“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Luke 2:8-20.
Christmas is a time that we long for peace on earth. We just heard the announcement of the angels, that peace would be one of the results of the birth of Jesus. In the Old Testament, one of the titles that was used by the prophet, Isaiah, for the coming Jesus was, Prince of Peace. Peace is one of main motifs at Christmas. Our village hall has the big sign, “Peace on Earth.” It’s one of the main motifs for Christmas cards, if not in word, then at least in the pictures of peaceful winter nature scenes and pictures of Bethlehem.
But we know Bethlehem is not peaceful tonight. In fact, things are so tense that there will be very little public celebration there at all. And, as I read the Chicago Tribune and ‘peace’ isn’t the word that describes most of the stories. We have so many stories of conflicts, between nations, within nations, and here in our state politics.
And you don’t read it about it in the papers unless it really boils over, but probably there are many families sweating it out a bit right now wondering what it’s going to be like getting everybody under the same roof tonight or tomorrow. Will the old tensions break out and spoil the day?
And yet the Christmas story keeps calling us back to this dream. Can we dare to accept it as a real possibility? Can we dare to hope for peace on earth? Can we at least dare to hope that some of the conflicts can be turned to peace? Can some families be healed? Some workplaces? Some churches? Some nations?
How much would it be reasonable to pay for peace? What would be a reasonable price for peace? What would you pay?
There are different ways you can try to get peace. These days a lot of people are wishing for peace. It doesn’t cost you anything to just wish. But wishing alone doesn’t accomplish anything.
Maybe some people grumble about how things used to be different at Christmas time years ago and how bad the world is turning. But those who experienced Christmas during the depression or one of the large wars would probably agree with me that we ought to be very thankful for what we have now. Grumbling doesn’t accomplish anything. That’s a substitute for accomplishing something. So you don’t have to pay much of a price for grumbling, but it doesn’t deliver any peace, either.
There’s a strong movement in our country today that a sociologist might call cocooning. Fill your house up with private entertainment electronics. Keep away from people you don’t understand. Order out for pizza. Do your shopping online. Double lock the door. Install a security system. Maybe even keep a loaded gun under your pillow. Just don’t have anything to do with anybody outside your family.
But often those people who work the hardest to keep the world’s problems out are the ones who are most afraid because they have pushed out the world and they have no contact with real people, so their imaginations start to run wild about what is happening out there. So cocooning doesn’t seem to cost much, but if it leaves you more afraid than when you started, whatever you pay is too much.
And more and more we are trying to make peace by getting tough. Stop crime by locking up all the criminals and throwing away the key or put them to death. And we are finding out more and more how often we have cut some corners to convict them. That’s being tough!
Protect our national interests by building up the most incredible military machine in the history of the earth. We spend way more than anybody else for defense. If you take the five countries most likely to attack us, Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and Syria, and you add all their military budgets together, and we spend 20 times more than they do. Twenty to one in spending, that’s being tough!
And there are a lot of families that continue playing tough with each other, continuing to feud year after year after year. Boy you pray a price for that, but it gives a measure of feeling safe if you always keep your guard up at home.
But does playing tough bring peace?
As a result of being tough on criminals, we have a higher percentage of our citizens in jail than any other country and we execute more of our citizens than just about anybody else. And do we feel safe now? Most of them are still going to be released some day. And will they be prepared to live responsible lives as our next door neighbors? I don’t think we’ve moved much closer to peace with our get tough on crime policies at all.
And, sure we can beat up on any nation we want to. We can fly over them and bomb the tar out of them. Nobody can even dream of facing us in open battle. But has that made for a peaceful world? The tougher we get the more people we alienate and the harder we are going to have to work to suppress all those angry people out there. I don’t see any happy ending ahead.
And we are paying a terrible price in all the expense of our prisons and all the military technology we are building. And of course, both prisons and military defense have an important place. But they can’t buy peace.
Where can you turn to find peace? I haven’t seen anyone offering it for sale. Actually, I understand you can price a lot of strange things online on Ebay.com. But I’ll bet nobody is promising to deliver peace even there. Who could?
The one we turn to year after year, the one who actually has brought peace to many human hearts and many broken relationships is this baby, Jesus, born in a stable centuries ago.
And what price did he pay to bring peace? Sure, he paid a price. He took a terrible risk. While our human race was in rebellion against him, he came to us, totally vulnerable, as vulnerable as a little baby, born to impoverished peasants, traveling far from home. And as he grew, he gently healed the sick and he taught about a world of love. And there were many people who took advantage of his vulnerability and refused to join in with him and they opposed him at every opportunity. But there was a growing number who decided to follow him, to stop playing it tough, to take the risk of vulnerability and love, a group who found peace in their souls and became peacemakers for others.
This Christmas season we find the Christians of our world and the Moslems of our world facing each other with more tension than they have felt for centuries. Let me tell you a story of what one Christian did during our last confrontation, during the Crusades.
The battle lines were established as the Christian army and the Moslem army did their best to kill each other. But a simple monk, Francis of Assisi went to the scene of the battle. And he just walked across the no man’s land, armed with nothing but love in his heart. And he asked to see the Moslem sultan.
And the soldiers who met him were amazed at what must have looked like a crazy man. But they must have felt his sincerity, because word was passed up the chain of command. And Francis of Assisi was able to meet with the sultan and he told the sultan about Jesus Christ. The Sultan didn’t choose to become a Christian, but he enjoyed the conversation. And he told St. Francis that if there were any more Christians like Francis, they would be welcome to come into any of the Moslem lands and teach the people whatever they had in their hearts.
I’m not ready to put all the military weapons away yet. The world isn’t ready for that. But as we face the conflicts of our lives, conflicts within our families, conflicts between races and nations and religions, let’s remember the example of peace making that Jesus set for us. May we each be modern Francis of Assisi’s.
Where there are conflicts in families or neighborhoods, may we find ways to defuse the tensions and calm the fears with open gentleness, humility and transparency.
When we have contacts with people from other countries, religions or cultures, may we not give in to the fears in ourselves, but let the love of God reach out through us with that same spirit of Christ, in gentleness in openness, in love. AMEN
