000 men had been wounded or killed. Every soldier wondered whether or not Christmas Day would bring another round of fighting and killing. But something happened: British soldiers raised "Merry Christmas" signs above the trenches, and soon carols were heard from German and British trenches alike. Christmas dawned with unarmed soldiers leaving their trenches, though officers of both sides tried unsuccessfully to stop their troops from meeting the enemy in the middle of no-man's land for songs and conversation. Exchanging small gifts, they passed Christmas Day peacefully along miles of the front. At one spot, the British played soccer with the Germans, who won 3-2. In some places, the spontaneous truce continued the next day as neither side was willing to fire the first shot. Finally, the war resumed when fresh troops arrived, and the high command of both armies ordered that further "informal understanding" with the enemy would be punishable as treason.

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished up a rough first day on the job. A flat tire had made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. Then, opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterwards he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the best of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. "Oh, that is my 'trouble tree,'" he replied. "I know I cannot help having troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure-troubles do not belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang 'em on the tree every night when I come home; then in the morning, I pick them up again. "Funny thing is," he said smilingly, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there are not as many as I remember hanging up the night before." The Big and the Small Souls The great soul prays, "Lord, make me as big as my problem." The little soul prays, "Lord, let me off easy." The giant soul asks, "Lord, give me strength sufficient for a hard day," while the small soul begs, "Lord, let me have a lighter load." The busy soul prays, "Lord, stand with me until I finish my task," while the weak soul says, "I got tired and quit."

A man let an offender go instead of avenging himself for an insult. He was criticized in consequence, and he said to the friend who chided him, "Tell me, my friend, if you were climbing a hill, and a great stone or block rolled down toward you, would you consider it disgraceful to step aside and allow it to roll past? If not, what disgrace can there be in avoiding and giving way to a man aroused by anger until he has had time for reflection, and his agitated mind finds rest in repentance?" There is an old legend that tells of Hercules encountering a strange animal on a narrow road. He struck it with his club and passed. Soon the animal overtook him, now three times as large as before. Hercules struck it fast and furiously, but the more he clubbed the beast, the larger it grew. Then Pallas appeared to Hercules and warned him to stop. "The monster's name is Strife," he said. "Let it alone and it will soon become as little as at first." This is valuable advice for those of us Christians who engage in counterblows, thinking that only thus can we stop the blows.

When the Romans, by conquest, might have given law to the Grecians at Corinth, in the solemn time of the Isthmian games, their general, by a herald, unexpectedly proclaimed freedom to all the cities of Greece. The proclamation at first did so amaze the Grecians, that they did not believe it to be true; but, when it was proclaimed the second time, they gave such a shout, that the very birds flying in the air were astonished therewith, and fell dead to the ground. Now, the peace that the Grecians had was but the peace of a people or a nation, and a great blessing of God too. But how much more reason is there that our affections should be strained to the highest pitch of joy and thanks when we hear of the proclamation of the peace of conscience; that peace which is not of our bodies but of our souls, not of our earthly but of our heavenly estate; a peace that shall be begun here, that shall endure forever hereafter; such a peace as will make God at peace with us, reconcile us to ourselves, and make us at concord with all the world! Spencer.

The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days and nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to all. Suddenly land appears; but what the character of the coast may be the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect of a near approach to land is a very great commotion in the waters. It is one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring of fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward the ship must go: the waves are higher and angrier than any they have seen in the open sea. Presently through them, partly over them, they are borne at a bound; strained, giddy, and almost senseless, they find themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that guard the shore; and the portion of sea that still lies before them is calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of paradise, and not an earthly thing at all. It is inexpressibly sweet to lie on its bosom after the long voyage and the barren ridge. All the heavens are mirrored in the water; and along its edge lies a flowery land. Across the belt of sea the ship glides gently, and gently touches soon that lovely shore. So many a Christian has been thrown into a great tumult when the shore of eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed and sickened him for some days; but, when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace deeper, stiller, sweeter, than any he ever knew before. A little space of life's voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm, and before the immortal felt the solid of eternal rest.

— Arnot

He that has peace with God is armed cap-à-pié: he is covered from head to foot in a panoply. The arrow may fly against it, but it cannot pierce it; for peace with God is a mail so strong, that the broadsword of Satan itself may be broken in twain ere it can pierce the flesh. Oh! take care that you are at peace with God: for, if you are not, you ride forth to to-morrow's fight unarmed, naked; and God help the man that is unarmed when he has to fight with hell and earth! Spurgeon.

The tree of peace strikes its roots into the crevices of the everlasting rock. It grows securely from that rock, and casts out its cool shadow in the sunshine, and makes sweet music in the storm; and is to the believer as the shadow of a great rock and fruit of refreshment in a weary and parched land. Dr. Cumming.

Peace may be sought two ways. One way is as Gideon sought it when he built his altar in Ophrah, naming it "God send peace," yet sought this peace that he loved as he was ordered to seek it, and the peace was sent, in God's way: "The country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon." And the other way of seeking peace is as Menahem sought it when he gave the king of Assyria a thousand talents of silver, that "his hand might be with him." That is, you may either win your peace or buy it,—win it by resistance to evil; buy it by compromise with evil. You may buy your peace with silenced consciences; you may buy it with broken vows; buy it with lying words; buy it with base connivances; buy it with the blood of the slain, and the cry of the captive, and the silence of lost souls. Ruskin.

The really and substantially happy people in the world are always calm and quiet. — Boyd. — Stillness of spirit is like the canvas for the Holy Spirit to draw his various graces upon. — Dr. Love. — The heart that is to be filled to the brim with holy joy must be held still. — Bones. — The child of God should live above the world, moving through it, as some quiet star moves through the blue sky, clear, serene, and still. — Hetty Bowman.

The mighty wind which blows over and about the fruit-tree of the garden does not apparently affect the roots and lower part of the trunk. They abide in peace. All it does is to shake the branches, break off the rotten ones, blow away the dead leaves, and shake off the ripe fruit for use. So, when trouble comes from God, the soul maintains the roots of its faith and love in the Rock of Ages unmoved. All that it does is to destroy what is superfluous and corrupt about us, and to draw from us the manifestation of the graces of the Spirit for the practical use of others and the commendation of the Saviour's religion. Our heart is kept in peace. Date.

A narrative was some time ago published in London, of a voyage to the South Seas, in which the author says:

The most valuable thing we preserved from the wreck was our Bible; and I must here state, that some portion of each day was set apart for reading it; and by nothing, perhaps, could I better exemplify its benefits, even in a temporal point of view, than by stating, that to its influence we were indebted for an almost unparalleled unanimity during the whole time we were on the island. The welfare of the community was the individual endeavor of all; and whatever was recommended by the most experienced, was entirely acquiesced in by the rest. If ever a difference of opinion arose, a majority of voices decided the measure, and individual wishes always gave way to the proposals that obtained the largest suffrages. Peace reigned among us; for the precepts of Him who introduced peace and good will towards men, were daily inculcated and practised. If ever there was a fulfillment of the promise, as contained in Eccles. 11: 1, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days," this simple fact must bring it home to every contributor to that valuable institution, the Seamen's Bible Society; for it was fulfilled almost to the very letter. The Bible, when bestowed, was thrown by unherded, it traversed wide oceans, was scattered with the wreck of our frail bark, and was, in deed and in truth, found upon the waters after many days; and not only was the mere book found, but its value was also discovered, and its blessings, so long neglected, were now made apparent to us. Cast away on an island, in the midst of an immense ocean, without a hope of deliverance, lost to all human sympathy, mourned over as dead by our kindred, in this invaluable book we found the herald of hope, the balm of consolation, the dispenser of peace, the soother of our sorrows, and a pilot to the harbor of eternal happiness.

"When I used to go," said a man who formerly lived in sin, "to all kinds of fairs, and revels, and horse-races, I was never happy. As I was coming home through the

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