This morning we look at Christmastime in terms of peace, and the “Prince of Peace” Himself.
In our world today, man seeks to establish peace, yet whatever successes he might seem to achieve are never permanent. Instead of achieving peace, man continually lives with chaos, confusion, and conflict. Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a world where there is no war, no fighting, no arguments, and no disputes of any kind? None of us can really fathom what a world like that would be – why? Because we have never experienced it or even anything close to it! People throughout the centuries have talked about peace; but, few, if any, have ever had an actual plan to bring peace to the world! But God has a plan. God has sent us a Prince of Peace. Isn’t it ironic that in the very place of the birth of Jesus there has almost always been conflict & war? When TV cameras take you to Bethlehem this Christmas season you will have to notice the armed soldiers who are watching over the crowds that gather to worship the Prince of Peace.
Here in America the term “peace” has been clearly connected with the absence of war. If there is no war – there is peace. However, the word that is used in the Old Testament for peace is “Shalom” and it means so much more than the absence of conflict. Shalom is indeed used to describe the end of hostilities, but the word itself also pictures health and wholeness. It denotes harmony and completeness. To have shalom is to have not only a quiet life but also to have a fulfilled life in every way.
When you have shalom there is no feeling of harm or hurt. When you have shalom you are in a state of ease and safety. There is no fearing whatsoever. There is no worry. There is a sense of harmony and oneness. You know your purpose and you have a sense of wholeness and completeness. Everything is exactly the way it should be. Nothing is out of order. Your inner world as well as the outer world is in harmony. This is shalom – this is the peace that Jesus brings for He is – Our Prince of Peace.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men.”
Good-will to men?" It is a beautiful message, but does God really expect us to take it seriously?
I believe that God does intend His teachings to be taken seriously. So He not only speaks the words, "Peace on earth, good will toward men," but He gives us the key to unlocking the door to peace so that we really can attain it.
What is that key? Listen to these words, "If your enemy is hungry give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, & the Lord will reward you."
If I asked you where to find those words in the Bible, some of you would say, "Jesus said them in the 5th chapter of Matthew." And I would give you partial credit for that because Jesus does say something similar when He tells us to love our enemies & to be good & kind to those who curse us.
Some of you might say, "Paul said them." And I would give you partial credit for that as well, because in the 12th chapter of Romans Paul quotes from this passage.
But the words I have just read are the words of Solomon recorded in Proverbs 25:21-22. "If your enemy is hungry give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, & the Lord will reward you."
Whether it is in the O.T. or in the New, God’s Word says that if there is going to be peace on earth then we, as God’s people, must learn to treat our enemies with love.
What about this idea, "love your enemies - feed them - care for them?" Are they just words? Words we think of only at Christmas time? Or are they words that can be used every day of our lives? Can we really love our enemies?
God seems to think that we can - but only when we realize the source & the example & the power of this love in our lives.
So we need to realize is that before there can be any peace we must recognize that the source of love is God Himself. "God is love." From His great heart comes this love that is for all.
In more than a few past wars, the warring nations would call a cease-fire for Christmas Day. They would agree that on Christmas Day they wouldn’t shoot at each other, drop bombs on each other, or try to destroy one another. Then, of course, the day after Christmas they would start killing each other again.
There is a truce between nations that is known as the “Christmas Truce,”
This story has been told in a variety of ways, but this is the researched version that appeared in newspapers nationwide on Christmas Day fifteen years ago from the Associated Press, dateline London:
“On the first Christmas Day of World War I, British and German troops put down their guns and celebrated peacefully together in the no-man’s land between the trenches. The war, briefly, came to a halt.
In some places, festivities began when German troops lit candles on Christmas trees atop their barricades so the British troops a few hundred yards away could see them.
Elsewhere, the British acted first, starting bonfires and letting off rockets. Private Oswald Tilley of the London Rifle Brigade wrote to his parents: “Just think that while you were eating your turkey, I was out talking and shaking hands with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before! It was astounding.”
Both armies had received lots of comforts from home and felt generous and well-disposed toward their enemies in the first winter of the war, before the vast battles began in 1915, eventually claiming ten million lives. All along the line that Christmas Day, soldiers found their enemies were much like them and began asking why they should be trying to kill each other. The generals were shocked. High Command diaries and statements express anxiety that if that sort of thing spread it could sap the troops’ will to fight. The soldiers in khaki and gray sang carols to each other, exchanged gifts of tobacco, jam, sausage, chocolate and liquor, traded names and addresses and played soccer between the shell holes and barbed wire. They even paid mutual trench visits.
This day is called “the most famous truce in military history.”
We will never achieve peace on earth until Jesus Christ returns to reign. But I believe we can find peace in our lives here on earth through a relationship with Christ. It is a familiar passage that we read often in our little church, that passage written by Paul, imprisoned, persecuted and facing death in his letter to the people of Philippi. He writes “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men and women; the Lord is at hand! Gentleness refers to contentment and generosity toward others, forgiveness, leniency, graciousness. Paul goes on; “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication (humble petition), with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Chapter 4 verses 4-7.)
Listen to the words of Paul in his letter to the Romans at the start of chapter 5: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We are justified by faith – the Greek construction in the English translation means that justification is a one-time legal declaration with continuing results, not an ongoing process. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul speaks about the fact that if I am to know the peace of God, I must be made right with the God of peace. I need to make peace with God.
There are many people, especially at Christmastime who are angry with God because of circumstances in their lives. If that should be true for any of us here this morning, I would suggest that we need to make peace with God, to look at our lives from an eternal perspective. To realize that God will not give us more than we can handle at any given time, and through trials and tribulations, we can find peace that surpasses all understanding. Peace, not as the world gives, but peace that only God provides. Remember the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 27; “My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled or afraid.”
I see that picture so beautifully illustrated by the cross itself. Pointing up to heaven it pictures that Jesus Christ, the God/Man, reached up and took the hand of the Father. Pointing down toward earth, it pictures Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, reached down and took hold of fallen human beings. With one hand in the hand of God and the other hand in the hand of man, the only unique personality who was God and man brought the two together and made peace between God and man. When I see the cross stretched out, it’s as if there’s an invitation to all people to come and participate in the peace won at Calvary by Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word for peace in the Greek language means, “To join together.” It’s a picture of two opposing forces that have been separated, that now have been reconciled.
So as we pray this morning, I pray for peace in your life. Peace no matter what you may be facing, financial hardship, a mortgage way beyond your means, the loss of employment, a medical situation or illness, a troubled relationship, fear of the unknown, the loss of a loved one, a legal matter, loneliness, uncertainty, I ask you to give it to God right now. God created the universe, the heaven and earth and He created each of us in His image. There is nothing to big that God cannot handle. He is a God of new beginnings, of miracles, and a God of compassion and love for you, just the way you are.
