I missed it, but 21 September 2020 was the International Day of Peace. On this day there are at least 50 conflicts being fought around the world right now. So much for peace.
Peace is what the angels sang about at the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:14:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
But the stories and theology of Jesus’ birth are not just for Christmas. It is for all year round!
The peace that the angels sang about that first Christmas is not just some cute, cosy Christmas decoration but is at the very core of Jesus incarnation and the purposes of God.
The band “Over The Rhine” has a beautiful Christmas album “Blood Oranges In The Snow.” Their song “Another Christmas” speaks about the importance of peace in God's redemption plan. Listen to these lines:
“I hope that we can still believe
The Christ child holds a gift for us
Are we able to receive
Peace on earth this Christmas”
“Peace on earth.” It’s not a new line. Most of us have heard it every Christmas. U2 sings about it. There is the well known Bing Crosby & David Bowie duet.
However, in this song, the familiar “Peace on earth” is paired with
“The Christ child holds a gift for us
Are we able to receive
Peace on earth this Christmas”
Peace – receive peace.
We are living in a day of violence, a day of political scheming and fighting over justice and seeking vengeance, proving who is right or wrong. We are living in a world where is about us and them and us winning.
But the point that God had in coming to earth was peace. That peace was not just for my soul. It was about peace on earth. Anyone following this Jesus whose birth is heralded in this angel’s song should be all about peace.
The Old Testament was all about this peace – shalom is how the Jewish people said it. Shalom was God’s intention. The Old Testament prophets critiqued the lack of shalom and called the people to practice it.
A verse that resonates for us and our role in the city is Jeremiah 29:7:
“seek the [shalom] peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
One of the ways we can translate that word shalom –peace and prosperity – is flourishing.
We who claim to follow the baby born when the angels sang need to live in that priority of peace. As God’s people, we are to seek shalom wherever we are. Seeking a way of being God’s holy nation, a people set apart, different, in all the right ways, from the other nations. We don’t blend in with the world’s normal response to seek to be proven right, in control and avenging all who would be against us. We need to be about that ministry of reconciliation that God told us we would be about just as we are connected to God himself through that same ministry of his peacemaking.
International Peace Day, is not a one-day event for those of us who are followers of Jesus. If we are committed to the truth and priority of the Gospel...
- let us walk in it with courage, hope and all the grace that is in Jesus and is ours because he is in us,
- let us live it out in a world where it is so lacking on our streets, in our political structures, in our social media posts and comments,
- and let us do it, not just on one day, but all year round!
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