God With us Brings Peace

Advent Week 4

God With Us Brings Peace

Luke 2:8-14

Series Slide

We have made it to the final week of Advent! The season of waiting, of anticipating, of expectation.  As you may recall from the previous weeks, Advent is from the Latin word, Adventus, and means coming, or arrival.  We have spent the last 4 weeks looking at the fact that God is with us, that God with us brings the attributes of God to us… that these attributes of God can be seen and known in our lives.  We have looked at the fact that God is hope… that God is love… that God is joy… and today we look at the fact that God is Peace.  We have lit the candle of Peace and we are already preparing our hearts for Christmas Eve and the celebration of the reality that God is with us!

But first, let us pray.

<Prayer>

Sermon Slide

It was December 24, 1914.  Germany and Britain had been at war for 5 months, but the soldiers were still confused as to why they were at war.  Neither country had invaded the other, and they really had no conflict with one another… it was just the result of a bunch of political alliances and treaties throughout Europe.  Yet, they continued to lob bombs and fire rounds back and forth toward one another’s trenches.  Yet, on Christmas Eve, most of the soldiers began to put down their weapons for the day.  By nightfall, soldiers on both sides seemed to have agreed to a ceasefire, much to the chagrin of the commanding officers.  At some point in the night, the British soldiers began to hear these words…

(Stille Nacht)

In the cold of that winter night, the British soldiers joined in the chorus.

Throughout the night, they traded carols back and forth instead of gunfire.

As the sun rose, at some point in the morning.  A German soldier began to climb out of the trench… the British fired a warning shot… sending the German back into his trench… after a few moments, the German again climbed from his trench, this time with his hands up in the air yelling in a thick German accent… “Merry Christmas.”  A little uncertain, one of the British soldiers climbed from his trench, arms raised.  Soon, along the “no-man’s land,” German and British soldiers were trading gifts like Schnapps and Scotch, German chocolates and Plum Pudding, and Cigars and cigarettes. 

It has been documented that some soldiers cut buttons from their uniforms to share with one another.

While the facts have been argued, there are stories of games of Soccer (they call it Football) between the Germans and Allied forces.

The event became known as the Christmas Truce of 1914.  While there were other reports of such truces during WWI and WWII, the magnitude of the Christmas Truce was never repeated. 

At some point, the commanding officers of both sides forced the hostilities to begin again… Some stories showed that there were many wasted rounds shot over the trenches or into the banks of dirt until acts of war resumed.  War eventually continued, but on that special day, enemies placed their shared humanity before their grievances, and experienced the Christmas spirit of Peace in a powerful way.

It had to be an amazing sight for those enemies to come together, shaking hands and exchanging gifts.

Sharing Christmas Peace.

In much the same way, peace can fill us and envelope us in a season like this… regardless of what is going on around us and in us, God’s peace is available to us!

This year has not been an easy year for many of us.  We have experienced our own losses, yet in the midst of that pain, in the midst of that grief and sorrow, we have found the peace of God that transcends all understanding.  Peace is known, not because of what we do, but because of who we know.  Peace comes because God is with us. 

Jesus is the very embodiment, the incarnation of the peace we seek.

As we think about this peace, I can’t help but remember the story of the Shepherds in their fields keeping watch over their sheep.  I want us to spend the rest of our time looking at the peace we find exemplified in the story of these shepherds.

The Angels Appeared to the Shepherds.

One thing that these shepherds show us is that peace can be, and is restored.

The Shepherds in the Christmas story often get a bad wrap.  Gone were the ancient days of the shepherds like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even King David.  2000 years ago, they were considered to be in the lowest social class… In the Jewish culture, there were shepherds, then there were gentiles… they were only one step above the ungodly gentiles.

These men worked in the elements, seldom having the opportunity to bathe.  The animals they cared for were smelly and nasty.  People did not want to be around them… and even to this day, the shepherds really don’t want to be around people.

At the opposite end of the political and social spectrum were the religious elites like the Sadducees and Pharisees.  In that culture, if someone was to receive a message from God, it would come through the priests or these religious elites… Shepherds weren’t accustomed to hearing from angels.

Yet, it was to the shepherds that the angels appeared.

Luke described the scene like this: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified” (Luke 2:8–9)

What was going on here?

I can almost imagine the scene like Otis Campbell from the Andy Griffith show… something unbelievable happens and he looks at his bottle and throws it away…

I can see one shepherd looking at the next and saying… “Ok Bob?  Are you seeing this too?”

And then, as if a vision of an angel wasn’t enough, the glowing guy spoke—to the shepherds!

Verse 10: “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger’” (Luke 2:10–12).

Unbelievable! But wait . . . there’s more. Literally, more. As in, more angels - Verse 13: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13–14).

The words were almost more unbelievable than the messengers themselves. The angels were making a proclamation of peace to those on whom God’s favor rests. And they were making it to the shepherds?

The Shepherds Receive the Announcement of the Good News

Can you imagine the confusion of the Shepherds… they were nobodies, and yet angels had appeared to them… and said that God’s favor is on them… and His Peace was with them!

This wasn’t the way things had been.  According to the standards and customs, they weren’t supposed to receive God’s favor. 

But God’s favor and God’s peace aren’t based on human standards.  God’s favor and the supernatural peace of our Savior is on all those who humbly acknowledge their brokenness and accept the gifts of hope, love, joy, and peace that Jesus brings.

The angels appeared to the shepherds…

The shepherds received the announcement of good news…

And then, …

The Shepherds became the message bearers of peace.

The arrival of the infant king… God with us meant the restoration of the role of the shepherds… so much so that Jesus even called himself the “Good Shepherd” who loves and cared for us, his sheep.

The peace offered to and through the shepherds marked the starting place of peace to all… God’s peace is not based on class, or occupation, or status, but on God’s purpose and design to bring good news that will cause great joy for all people.

This isn’t the peace we usually think of though, This peace is Shalom.

So often we think of peace being the absence of conflict.  We think of peace as the end of war… but the word here is Shalom – it is the Hebrew word that means so much more than the end of hostility.  Shalom implies safety, completeness, or wholeness.  That which was lacking has been made complete and whole.

This is the peace brought by God with Us.  It is a Godly, a heavenly peace that surpasses all understanding. 

The Jews of Jesus day wanted a Messiah that would bring about a military and political peace, bringing justice against their oppressors.  They wanted a messiah that would rule over the conflict of the day, but what Jesus brought was the overcoming of conflict with shalom.  That in the midst of the conflict.  In the midst of the brokenness of the world.  In the midst of the pain of oppression, the people could still know the peace of God with them.

It is the peace that calms our souls deeply. It is the calm acceptance that “it is well with my soul” no matter what swirls and storms around us. This is the peace we celebrate today. And when Jesus returns one day, He will heal all that’s been broken and restore God’s complete kingdom of shalom. Yes, there will be the absence of war and hatred, but even that type of peace will be an extension of the wholeness that He will establish.

Finally, Peace Is a Person

Near the end of Jesus’s life, He spoke these words to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus knew His followers were about to experience a crushing blow. But He had a gift for them that was different from anything in our world—His peace is not given as the world gives. It is not a gift that can be taken away nor is it something we can create on our own. It is not the absence of pain, hurt, noise, violence, or uncertainty. Peace is a person. Peace is Jesus with us as the Prince of Peace. And His assurance to the disciples was that even in what would appear to be the most hopeless of situations, He would be with them. His peace is His presence with us no matter the circumstances.

“For he himself is our peace,”Paul told us in Ephesians 2:14. As we experience God’s presence, we become interwoven in and inseparable from the peace that He is and that He gives to us.

Paul went on to say, “[He] who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:14–16).

Sermon Slide

God with Us brings peace between us and God, but He also brings peace among people because we are all drawn together and unified in God through Jesus. This is the perfect picture of shalom—wholeness, safety, and the restoration of all people as one. Jesus’s peace is not simply that we agree to disagree; it is that in Him we are made one. In wholeness we are reconciled to God and to others in Jesus.

Just like with the Shepherds, God’s peace is available to you… It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, German or British… it doesn’t matter what dichotomy we name or position we claim… God’s peace is available to each of us.

So I ask, do you accept that peace….

Do you accept the incarnation of peace…

Do you acknowledge the embodiment of love..

Do you recognize the manifestation of joy…

Will you receive the personification of hope?

God with us… Jesus, God in the flesh, is peace, and love, and joy, and hope.

It is my prayer today, that you do not leave this place without accepting all that Jesus has to offer to you in this life and the life to come!