FOR YOU AND ALL THE WORLD

The son has wandered far from home. He has lived as if his father were dead, collecting his inheritance prematurely. He has squandered it all and has sunk to the depths—feeding pigs and even longing to eat their food. The son returns home ready to be less than a son, ready to be a servant. But the father will have nothing of it. He runs to his son, embraces him, and orders the best robe, a ring, and shoes be put on him. It is time to feast upon the fattened calf, for his son was dead and now is alive. That is peace!

It is no wonder that these words from Christ as so well-loved. The reunion of father and son without anger, without retribution, without scolding—that is beautiful. This is just the sort of thing that Luke loves. Throughout his account of the Gospel, Luke delights to recount how Christ embraces the outcast so that those who had been alienated are now brought near. This is just the sort of account that you need, because you know what it is to be an outcast, alienated from others. Don’t get hung up on such an account only because it resonates with you. Hang on to it because this is the kind of God you have.

Christ comes to bring peace between you and the Father.

So we hear in . The angel of the Lord sounds forth with a clarion voice: “Behold, I bring to you good news of a great joy. For unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This good news of joy is quite personal. The angel speaks first to a select group of shepherds and says that Christ is born “for you.” That message is echoed by the heavenly host, who praise God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among mankind with whom He is pleased.”

Peace. It seems so foreign. These days of preparation hardly seem peaceful. There are presents to buy, pageants to attend, halls to be decked with boughs of holly, and here you are with another Advent service to attend. But it is not an overstretched schedule that robs you of peace. You are robbed of peace by the absence of certain people. There are family members with whom you once spent these days, but they have long since been alienated. They said things that should not have been said. And so have you. Time does not heal all wounds. The more time that passes, the more entrenched you become. While others gather with loved ones, the cold shoulder and silence from parent, child, sibling, friend makes the absence of peace all the clearer.

Yet the Lord is true to His word. Jesus comes with peace for this season and all seasons. He brings peace because we don’t know what makes for peace. We are apt to take on the role of Jerusalem, over whom Jesus weeps, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (). We don’t know what makes for peace. But Jesus does. So the message of the angelic host to the shepherds is echoed as Jesus enters into Jerusalem as the crowds praise God, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (). Oh, there will be peace because Jesus comes into Jerusalem, knowing the things that make for peace. He was born for this. He was born to suffer and die that there might be peace.

How beautiful that the birth of the Prince of Peace was proclaimed to shepherds. Though we may have a romanticized view of shepherds, the ancient world did not. They were seen as lowly, even despised—the very kind of folk who need good news. Luke’s account of the Gospel finds the good news being proclaimed to the poor (; ). Whether it is the lowly shepherds or the poor who receive the good news, one thing is certain. You cannot claim that good news of peace is for others but not you. No matter how lowly you might be, Christ knows the things that make peace for you.

Rejoice in the scope of the peace Christ delivers. At His birth, the heavenly host says, “On earth, peace among mankind with whom He is pleased.” A blessed connection with peace coming to earth, proclaimed by the heavenly host. Peace has come to earth from heaven in this child who is born. And the angels say that it is for all mankind, not a select few. Everybody. That means it is for you.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, it goes the other direction. Now it is the crowds who say, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” They know what God has promised through Christ: peace in heaven. There is peace between you and the Father in heaven. It is yours for the sake of Christ, who took on human flesh and was born to bring you peace, who died in that flesh to reconcile you to God, who rose in that flesh to proclaim peace to you, and who is coming again in that flesh. You are at peace with the Father. Your sin that alienated you from the Father has been overcome. You had been the prodigal, but in Christ, the Father receives you back in joy without anger, without retribution, without scolding. That is beautiful.

That spills down to earth. You are not waiting to be at peace with the Father. You live here on earth in that peace. And so Jesus also knows the things that make for peace between you and those from whom you have been alienated. His peace is for you and all the world, including that estranged family member. Christ has forgiven him; Christ has forgiven you. That is what makes for peace.

So our lives are overcome with joy. “He whom shepherds once came praising,” and for good reason! The angels sing: “Joy, great joy and tidings glad we bring from heav’n resounding, For you, for you and all the world abounding.” The joy is not only for shepherds but also for you and all the world. The praise sounds forth not only from shepherds but also from you and all the world. For “God’s own Son is born a child . . . ; God the Father is reconciled.”

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Every time you come to church, you find me wearing this microphone. Do you know why I wear it? (Allow answers.) I wear it so that everyone can hear me. The microphone picks up my voice and allows it to go over the speakers more loudly than if I were speaking with only the power of my voice. It even allows my voice to go out over the phone and on the internet so that people at home can listen to the service. We want everyone to hear what is happening here at church.

Why is that? Why not whisper? If I whisper, you are close enough to hear me. But if I whisper, will Mom and Dad hear me? No. And I want everyone to hear because I have good news. What kind of good news do I have for you? That there is ice cream after the service? That would be good news, but I have even better news than that. Jesus comes to save you. That is why we will be celebrating His birth later this month.

The night Jesus was born, God wanted the good news of His birth to be heard. Instead of a microphone, He used an angel of the Lord to make it loud and clear to the shepherds: “Unto you is born this day . . . a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” ().

That is good news. No wonder God wanted the angel to make it loud and clear. But that is not the only message we want to hear at times. What other things do you want to hear? That you’re getting a bunch of presents on Christmas? At times, we get distracted thinking about other things. You may have been distracted on Sunday and did not pay attention to the service.

Even then, God will not stop making the good news loud and clear. God gave the shepherds the good news again; once was not enough for the good news. “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased’” ().

The good news is that God is pleased with you. He is pleased with you even when you have a hard time listening because you are distracted. He is pleased with you even when you want to hear something different than what He has to say. How do you know God is pleased with you? (Allow answers.) Who is born for you? Jesus. There is no doubt that God is pleased with you because Jesus is born to save you. That is loud and clear.