Steven Furtick - The Path of Peace [Stop waiting for it; walk in it] (12/31/2018)
The preacher shares a Christmas message from Luke 1:67-79, where Zechariah prophesies about John preparing the way for Jesus, the rising sun bringing light to darkness and guiding feet into the path of peace. True peace isn't found in perfection or changed circumstances but in surrendering expectations, embracing weakness, and walking with Christ's presence amid life's stress and chaos.
Zechariah's Prophecy – Luke 1:67-79
And I want to share a brief Christmas message with you today. And don't get me wrong, just because I said brief, for me, brief means something different than it may mean at other churches. But I don't want to take too long. I understand the demands of this season.
And so let me just share with you from Luke chapter 1, verse 67 through 79. His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant.
The oath he swore to our father Abraham to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
John's Role and the Rising Sun
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven.
Somebody say, here comes heaven. Tell your neighbor, watch out, here it comes. Forty percent of you participated when I asked you to touch your neighbor. You don't like them? Look at them and say, here it comes.
The priest Zechariah is speaking of the prophet John the Baptist, and he's now talking about Jesus, whom John the Baptist was pointing to.
He said that he will shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, in the shadow of death, in that place of despair, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
The Path of Peace – Sermon Title
That's my title for today, the path of peace. And I won't make you talk to your neighbor one more time after this, but look at him and say, you look like you need some of that peace that he's preaching about.
We have a challenge today to try to calm our minds and receive the message. He's like, I bet you love preaching at Christmas. Everybody's in the spirit. And I was like, no, it's not my favorite time to preach because people are so stressed out.
And you have to work three times as hard because it's stuffy. Sometimes people brought a relative and they don't want that relative to see how they normally act in church. And so they, they tense up and then they've got so much going on.
It's actually, you would think it would be, you know, Jesus's birthday would be an easy occasion to preach. But I actually find it more challenging, not less, because it's just stress levels are higher.
Happy birthday, Jesus. We created chaos and commercialism that drives us all to the brink of insanity in your name. Thank you for being born. The spirit of season.
Stress Levels at Christmas
Listen, but I always wished as a preacher that I could have a metaphysical power to read your mind. I would think that would be so helpful to do my job if I could see your stress level.
Or even if you had a number like the beds that have the sleep number. What if I could see your stress number on today? I could do it, I could do it so much better.
Because I could see like, are you at a seven or a three? Matter of fact, right now, what would you give your stress level one to 10? Just in this moment.
So I'm hearing a three? Who said three? You're not old enough to have a three stress level. You're supposed to be like 80 before you realize that all the crap you worry about isn't worth worrying about.
And then you can have a three stress level where you just don't care. I can't wait to get old and just not care. That'd be great. You're too young for that.
But somebody said 10. Did you say 10? And I'm not going to ask you why. In fact, I don't even have to.
Categories of Stress
All right, here's what we'll do. We'll do another one real quick. I know this is personal, but at every location, play along. Just close your eyes. Get the thing on your mind that is the greatest source of stress in your life at this very moment.
And you better not be picturing me. All right. Get it on your mind. What is the single greatest source of stress in your life? We'll broaden it a little bit. Not in this very, very moment, but in this season of your life.
All right. You got it? Now, open your eyes. You're going to be shocked, but I know what you're thinking. I know this much.
I know that the thing that you thought of fell into one of the following four categories. Okay. It was either related to a place, a pace, a problem, or a person.
Or maybe people, peoples, just in general, all of them, every last one of them, just human beings, homo sapiens.
So it's either a place that you're going after this, or even for some people, church can be stressful. It can be stressful to... I'm sure it's stressful to come to Elevation.
Listen, I'm sure it's, you know, if you've never been here, especially because it's confusing because they've got, like, violins and cellos on the stage, but then they start shooting laser beams, and it's mixed messaging, like, what kind of church is this?
Is this a white church? Black church? It's a traditional church? Yes. Yes to all of the above. It's the kind of church where you can't figure out what kind of church. It's a good news to all people kind of church.
But some of the stressful places that we will go this Christmas season, it can be a place. If you have to fly, certainly understand your dread for that experience.
Just walk through the airport telling yourself over and over again, I'm not a human. I have no rights, and you'll be okay.
Pace, Problems, and People as Stress Sources
The pace of life, I hear people mention this a lot. How you doing? Busy. I'm busy. Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy.
I'm busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger. They said that to me the other day. I think that's weird. Busier than a three-legged cat trying to cover up his poop on ice, somebody said to me.
I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. So violent. All I said is, how are you doing? You're like decapitating chickens.
So it's like the pace of life. I understand that if you've been running people everywhere. You've been like an unpaid Uber driver for a 13-year-old. I understand. I feel you.
Sometimes it comes down to a problem in your life that is persistent, and sometimes it comes down to one that you're just pushing through right now.
A lot of people listening to me preach right now are having a hard time focusing with their minds because of the pain in their body.
Or what can be even worse, somebody that you love that you can't do anything to comfort them. And that can be difficult.
And really, the fourth category that I mentioned, people, that's really the whole thing. Which is why when I asked you to imagine in your mind the source of your stress, the greatest source of your stress, I was very clear.
I said, imagine it. Because some of you would have started pointing if I would have let you, which is a bad idea. Like, some of you are sitting next to what you perceive to be the source.
See, you should look really confused right now, is my advice.
Source of Stress Determines Source of Peace
I think it's important, before we begin a discussion on the path of peace, to try to talk about the source of stress. Because whatever you identify as the source of your stress, determines where you will seek your peace.
Amen. Say that again. Whatever you say, this is the source of my stress, that regulates and determines where you seek your peace.
And so the Christmas story, of course, comes along and challenges us in all of those ways that we experience stress and pressure, Christ is born to challenge us as it relates to our expectation of peace.
Jewish Expectations of Messiah's Peace
The Jewish people had a very particular expectation of the kind of peace that the Messiah would bring. Zechariah states it very clearly and paints a picture of the kind of peace that the Jewish people were looking for God to bring through the prophesied Messiah.
It features such expectations as mentioned in verse 74. He says that this Messiah will rescue us from the hand of our enemies. Notice the word from.
The expectation of peace for the Jewish people is that God would deliver them from their circumstances, from their oppression, from their being marginalized, from their poverty, from their despair, and from their darkness.
Shift to Peace in Darkness
It was surprising then for me to see the shift that Zechariah made in verse 79, where he said that the rising sun will shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death.
And so it represents a shift in perspective that God does not always rescue me from. Sometimes he visits me in my trouble.
And for so many years, I have thought that the thief of my peace was other people or certain places or the schedule of my life, which is kind of funny because I'm the one who said yes to all that stuff that I'm stressed about.
And so now I'm asking God to take away the things that I committed to. And I've tried so long, you know, to arrange my life in such a way that I would no longer experience those stressful events and stressful people and if God would just change them and if everybody would just act the way they should act for a little while this Christmas.
But the Lord has been speaking to me in these last few days about the path of peace.
Peace Not in Perfection
And what I realized, the more I reflected on this promise of peace that God gives us. Isaiah 9-6, his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace, but notice the prophet didn't call him the Prince of Convenience or the Prince of Ease or the Prince of Comfort or the Prince of My Preferences because a lot of times when God promises me peace, what I hear in translation is that God is promising me convenience, or God is promising me ease, or God is promising me my preference being met.
But the Lord has been speaking to me, and maybe you don't need to hear this, but just in case you do, it is impossible to experience peace when you are expecting perfection.
See, my problem, I'm coming to realize this, it's not other people, it's not the place, it's not the pace, and it's not the problem.
The problem is not the problem. I can tell you the problem is not the problem because Jesus was born in a manger. The angel appeared to Shepherds.
So the Shepherds were the people that you would least expect the herald to make the announcement of the birth of the Son of God, and yet he showed up to the least likely people in an unlikely place.
So it's not the people. It's not the place. It's not the pace. The Shepherds were always on the move from place to place to place to place.
It's not the place. It's not the pace. It's not the people. It's not the problem.
Peace in Weakness – The Manger
Here's my problem. My problem is that I can't receive peace because I'm expecting perfection.
And the angel said, are y'all going to help me preach or it's just me today? I'll make it quick. Here's the whole message. If you need to go, if you've got things to do, I'll give it to you right now, and you can go on and get to Target, and hopefully everything will turn out all right.
The enemy of your peace is not other people. It is not other places. It is not how fast life is or the way the world is. The enemy of your peace is your insistence on perfection.
And when heaven came down and appeared to humanity, it was not in the form of perfection. In fact, God did not come down looking like a deliverer. He came down looking like a dependent.
He came down as a baby. And so when the Prince of Peace came, he didn't come dressed in power. He came in pampers.
Why? Because God wanted you to know that he's going to bring you peace, but not like you expected him to bring it.
It's not going to look like you pictured it. It's not always going to fit your preferences. It's not always going to live up to your exact specifications of the performance of people.
So if I'm going to live at peace, I've got to surrender my expectation of perfection.
I feel like I can leave. Every Christmas party is going to be so much better than you attend because of what I just told you.
Every place you set your foot over the next three days is going to be so much more peaceful because you just realized that peace isn't found in a place.
Peace is not found in a set of circumstances that is problem-free. It is not that he delivers me from it. It's that he meets me.
Can I show you something real quick? He said that he will guide us with the light in the valley. He didn't take us out of the valley.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I'm at peace on the path.
Why? Not because I'm not going through it, but because I'm not going through it alone.
See, there's somebody with me that is greater than what's against me.
The path to peace, to a strange path that God would send his son as a child, that God would burst the eternal cosmos and enter into creation in the form of the most imperfect being.
I know some of you disagree, because I hear you saying things about babies that I just don't personally agree with. And we can agree to disagree. It's Christmas. We'll just...
But I'm going to say, oh, he's so perfect. Mm-mm. If you say that, you've never taken one home. That's what I know. Huh?
And so it's a strange path to peace. You know, if God wants to come and set things right, he should come down as a warrior, not as a weakling.
Why not skip that stage? Jesus should have come 24 years old, full of testosterone, and yet he comes tiny, infant, into a desperate place.
You know the story about Joseph. Waited till the last minute to Airbnb for the census. Ended up in a cold place, and the presence of God was born there.
The path to peace is a strange one, that the path to peace for Jesus would lead through Gethsemane, where he would pray, God, if there's any other way than me going and experiencing their wrath from your hand for them, let this cup pass from me.
The path to peace for us would lead Jesus through the Kidron Valley, where he would ultimately, as we come to understand more than Zechariah understood in Luke chapter 1, who was prophesying about his own son, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Jesus, who would guide us in the path to peace.
But the path to peace with God for us led Jesus to a hill where he died at the hands of sinful men. It's a strange path to peace.
Peace Through Weakness and Surrender
We have to admit that he would come in weakness and die in weakness to become our strength.
It's a path to peace. It's a strange thing about peace, because whatever you identify as the source of your stress determines what you consider the source of your peace.
That's why I don't like to blame people for my stress, because if people brought me the stress, then I need people to change for me to have peace.
But I'm past the point in my life of wanting for people to have to act a certain way, for me to have peace in my own heart.
I love what the angel said. Abby was quoting that scripture, and she did it perfectly. I don't even want to do it myself because she did it so good, and I don't want to mess it up.
But she said, And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.
But because the first thing that the Shepherds felt in the field when the announcement of Jesus Christ came forth from the angel was not faith. It was fear.
See, we think that the presence of God is always going to make us feel better and comfortable. But the first thing the Shepherds felt was fear.
See, they found peace, but they found it through fear. Peace did not come to them directly. It had to pass through their fear.
And they found God in the place of their greatest fear, in the fields where they were keeping the sheep from predators.
At night, they were lowly people in a lonely place. And here comes the angel who says, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace.
Now notice this. The peace is on earth, but it's not from earth. The peace is on earth, but it's not of earth.
See, I don't want this plastic peace that comes from people. I've learned that if the peace comes from people, people can take it away.
If it comes from situations, situations can change and take it away. So I don't want a peace that comes from a promotion at work.
I don't want a peace that comes from a convenient circumstance. I don't even want a peace that comes from a feeling.
I don't want a peace that comes from a situation. I want a peace that the world didn't give and the world can't take it away.
Come on, give him praise if you've got an unshakable peace, an unspeakable joy.
Walking in Peace – Not Waiting for It
I read that scripture all week, the path of peace. The path of peace. What is it that I need to get out of the way in my life to experience peace so I'm not running around all the time just concentrating on all the missing pieces?
And now I'm missing peace. Because all I can see is the pieces I'm missing. Because when you're a perfectionist like I am, Enneagram Type 1, the thing that God will give you as a prescription for your perfectionism is children.
And I am on a dosage of three children. Three children per day guarantees that there will never be a moment in your house that is completely peaceful.
I'm telling you right now, I can count on zero toes how many times in the last seven years I've had three peaceful children all at the same time in one house. Yes.
So you know what I'm having to learn to do? I'm having to learn to take my peace in pieces. Yes.
Because if I wait until everything is peaceful, if I wait until every child is happy, if I wait until everyone is getting along, if I'm waiting for peace, if I'm waiting for every child to bow their head and say the blessing and clear their dishes, I've learned to celebrate God if just one kid puts the bowl in the sink.
Forget about the dishwasher. That's a Red Sea Old Testament miracle. Just in the sink, even in the sink is a blessing. I'll celebrate one bowl in the sink.
See, this Christmas, you can't wait for everybody to get along. If there's even a piece of peace, you have to thank God for it and snatch it and take it and celebrate it.
Because, watch this, Zechariah didn't say he'll show us the path to peace. Give me my scripture. This is the best Christmas scripture I ever saw in my life.
79, he will guide our feet in the path. It's not the path to peace, because that means that peace is out there somewhere.
But it's not the path to peace. That's how I've been living my life. God forgive me. When I get through this season... When I get through 2018...
What? Calendar isn't going to fix any chaos in your life. The same dude you let steal your peace all last year is going to be standing right there at your window with a crowbar in 2019.
I'm going to have peace. My kids get older. They won't need so much. Now they're going to be driving. You're going to have a lot of peace there when they're out on the road on your insurance.
That's why I can't project my peace out here, or I can't project my peace on people, or I can't project my peace on a certain place.
It's not the path to peace. That's not the message of Christmas.
When God came down to be born of a virgin and was wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, he didn't promise a path to peace as in a future event that will happen when.
It's not a when-then peace. It's not a one-day peace. It's not a someday fairytale beauty and the beast peace. It's not a when I get married peace.
It's not a when I send the kids off peace. It's not when I pay my student loans off peace. It's not a when I get through Christmas peace.
It's not a when my in-laws leave peace. It's not the path to peace. It's the path of peace.
What does that mean? Every step I take, he's with me. Every move I make, he's with me. Every season of my life, he's present.
So watch this. I'm not waiting for it. I'm walking in it.
Does somebody say walk in it? Walk in it. That's the Christmas sermon. Change my title.
I told you it was called The Path of Peace, but I want you to tell them when they ask you what did you preach about today at your church, the evolution that you went to on the Christmas, tell them he told me to walk in it.
Stop waiting for it. Stop waiting for it and start walking in it.
You hear me, Nairobi? Walk in it. You hear me, Toronto? Walk in it. You hear me, Roanoke? Walk in it.
You hear me, Matthews? Walk in it. You hear me, Riverwalk? Walk in it. You hear me, Blakeney? Walk in it.
You hear me, Ballantyne? Walk in it. You might have to walk through a valley, but you don't have to lie down and die.
You don't have to curl up in a fetal position and wait for this season to be over.
I don't have time to trip. I'm preaching about Jesus. It doesn't matter what the Devil puts in my path. I'm on it!
I'm on it! I'm glad I almost tripped. I didn't plan it, but I'm going to use it, because some of y'all have some people waiting for you when you leave church, and if you're not careful, you're going to trip, but get your balance back and fix your eyes on Jesus.
Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Walk in and I don't have time to trip.
See, we've been looking for peace in all the wrong places. The peace of God is never found in human strength or in our perfection.
The way that God brings peace into our lives is the same way that Jesus was born in the world. And weakness.
That's where you find peace. Weakness. I don't like it that way. Jesus, don't go to the cross. It'll make you look weak.
But that's the only way that I can bring peace. He didn't bring peace like they wanted him to bring peace.
That's why they all walked away when he died. They wanted the prince of peace to come in power. But instead he came in weakness.
Well, I prayed for you before you got here. I prayed for you. I prayed that God would give you his peace.
But I prayed that you would stop looking for it. If y'all could stop talking right now while I finish this sermon. Thank you.
I prayed that he would bring it to you. Not in the places that you would normally expect it.
I prayed that he would bring it to you. In that place in your life where you feel the weakest.
Not in the place where you're so busy trying to show everybody how strong you are.
You're never gonna get peace trying to appear perfect. You can't experience peace when you're expecting perfection.
Who told you that you had to be perfect before you could experience peace with God?
God's not waiting for you to be perfect. He's already done everything that needs to be done for you to have peace.
And the peace of God is not the absence of problems. The peace of God is not getting people to act right or say that they're sorry.
The peace of God is not a certain place. I'll tell you, man, I've been in some beautiful places with no peace.
I've been on some beautiful vacations and beautiful resorts. No peace in my heart.
And yet I've sat by while my dad died and experienced unspeakable peace as he took his dying breath.
Because the only thing required for you to receive the peace of God is to lose your pride and accept it in the place of your weakness.
Invitation to Peace in Weakness
I know we want God to come like Zechariah wanted him to come. And deliver us from the difficult places. And deliver us from and rescue us from the hectic schedule.
And deliver us from and rescue us from all of the problems and the obstacles that are in front of us in this season.
But the peace of God is not the absence of problems. It is the presence of Christ to enable you to walk in it.
This is Christmas. And I began this sermon by asking you a question. What's the source of your stress?
And now I want to ask a different one. What is the place of your weakness?
Because that's the place where God is going to show you the greatest grace.
Hear me today. I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet. But on the authority of God's Word, I declare to you this day is born to you in the place of your greatest weakness. A Savior who is Christ the Lord.
I ask that you stand reverently to your feet with no one moving. I want to pray for that place in your life where there is a weakness.
That place in your life where there is a missing piece. That place. He said that a light will dawn in the shadow of the valley.
In that place is the path of peace. Not to peace. Stop believing that you'll get it one day when.
God told me to tell you he wants to give you peace in the process. In the process of who you're becoming.
With every step in arrival, peace in the process. That's what incarnation means.
That's why this weird Christmas story suddenly makes sense. Because peace came in the form of weakness.
Just to admit that you need him is the first step.
So right now, in the holiness of this moment. On this sacred occasion called Christmas.
There's a place of weakness in your life. Where you would like to invite the Holy Spirit this season.
To come and bring his deep peace that transcends all understanding.
I want to ask you at every location and all over the world watching online. To lift both of your hands in the air to God.
As a sign of your surrender and trust.
Father, for every hand stretched before you today. I decree your peace for that situation.
I cannot read their mind. And I cannot know their struggle. But not only do you know the need. You are the one who longs to meet it.
Thank you, Father, for this moment. For when we are weak, then we are strong.
We thank you for Emmanuel. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. A Prince of Peace.
With your head still bowed and your eyes still closed. You can put your hands down.
There's someone here who is far away from God. And the message of Christmas is that you don't have to stay that way.
Right now, I'd like to invite you to receive the gift of salvation.
The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
And on this Christmas, I would love to lead you in this prayer that just acknowledges your need for Jesus.
So we'll pray now out loud as a church family at all of our locations for the benefit of those who are coming to God or maybe coming back to God.
Right now in this moment, the presence of God is here, real, and available.
And so we pray this prayer together for all of those who are in need of salvation today and want this to be your new beginning.
Pray with me. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died that I could be forgiven and Rose again to give me life.
I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. In Jesus' name.
If you just prayed that, on the count of three, shoot your hand up high. I want to celebrate you on every location.
One, two, three. Hands up, hands up, hands up. God bless you. God bless you.
Come on, rejoice about it. Come on, people of God, rejoice about it. It's the greatest gift. It's the reason for the season.
Come on, let's rejoice in the salvation of our God. Let's rejoice in the peace of our God.