The Gifts of Christmas: PEACE!

[Rather than an expository sermon based on a single passage of Scripture, I decided today to touch on several passages that have come up in our small group discussions this month, that help us understand the “gift” of peace in the incarnation. SN]

THE GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS: PEACE

Luke 2:14 (plus various other scriptures)

Introduction:  One of the verses that have stood out to me this year is the word of the angel to the Shepherds in Luke 2:14,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth

peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

When we read the headlines, there seems to be a decided lack of peace on earth: The last week to ten days: a terror attack in Berlin, an assassination in Turkey, war in Syria, atrocities in Aleppo, protests in our own state capitals last week as our electors cast their ballots, the US shockingly abstaining from a U.N. security council vote condemning some of Israel’s settlements… you get the idea. “There is no peace on earth they said!” There is no question we live in a fallen world, and that highlights the real issue, and the real reason for the incarnation.

       The Hebrew word “Shalom” is explained by one scholar as “The state of fulfillment that results from God’s presence.” This is what is expressed in the Aaronic benediction in Numbers 6:24-26: “The LORD bless you and keep you;  ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;  ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” God’s presence means peace to those who are His.

        In its biblical context “peace” relates to the idea that was expressed when God looked at His creation, before the fall, and pronounced it “good,” tov. God who is holy and perfect was in perfect fellowship with his creation, no sin, no separation. There was peace.  Yes, God walked in the Garden with the man and the woman, there was peace, shalom, on earth. That peace was disrupted by the fall which brought death, the curse, and suffering into the world. It meant separation between God and humans, fellowship was broken! In the fullness of time the arrival of the Prince of Peace, according to promise, meant that fellowship can be restored, reconciliation was possible between God and those who would believe, those who would receive the provision that God made for our redemption. Jesus said “I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly!” (John 10:10).

       Last week we read the words of the prophet in Isaiah 9:6-7,  

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this…

This is the prophetic anticipation of the Christmas event, and it brings us to… 

The Maine* Idea: True peace, lasting peace, peace that transcends the uncertainly of life in this fallen world, is available to all who will trust in Jesus, the one, true Gift of Christmas.

We’ll consider that from three perspectives:

1. The Prospect of Peace was revealed through the ages…

2. The Prince of Peace is the only One who can bring the peace we long for.

3. The Presence of Peace is possible now, because of Him. First then…

I. The PROSPECT of Peace, revealed through the ages to the prophets…

       We read a promise in Isaiah 26:3-4, the prophet seems to speak first to the Lord, then to the people…

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  ⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

Here the words of the prophet show that peace, perfect peace, is possible for those whose “mind is stayed” on the LORD, those who trust the Rock of Ages. The hymn writer no doubt reflected on these verses: “Stayed up on Jehovah, hearts are truly blessed, finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.”  It seems that some of the Jews of Jesus’ time made the connection between the coming of the Messiah, and the promise of peace. We read in Luke’s account of the triumphal entry, in Luke 19:37,38, a detail we don’t see in the other gospels…

³⁷ As he was drawing near- already on the way down the Mount of Olives- the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,  ³⁸ saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

The Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke the people, but Jesus allowed their words, in fact He said if they were silenced the rocks would cry out. Even so, He wept over the city, He knew that the people did not understand what would need to happen for true peace to be made possible… “…Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…” (Luke 19:42).  The people spoke of peace, but they didn’t understand. Jesus held forth the prospect of peace, but it would not be the mere absence of war or oppression. It would be much more, the possibility of the shalom for which we were created, the peace that can only be experienced in the presence of God. Remember Jesus teaching his disciples in the upper room, preparing them for life and mission in the world without His physical presence. He began and ended the upper room discourse in John with a promise of Peace,

“²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  ²⁷ 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 14:26,27).

And then, in John 16:33 we read,  ^“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." The disciples were about to go through a heart wrenching and confusing series of events. By now they were coming to grips with the fact that Jesus was no mere man, that He was the One for whom the nation had been waiting. He was the Prince of Peace spoken of by the prophets! But suddenly their hopes would seemingly be dashed as he is arrested and scourged, and nailed to a Roman cross. He chose to endure such hostilities at the hands of sinners against himself, to make a way for us to experience true “peace.” That is what we long for, “True peace, lasting peace, peace that transcends the uncertainly of life in this fallen world, peace which is available to all who will trust in Jesus, the one, true Gift of Christmas.” The prophets held up the prospect of peace, and pointed to…

II. The PRINCE of Peace is the only One who can bring the peace we long for.

Paul explains in Colossians 1:19-22 who Jesus is, and what He came to do,

¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  ²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,  ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…

Don’t miss what he is saying, God became a man to reconcile sinful humans with holy God—to make “peace” through the blood of his cross! He came, he chose to come, knowing what would happen. That is the motivation behind the historical truth that “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). Billy Graham described the wonder of it,

Christmas is not a myth, not a tradition, not a dream. It is a glorious reality. It is a time of joy. Bethlehem’s manger crib become the link that bound a lost world to a loving God. From that manger came a Man who not only taught a new way of life, but brought us into a new relationship with the Creator. Christmas means that God is interested in the affairs of people; that God loves us so much that He was willing to give His Son…

The writer to the Hebrews explained it in Hebrews 10:3-14,   

³ But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year.  ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  ⁵ Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;  ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure...  ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  ¹¹ And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  ¹² But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,  ¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.  ¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

We read more about that in Ephesians 2:14-17,

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”

For Jew and Gentile alike the way to peace is through faith in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. That is true peace, lasting peace, peace that transcends the uncertainly of life in this fallen world, and it is available to all who will trust in Jesus, the one, true Gift of Christmas. That brings us to the last point I want to touch on…

III. The Presence of Peace is possible now, because of Him.  Remember how we started, talking about The Hebrew word “Shalom” as “The state of fulfillment that results from God’s presence.” So “peace” relates to the idea of re-establishing God's design for creation, before the fall, when He pronounced it “good,” when God was in perfect fellowship with humans.  God walked in the Garden with the man and the woman, there was peace, shalom, on earth. That peace was disrupted by the fall but the coming of the Prince of Peace, according to promise, according to God’s plan, means that fellowship can be restored, reconciliation between God and those who would believe. Now the prophets did speak of a Day that would come, when there would again be peace on earth. For example we read in Isaiah 2:2-4,   

² It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,  ³ and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  ⁴ He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

A few chapters later the prophet gives a glimpse of a future age that would seem to be a return to Eden, a day when…

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.  ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  ⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.  ⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea… (Isa 11:6-9).

That age, when the curse will be undone, and the creation, which is now groaning, waiting for the completion of God’s plan, will be made new, is still future.  Even so, if we know Him, He is present with us, and His presence means peace can reign in our hearts. So Paul can say in Philippians 4:5-9,

⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Notice, “The Lord is at hand…” It is His presence that means peace to His people. So even in the midst of hardship and suffering, even when it makes no sense from a merely human perspective, we can have peace, the peace of God, because we have peace with God.  There is a third aspect of “peace” that flows from this which I heard in a devotional this week: since we have peace with God, and the peace of God, we also can be, and are called to be peace makers – seeking first of all to be servants of the Prince of Peace, embracing the mission of urging those around us to be reconciled to God! There is much turmoil in the world, but Christmas means PEACE to those who will receive Him.

What is God saying to me in this passage? True peace, lasting peace, peace that transcends the uncertainly of life in this fallen world, is available to all who will trust in Jesus, the one, true Gift of Christmas.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Go to your own people, to your oikos, to your family and friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you! Peace with God is good news, too good for us to keep to ourselves!  The price has been paid, and think about this: God would use us to extend the gift of forgiveness and life to those around us! In Him we can have peace. And the peace of God is something that people are desperately seeking, though many of them just don’t know it. The shepherds heard the word of the angels, the promise of “peace on earth,” and when they saw the child, they went out and spread the word to all who would listen! The Good News of peace was too much to keep to themselves!  Share with those in your sphere of influence the message of Christmas, and the peace that is available in Jesus.   AMEN.