Christ Our Peace (Advent Sermon)

Advent 2 (Peace) Sermon - December 5, 2021 Luke 1:26-38, Is 40:3-5

The peace of Christ be with you. (And also with you). If that greeting was familiar to you you’ve either been in an Anglican worship service or elsewhere where this blessing has been pronounced.

Though raised atheist I have enjoyed worshipping in multiple settings, including Pentecostal, Baptist and Anglican, particularly when I was at seminary.

That’s why I sometimes call myself an Anglibapticostal.

I like this greeting, because it speaks of a profound truth that all followers of Christ share, and that we are learning together to participate in - the peace of Christ. Do you participate in the peace of Christ? Have you been learning to rest in His peace.

As there are now, there have always been a great many reasons to not have peace. We have all been through, so far, a 21 month pandemic. No one on this planet has been unaffected by this reality.

But there have always been factors fighting against Peace, and this includes real things that make it hard for Christians to dwell in the peace of Christ. There have been frequent wars. There have been economic meltdowns. These global things I’ve had an impact on us.

There have been local tragedies. There have been far too many shootings, there is far too much gang activity in our own city, in our own community.

And these things are just the tip of the iceberg. How are you and I expected to find peace where, some would argue, there is no peace.

For those of us who have been Christians for a really long time, we all run the risk of forgetting…forgetting that whatever peace we know in our lives today is not first about circumstances, it’s not about our character, it’s not even about how we’ve chosen to abide in the peace of Christ, whatever that may mean to us.

The peace we know is rooted in the character and calling of the One Christians think of during this Advent season as the Christ Child. This Prince of Peace. And during Advent, Jesus is calling us toward himself. He is the ultimate person of peace. He is the location of peace.

Do you ever wonder, “Why does God seem to care so much about me living with peace, when He knows that life and circumstances around about will always be somewhat unstable and we will always be vulnerable”?

Do you ever wonder “Why does the world around us seem in such despair, such chaos, such a feeling of teetering on the precipice (especially given this very long pandemic, and now the new Omicron variant that is somehow an even greater threat than the previous viruses)”?

And I wondered how we as a community could make a step closer to Jesus during this season. What is it about the Christ Child that makes approaching God somehow a little easier that it can seem otherwise.

Let’s listen carefully as these few passages are read to us: [Have readers read the following passages on Peace]

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

Romans 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Let’s consider the question: God knows there will often be turmoil around us that will impact us. We are vulnerable to the things that go on around us. Nothing has shown that to be true more than this current pandemic.

Why does God then care that we live personally and collectively in peace, despite all that’s stacked against us?

If you are a follower of Jesus, your life stopped being about just you, or you and friends and your family, sometime ago. Your life is about you, and it is about your family, and your friends.

But your life is also, very importantly, about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God that is under the rule of the Prince of Peace.

And Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is my Lord…

He personally rules my life as I turn it over to Him daily, and I live in the light of His loving grace. That makes so much of life so much better than it would be without Him. Does that mean that nothing bad will ever happen?

That idea…that nothing bad should ever happen to a follower of Jesus….it is very, very misplaced, very wrong, and ultimately there’s nothing that way of thinking can do but cripple our faith if we live with that assumption.