Sermon Tone Analysis

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.

And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’

If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.

He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

Rise, let us go from here.

No Repeat of the Christmas Truce of 1914

In World War Two, there was no truce similar to the one that occurred during Christmas in 1914 in World War One.

In that earlier conflict, thousands of British, French and German soldiers, exhausted by the unprecedented slaughter of the previous five months, left their trenches and met the enemy in No Man's Land, exchanging gifts, food and stories.

Generals on both sides, determined to prevent fraternization in future, saw to it that such activities would be severely punished and so there were no more Christmas truces the rest of that war or the next.

But, in December of 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, while the Americans fought for their lives against a massive German onslaught, a tiny shred of human decency happened on Christmas Eve.

A German mother made it so.

Three American soldiers, one badly wounded, were lost in the snow-covered Ardennes Forest as they tried to find the American lines.

They had been walking for three days while the sounds of battle echoed in the hills and valleys all around them.

Then, on Christmas Eve, they came upon a small cabin in the woods.

Elisabeth Vincken and her 12-year-old son, Fritz, had been hoping her husband would arrive to spend Christmas with them, but it was now too late.

The Vinckens had been bombed out of their home in Aachen, Germany and had managed to move into the hunting cabin in the Hurtgen Forest near the Belgian border.

Fritz's father stayed behind to work and visited them when he could.

Their Christmas meal would now have to wait for his arrival.

Elisabeth and Fritz were alone in the cabin.

Visitors at the Cabin

One day, there was a knock on the door.

Elisabeth blew out the candles and opened the door to find two enemy American soldiers standing at the door and a third lying in the snow.

Despite their rough appearance, they seemed hardly older than boys.

They were armed and could have simply burst in, but they hadn't, so she invited them inside and they carried their wounded comrade into the warm cabin.

Elisabeth didn't speak English and they didn't speak German, but they managed to communicate in broken French.

Hearing their story and seeing their condition-- especially the wounded soldier-- Elisabeth started preparing a meal.

She sent Fritz to get six potatoes and Hermann the rooster-- his stay of execution, delayed by her husband's absence, rescinded.

Hermann's namesake was Hermann Goering, the Nazi leader, who Elisabeth didn't care much for.

More Visitors

While Hermann roasted, there was another knock on the door and Fritz went to open it, thinking there might be more lost Americans, but instead there were four armed German soldiers.

Knowing the penalty for harboring the enemy was execution, Elisabeth, white as a ghost, pushed past Fritz and stepped outside.

There was a corporal and three very young soldiers, who wished her a Merry Christmas, but they were lost and hungry.

Elisabeth told them they were welcome to come into the warmth and eat until the food was all gone, but that there were others inside who they would not consider friends.

The corporal asked sharply if there were Americans inside and she said there were three who were lost and cold like they were and one was wounded.

The corporal stared hard at her until she said “Es ist Heiligabend und hier wird nicht geschossen.”

“It is the Holy Night and there will be no shooting here.”

She insisted they leave their weapons outside.

Dazed by these events, they slowly complied and Elisabeth went inside, demanding the same of the Americans.

She took their weapons and stacked them outside next to the Germans'.

Tension and Roast Hermann

Understandably, there was a lot of fear and tension in the cabin as the Germans and Americans eyed each other warily, but the warmth and smell of roast Hermann and potatoes began to take the edge off.

The Germans produced a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread.

While Elisabeth tended to the cooking, one of the German soldiers, an ex-medical student, examined the wounded American.

In English, he explained that the cold had prevented infection but he'd lost a lot of blood.

He needed food and rest.

By the time the meal was ready, the atmosphere was more relaxed.

Two of the Germans were only sixteen; the corporal was 23.

As Elisabeth said grace, Fritz noticed tears in the exhausted soldiers' eyes-- both German and American.

Parting Company

The truce lasted through the night and into the morning.

Looking at the Americans' map, the corporal told them the best way to get back to their lines and provided them with a compass.

Elisabeth returned all their weapons and the enemies shook hands and left, in opposite directions.

Soon they were all out of sight; the truce was over.

Shalom

Typically, we translate shalom as meaning peace, but in that one Hebrew word rests God’s original design for all of creation.

Shalom.”

Today, that word is used as a greeting in Jewish circles, just as many Americans might say “hi” or “hello.”

Shalom is a Hebrew noun that refers to the wholeness, perfection, prosperity and peace of God’s creation.

This noun encompasses God’s vision for how He wants His creation to function.

When He created the world, He webbed all things together with Him in perfect harmony, delight and peace.

Peace is God’s will being done in Heaven and on Earth.

How do we find Peace (Shalom)?

Adam and Eve were at peace with God and all He created.

Their needs were supplied.

They did not suffer hunger, disease or pain of any kind.

Beauty surrounded them so that they could experience and enjoy it.

They weren’t lonely, for they had each other, and more importantly, they had an intimate relationship with their Creator.

If any people ever experienced peace, it was Adam and Eve.

The condition of peace existed in the garden only as long as they were obedient to God’s will.

Unfortunately, they disobeyed and the shalom of God was lost for them.

First, we must pray for shalom to increase in the world.

Jesus taught us to pray in this way:

(ESV)

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

We are to pray for God’s will—shalom—to be done on earth as it is in heaven and as it will be when Christ comes again.

Second, we must celebrate shalom’s presence in the world.

A key aspect of shalom is developing a Sabbath rhythm.

God didn’t rest on the seventh day because He was exhausted from all His hard work.

I

(ESV)

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?