The past few weeks we’ve been looking at the gifts Jesus was born to give us.
This week, we’re focusing on the gift of “peace” and (because today is Christmas) I wanted to start the sermon with a Christmas Carol that had peace as part of its message. But as I searched through my files I only found a couple of carols that had that word in it. One of them was this one. Sing it with me:
“It came upon a midnight clear that glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold
Peace on the earth, good will to men from Heaven's all gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.”
That’s a beautiful carol isn’t it?
And it has a message about peace in its words:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men, from Heaven’s all gracious King”
Did you realize that was one of the reasons Jesus was born to bring “Peace to the Earth”
That’s what the Angels said
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14
And that’s what Isaiah declared:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…” Isaiah 9:6-7
These were the proclamations BEFORE and AT His birth.
And they echo what Galatians tells us:
“…when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son....” Galatians 4:4
He was sent forth… He was born to bring us peace.
Well that is a little hard to believe.
I mean earth hasn’t been the most peaceful place to be - down thru history.
ILLUS: One there was one STUDY that said that:
Since 3600 B.C. the world has only known 292 years of peace. During this period there have been 14,531 wars, large and small, in which 3,640,000,000 people have been killed.
(The Canadian Army Journal)
THAT’S NOT PEACE!!!
But, of course, Jesus knew that was going to happen.
Jesus said: “… nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...” Matthew 24:7
And He told His disciples: “In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33
As long as we live in this world there will be wars and conflicts.
As long as we live in this world there will be troubles and heartaches.
As long as there is sin in this world … there’s going to be all that stuff.
But that’s not the kind of peace Jesus was promising.
Jesus wasn’t promising to give us peace that was based on our circumstances
He was promising a peace in SPITE of our circumstances.
In spite of our conflicts.
In spite of our troubles.
You see a lot of people aren’t content – they aren’t at peace – unless their circumstances are just what they want in life. They’re not at peace UNLESS…
• they have the right kinds relationships
• or the right kind of job
• or the right kind of retirement package
• or the right kind of political party in power in the nation.
Unless those things are true in their lives, a lot of folks are just not at peace
Because… their circumstances dictate their peace.
ILLUS: A few days before Christmas a reporter named Lee, who worked for the Chicago Tribune - and an atheist, had written an article about a family called the Delgado’s:
There was the grandmother named Perfecta and her two granddaughters, Jenny age 13 and her sister Lydia 11 years old.
They lived on the west side of Chicago in a 2 room apartment with bare walls, no furniture, no rugs … nothing but a kitchen table and a handful of rice in the cupboards. The girls only had one short-sleeved dress apiece, plus a thin gray sweater that they shared. On cold days when the girls walked the ½ mile to school, one of the girls would start with the sweater and then give it to the other at the halfway mark.
It was all they had.
Perfecta wanted more for her granddaughters and would gladly have worked but her severe arthritis and age made work too difficult and painful. Lee’s article detailed their poverty in stark and powerful ways.
A few days after he wrote his article, he visited the Delgado’s again. His article had touched the hearts of many subscribers who responded with furniture and appliances, rugs, dozens of coats, scarves and gloves. The girls wouldn’t have to share a sweater any longer. There was cartons and cartons and boxes of food everywhere. They had so much food that the cupboards and closets couldn’t contain it. Someone had even donated a Christmas tree, and under it were mounds of presents and thousands of dollars in cash!
Lee was astonished!
But what astonished him the most was what he found Perfecta and her granddaughters doing. They were preparing to give most of it away.
"Why would you give so much of this away?" Lee asked.
Perfecta responded, "Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do."
Then he asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity that was shown to them.
She said, "This is wonderful. We did nothing to deserve this; it’s all a gift from God. But it is not his greatest gift, Lee. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. Jesus."
Lee was speechless. And as he drove back to the office, he began to reflect on a few things:
1st - He had plenty. But along with that… he had plenty of anxiety,
By contrast, the Delgado’s - despite their poverty – were at peace.
2nd - Lee had everything and yet wanted more, but the Delgado’s had nothing and yet were generous.
3rd - Even though Lee had so much more than the Delgado’s, he longed for what they had.
By the way, the journalist and self-proclaimed atheist - his full name is Lee Strobel.
This encounter with the Delgado’s shook his unbelief and eventually led to his accepting the call of Christ. He’s become a prolific writer for the faith of Christianity and one his most famous books is “The Case For Christianity.” All because he met people who had the peace Jesus had promised.
Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” John 14:27
The Delgado’s had that peace.
Lee Strobel didn’t.
What Made the difference?
I can think of 3 things
First the Delgado’s knew – that no matter what their circumstances - God was there for them.
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah declared:
“… Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Do you remember what Immanuel means?
Matthew 1:23 says “they shall call his name Immanuel” which means, GOD WITH US.”
God was declaring that He was going to step down out of heaven in order to be there with and for us.
You remember the promise: “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you”?
THAT’S where we get our peace.
Our peace comes from the fact that we don’t have to face this life alone.
Because of Jesus - we belong to God and He’ll take care of us.
ILLUS: While praying one day, a woman asked God “Who are you God?
He answered: “I am”.
“But, Who is ‘I am.’” She asked
“I am Love, I am Peace. I am Grace. I am Joy. I am Strength. I am Safety. I am Shelter. I am Power. I am the Creator. I am the Comforter. I am the Beginning and the End. I am the Way, the Truth and the Light.”
With tears in her eyes, she looked toward Heaven and said “Now I understand. But who am I?”
God tenderly wiped away her tears and whispered: “You… are Mine.”
That’s where we get our peace.
God stepped down out of heaven to become Immanuel – God With Us.
One person put it this way: “Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is the presence of God”
2nd – the Delgado’s knew that Jesus held the future.
As I was studying for this sermon I was struck by one of Jesus’ comments. He said:
“I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father… Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
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.” John 16:28, 32-33
Did you catch that?
Jesus said: “I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace.”
What things had Jesus told them?
He had told them what would happen to Him. (He was leaving this world)
What would happen to them. (They would desert Him)
And I thought why would knowing what Jesus told them bring PEACE???
Then I realized. Jesus words would bring peace to His disciples because He was telling them You know why???
Because by telling them His, He was declaring that He knew HIS future… and He knew THEIR future.
Maybe you know this song. If so, sing it with me:
“I don't know about tomorrow; I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine for its skies may turn to grey.
I don't worry o'er the future, for I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead.
Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.”
That’s where our peace lies.
Our Jesus knows what was ahead.
And because He knew what lay ahead, they knew who held tomorrow.
And that’s why the Delgados’ weren’t worried about giving away what they’d received.
The only thing that concerned them was “This is what Jesus would want us to do”
Because they believed God would take care of them.
Lastly, the Delgados had peace because they believed in a God who could DO things.
Do you remember their reply to Strobel:
“We did nothing to deserve this; it’s all a gift from God.”
They believed in a God who DID THINGS for them.
Christmas is a reminder that God does things all the time.
Everything from the Angels declaring the birth to the shepherds,
To the star leading the Wisemen to the Christ child
To the birth of Jesus in a manger – the miraculous birth of a virgin born child.
These were not normal events.
These were not run of the mill occurrences.
“…when the fullness of time had come, God” DID STUFF! Galatians 4:4
He sent forth His Son… born of a woman, born under the law, because by that one action - by sending His only begotten Son – by that one action God was able to do even MORE stuff.
(Pause)
One of the most powerful images in Scripture for me is the contrast between what God did when He created the World and what He did when He sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins.
In Psalm 8:3 David says “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
Did you catch that?
When God created the world… it was the work of His fingers.
It was like God was doing a little “finger painting.”
But by contrast - Isaiah tells us what God did when He set things in motion for Christ
Isaiah 52:10 “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
When God created the world… he was just playing.
It was the joyful activity of an artist, creating a flower here and tree there.
But when the fullness of time had come, and God sent forth His son, born of a woman, God rolled up His sleeves, He bared His arm… and He went to work.
The Delgados understood that.
When asked about the gifts they had received, the grandmother said
“We did nothing to deserve this; it’s all a gift from God. But it is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. Jesus”
When God sent His Son to be born in a manger, He declared that this was His gift
And the gift of His Son would give us peace.
“You shall call His name Immanuel, which means – God with us.”
CLOSE: One Christmas season a schoolteacher in England supervised the construction of a manger scene in a corner of her classroom. Her pupils were delighted to set up the model barn and cover the floor with real straw and then arrange the clay figures of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Wise Men, and the animals -- all facing a little crib in which a tiny doll represented the infant Jesus.
One boy simply could not tear himself away from it. He kept returning to it, and each time he stood there completely engrossed and wearing a puzzled expression on his face.
The teacher finally asked him,
"Is anything bothering you? Do you have a question to ask? What would you like to know?"
With his eyes still glued to the manger scene, the boy said slowly,
"What I'd like to know is, where does God fit in?"
ILLUS: Last week I stopped at a nursing home and observed a performer entertaining the residents with one of the most offensive and banal Christmas songs I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t stand it. It angered me so much I just walked away.
But that’s what you get when you take Jesus out of Christmas.
You get a holiday filled with trivialities and emptiness.
A time of year when people are so caught up in emptiness and self absorption to the point where they rush and hurry about in the hopes of creating the perfect Christmas experience.
As far as the perfect Christmas… it’s hard to beat the first one.
“…when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son....” Galatians 4:4
When Jesus was born in that manger… it was a declaration that
• God is with us
• God knows our future
• And God can, and does, do stuff
And all that is what gives us the gift of God’s Peace
That’s the message of the manger.
INVITATION
