Peace on Earth at Christmas?
I think most of the time, Christmas could be described as an UN-Peace-Ful season.
Anyone remember the infamous Tickle Me Elmo?
The year was 1996 & this toy was THE coveted toy every parent wanted to buy their child. If you could find it, this toy sold for $29 at Target. But then people would resale it on eBay for as much as $2000! In New Jersey, a Walmart employee was trampled by 300 shoppers as he held up the last remaining Tickle Me Elmo. He suffered a broken rib & a concussion as people fought over the toy.
Clearly, this is NOT the way things are supposed to be.
These days we buy everything off of amazon on our phone. We don’t wait in long lines anymore.
But I think that same spirit of anxiety rules our lives in these days leading up to Christmas. We rush from here to there, from one thing to another, then we rush into church & sing songs about peace. When, if you could use one word to characterize our lives, well… peace isn’t the word we would use. Our lives are anything but peaceful.
[Tweet ” Why aren’t we more like the Prince of Peace we claim to follow?”]We call ourselves followers of Jesus & we know He is the Prince of Peace. So why aren’t’ we more peaceful? Why aren’t we more like the Prince of Peace we claim to follow?
The Peace of Jesus
When Jesus came, He came to bring peace. Listen to this part of the Jesus story as Luke tells it…
Luke 2:8-14
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
The angels announce peace to these shepherds. These shepherds who are surrounded by bleating sheep. These shepherds who are living in a time of political unrest, corrupt government & chaotic life. And the angels say this curious line… “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
[Tweet ““Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.””]So what is peace?
I think we’ve always understood peace as a noun. It’s something we hope for, long for & pray for.
For us, peace means the absence of conflict. We get home from a long day at work & we say, “I just want a moment of peace!” What does that mean? We just want a moment when no one needs anything from us. Where maybe it’s quiet for a moment. Where we can let all the demands of the day & problems & worries disappear for a moment. We just want a moment of peace. A moment where nothing urgent is happening that needs our attention.
We’ve defined peace by stating what it’s the absence of… That’s not the picture of Biblical peace.
That’s not what we see revealed in the life & ministry of Jesus.
Biblical peace means more than the absence of conflict.
[Tweet “Biblical peace means more than the absence of conflict.”]Shalom
The biblical word for peace in Hebrew is shalom. Listen to how theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. defines biblical peace, shalom… in his book, “Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin”
“The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight — a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.”
Plantinga Jr., Cornelius (2010-05-13). Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (p. 10). Eerdmans Publishing Co – A. Kindle Edition.
So peace isn’t a noun. Peace is a verb. Peace requires action. Because peace is making things the way they ought to be.
As followers of Jesus we are peace-ers. We should be peace-ing. That’s why Jesus, the Prince of Peace, lived his life & ministry in such uncertainty & turmoil & chaos. Because he came to make things the way they ought to be.
Take one look at the life & ministry of Jesus & I think what you’ll find is that Jesus did not live a very peaceful life, at least not as we have defied peace. When it was time for him to be born they had to find room for Him just to enter the world. The background music to his birth wasn’t some beautiful chorus singing Hallelujah, it was the sounds of sheep & cows bleating & mooing. He was laid in a feeding trough & grew up in poverty. His family had to flee to Egypt for refuge. When His ministry began, he was often in conflict with the religious leaders & teachers. He had no place to call home or lay His head. The Son of God was homeless. He was known for flipping over tables in the temple because of greedy money changers & chasing after them with a whip. Then he was arrested, beaten, & crucified in a violent way.
What about any of that sounds peaceful to you?
What it means for Jesus to be our Prince of Peace…
When Jesus came, He came as the Prince of Peace & His ministry was a ministry of peace. How? The lame couldn’t walk, but then they walked. The blind couldn’t see, but then they could see. The dead were done, but then they were raised to live again. When they met Jesus, what had gone wrong was made right. Jesus brought the great reversal. He set things right. He brought peace because He made things the way the ought to be.
The cross by the worlds standard was the most violent way someone could die, but because of our Savior it was the most peaceful thing He could do, because it made things the way they ought to be.
There’s a reason Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He’s the Prince of Peace because He’s about the activity of making things the way they ought to be.
[Tweet “Maybe we should join Jesus in actively working to pursue real peace.”]So if Jesus came to bring Peace, if He is the Prince of Peace, & if we are followers of Jesus, then maybe we should join Jesus in actively working to pursue real peace.
Peace as defined by the life of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is participating in making things the way they ought to be.
[Tweet “Peace according to Jesus is making things the way they ought to be.”]Peace isn’t easy. In fact, peace may be the hardest thing we ever have to do. It’s as hard as God being born. Or God having to experience human weakness. Or God dying on a cross.
Peace isn’t what we thought it was. Peace is painful. Peace is hard work. Peace is engaging the most difficult situations & making things the way they ought to be.
If we’re going to be a people of peace then we’re going to have to do the hard work of loving people so much that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make things the way they’re supposed to be.
