God With Us: Peace

I want to take us back in time for a moment this morning to an event that has only happened once in modern history. The date is December 24, 1914 and we are on a battlefield where for months, there has been nothing but bloodshed and violence. There has been bombs exploding around us and we are deep in the trenches during WWI. We are fighting an enemy that has arisen to claim land and people that are not their own. It is one of the most prolific and deadliest wars in history. It is also one of the largest wars in history with over 70 million people involved in the fighting. The war began as a result of an assassination and quickly escalated to involve nearly all of Europe in conflict and battle. Many men fought because they were told it was their duty. However deadly or awful this battle became, there was one day when all things came to a screeching halt and there was peace.

On December 24, 1914, nearly six months into the war, the British and German soldiers fighting on the western front, deep in the trenches, began singing Christmas Carols across the unofficial battle line. It had to be an amazing thing to experience. Here were thousands of men, German and British alike, regardless of their language barriers, climbing out of the trenches to recognize and celebrate one of Christianity’s most precious of days. They laid down their arms, climbed out of the trenches, shook hands, and even exchanged gifts. Imagine it in your mind’s eye…these men were sworn to protect their land, their country, and to fight against an enemy even if they had no idea who those individuals were and yet they were able to set aside their differences for one 24 hour period. They set aside all their anger, realized or created, and make an unofficial peace treaty to stand together to sing and celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world.

What is Peace?

So that leads me to an essential question in our discussion this morning…what is our definition of peace? Does peace mean that we all live in a utopian ideal about always getting along and not having any differences? Does it mean that we are always smiling and never have other emotions?

I really don’t think that this is truly God’s definition of peace. I mean, think about it…if God intended for us to always get along and never have differences, wouldn’t we all be exactly the same (physically, emotionally, and spiritually)? I would like to think that the reason we are all so different is because God desired for us to have differences but to also be able to work through them together…with me?

Now, I have not done this in a while so it was about time I did…here is Webster’s definition of peace...

a state of tranquility or quiet: such as freedom from civil disturbance or a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom

freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions

harmony in personal relations

a state or period of mutual concord between governments or a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity

used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell

I have to admit that within Webster’s definition, it does seem like to most of us that peace is complete and utter Utopia. I want to believe that someday we can achieve this kind of peace but I also realize that may only come when Christ returns to claim us at the end of time. Until that happens, however, there is a sort of peace that I think we can achieve and work toward...

God’s Shalom

There is a word in Hebrew that represents what I think God desires for us to work toward…shalom. The Hebrew term for peace (šālôm) is derived from the verb “to complete, make sound.” As a verb, it is often used to show full completion of something and to give a sense of restoration. As a noun, however, it has much broader implications. It can be used as a greeting, to ask about the welfare of people or individuals, a state of being (meaning contentment or tranquility), trust, and even meaning righteousness. There are more ways to describe shalom but I want us to take some time contemplating what shalom might look like for God…and here’s why, one of the names of Christ or ways we describe him is the Prince of Peace. Jesus came to give us the wisdom, knowledge and realization that shalom can be achieved...Smith-Christopher, Daniel L. “Peace.” Ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible 2000 : 1021. Print.

So as we move forward today, I want you to focus your hearts and minds on what it means to believe that Christ was the Prince of Peace in this world. You see, when we look at the writings of the Prophet Isaiah, we need to understand that Isaiah might have believed that Immanuel, God with Us, would come in his time but Jesus the Messiah did not arrive for over 700 years after Isaiah wrote about him. God kept the promise to send Immanuel, it just was in God’s time, not ours.

So, let’s take a look at Isaiah’s words for us today…and I am going to start at the end...

Isaiah 7:16 NLT

For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.

So, Isaiah is offering a warning to King Ahaz. The lands of the Kings that you love so much, the divided kingdom will end up at odds and warring. To top it all off, Isaiah says that the kingdoms will be deserted. In other translations, this word translated as deserted is also translated as laid to waste, forsaken by their kings, and abandoned. Not exactly an image of peace but I believe Isaiah was trying to get a very important concept across to the people of Israel…you need to stand up and pay attention and you need to do it now or you will miss what I truly want and desire for you to have.

Of course, nearly three thousand years later, we know how all of this turned out…the people did not listen. The lands were overtaken by other countries and peoples. The people of Israel were sent off to foreign lands and families were separated and torn apart. Even 700 some odd years after Isaiah wrote these words, the people still had not listened enough because there were many who missed the signs of Jesus’ arrival...

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

The people had become so ignorant of the fact that God promised to give them the one who could bring peace to the Earth, and I mean God’s shalom, not just peace, but ultimate peace, that they missed it when Jesus did arrive. And even after the baby born in the manger had grown and began teaching, many who should have known better, still missed the signs of his arrival and what he did for them by just being here that they sent him to the cross because they were too afraid that his presence might mean the end of their reign in the Jewish world.

Not unlike many people in our time and our society and around us, we are often so caught up in the busyness of this season that we ignore what are clear indications that we can lay down our own weapons, which are mostly words these days, to put aside our differences and climb out of the trenches of our own wars to celebrate. We often think only of our own selfish needs and forget to think about what is the best for the whole.

To me, this is ultimately Isaiah’s message for us today…we may not ever see the second coming of Christ and we may never be able to physically experience God’s ultimate shalom here on Earth, but we can work toward that by making conscious efforts toward it. So, I am challenging each of us this morning to think about where in our own personal lives that we can be working toward shalom, right here in our community…what is it that Isaiah would be telling us to do...

Prayer

Let us pray…God, we want your shalom, we want to know what that peace looks like and how it feels. When we can take an action to encourage your peace in others, God, show us the way. Help us to make your shalom a reality here in our time, Amen.