Finding Peace in our Struggles

Rediscover Christmas

Advent Week 2: Finding Peace in Our Struggles

Christmas is kind of a big deal in Finland. And there’s a great tradition there that happens every year. In fact, it has happened almost every year since the 1300s. That’s a serious tradition, going on for more than 700 years. It’s called the Declaration of Christmas Peace.

Each year at noon on Christmas Eve, the Christmas Peace is declared in the city of Turku. The proclamation is read, usually by a city official, from the balcony of a historic mansion at the center of town in the Old Great Square. It’s broadcast on the radio and television and, of course, now you can stream it on the internet. The declaration serves as a reminder and encouragement to spend the holiday in harmony, to threaten offenders with harsh punishments, and to wish everyone a merry Christmas. The proclamation reads:

Tomorrow, God willing, is the graceful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour; and thus is declared a peaceful Christmas time to all, by advising devotion and to behave otherwise quietly and peacefully, because he who breaks this peace and violates the peace of Christmas by any illegal or improper behaviour shall under aggravating circumstances be guilty and punished according to what the law and statutes prescribe for each and every offence separately. Finally, a joyous Christmas feast is wished to all inhabitants of the city.

You’d better not mess with the Finns’ Christmas peace or you will be dealt with harshly! But what a great way to usher in Christmas, with a reminder of Christ’s coming and the peace He brings into the world!

Celebrating Advent

If you’ve been journeying with us this past week toward Christmas, you know that we have been celebrating Advent.

As a quick recap, the word Advent means “coming” or “arrival,” and the season is marked by expectation, waiting, anticipation, and longing.

Advent is not just an extension of Christmas—it is a season that links the past, present, and future.

Advent offers us the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, to celebrate His birth, and to be alert for His second coming.

Advent looks back in celebration at the hope fulfilled in Jesus’s coming, while at the same time looking forward in hopeful and eager anticipation to the coming of Christ’s Kingdom when He returns for His people.

During Advent we wait for both—and we celebrate the Presence of Christ now, through His Holy Spirit.

Each week, we’re focusing on a different attribute of God represented in the coming of Jesus: hope, peace, joy, and love.

Each of these traits leads us into a rediscovery of Christmas (or Hanukkah which also begins this week,) and we are glad you’re here today with us to rediscover peace.

The Shepherds: Peace Restored

We are also looking at different characters in the Biblical Christmas story and seeing how they encountered the arrival of Jesus into the world.

When we think of peace embodied in the Christmas story, we can’t help but think of the shepherds.

They were the unlikely recipients of God’s message of peace.

Let’s read Luke’s account about them together:

Luke 2:8–20 NLT

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Enter Pastor John interrupting the reading to tell the story.

The whole experience certainly leaves us asking, “Why shepherds? Why these completely unsuspecting and unassuming guys?”

Maybe it’s because the shepherds actually tie many Biblical threads together.

First, the shepherds remind us that the patriarchs of Israel were shepherds and nomadic animal tenders, roaming ranchers of the ancient world.

Abraham was the original recipient of God’s covenant that He would bless all nations of the world.

And this promise was carried on through Abraham’s ancestors Isaac, Jacob, and beyond.

David, Israel’s greatest king, was first a shepherd as well.

The shepherds were the “every man”.

They were nothing special.

They had no entitlement.

No pride or arrogance.

No religious bloating.

They fit right into this process of introducing God’s Messiah: a humble carpenter and a peasant girl as parents for the Son of God, a birth in a lowly stable surrounded by animals, rough and rugged shepherds out in the fields on the edge of the more refined civilization.

These were the have-nots, examples of God raising and using the humble and turning the world as we know it on its head.

Those considered by society to be the “most holy” weren’t given a place in the stable to kneel on holy ground and witness the arrival of the Messiah.

Shepherds also signify Jesus’s future ministry and teaching.

Sheep might have been lowly animals, but they were very special animals in Jewish culture.

The Passover lamb was the sacrifice an ancient Jew would make during the most important holiday.

Its blood was the atonement for a person’s sins, the cost that had to be paid to restore a person with God.

And each time it was done, this sacrifice was a reminder of the original Passover and God’s rescue and exodus of His people from Egypt.

Jesus is both the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God.

You and I know that Jesus was entering our world to fulfill His identity as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.

He was the ultimate sacrifice and payment for our sins. His death did away with the need for these sacrificial lambs.

His resurrection made it possible for us to be fully restored in our relationship with God.

His life made it possible to experience true peace, shalom in the Hebrew language and culture, the word and concept that encapsulate the completeness and wholeness of God’s original creation.

It’s probably partly for all of these reasons that God sent His angelic messengers to announce the birth of His Son to shepherds.

It certainly reminds us that God’s favor is not based on human standards.

His favor is on all those who humbly acknowledge their brokenness and accept the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love that Jesus brings.

Peace is not based on class or position or occupation but on God’s purpose and design to bring good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

I think the shepherds also lead us into several insights about our own intersection with God’s peace.

1. Peace comes in the midst of our storms.

Have you ever experienced a hurricane? Have you ever lived through the eye of a hurricane? It’s an eerie experience. You’ve seen it on the weather radar at the center of a circling storm. But there is truly a stillness right at the center of the melee.

There, the winds calm. The rains cease. It’s a pause in the maelstrom. It’s temporary. It doesn’t last, and then those winds start howling again, this time in the opposite direction.

It’s kind of like those freeze frame moments in a movie when everything slows down to one tiny pinprick moment of reality while life or chaos or catastrophe happens all around the character like a brief millisecond of clarity or pause.

Let me ask you, how is your Christmas season going? How does your Christmas season typically go?

If we’re honest, we might choose words like busy, hectic, or frantic to describe our lives this time of year—or maybe all year round.

Maybe it’s an overloaded schedule that robs you of peace.

Or maybe it’s something more: relational conflict, pressure at work, a lost job, illness. You name it.

We have plenty of options to choose from this year!

For many of us, peace sounds like a long way off. A good idea. A nice thought for the holidays. Something we long for.

If this is where you find yourself today, let me encourage you that Jesus shows up when the storms of life threaten our peace and hope and joy.

He is there with us when love seems lost and the way forward is totally unclear.

God appears in the midst of the storm.

This is where God appears- right in the middle of the storm.

This is where the Christ child is born.

This is where the angels show up- In the middle of Israel’s dark night of Roman oppression and centuries of suffering and wondering, “Where is God?”

In the middle of a world turned upside down for a young Jewish couple who have found themselves at the center of cosmic events—while at the same time trying to navigate the normal life realities of paying their dues by traveling by foot across the country to be counted by the government.

And having to experience childbirth for the first time far from home without the support and care of the women and midwives who would have guided Mary through this painful process.

And then being first-time parents, not only with the joys and wonder and fear and responsibility of having their first son, but God’s Son.

In all of these circumstances, in all of these struggles—this is where God showed up. And this is where God continues to show up for us.

In our pain.

In our fears.

In our confusion.

In our grief.

In our loss.

In our uncertainty.

I don’t know every hardship you are facing today, or every wince of pain you are feeling. But God does.

He is there, bringing peace to calm your heart, peace that defies your circumstances.

2. Peace defies our circumstances.

“That’s great for you to say. It sounds nice,” you might be thinking. “But you don’t know how much it hurts.”

No, I’m sorry, I don’t. I can only imagine how awful it is, and I can only agree with how unfair it is.

But let me encourage you that there is a peace that is deeper, there is a peace that defies your circumstances.

God’s peace doesn’t make sense.

No, in the face of all you are feeling and all you have gone through, God’s peace just doesn’t make sense—but it is real.

And it is healing.

And it can guard your heart from continuing wounds.

And it can protect your mind from the onslaught of anxiety.

The apostle Paul describes the process like this:

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Let me encourage each of us today, no matter what we are facing, that this process begins with us turning to God, bringing our hurts and questions and doubts and whys and needs to Him.

As Paul says it, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

There is power in prayer with gratitude.

I don’t pretend to fully understand it, but there is a power in prayer and a transformation that grows from gratitude.

It’s not just praying to get what we want or convincing God to see things our way. We can try, and He will listen.

There is a time for lament and a time to pour out our pain to God, but we turn a corner when we remember to be grateful.

Our prayers are transformed when they are infused with gratitude.

But much more than that, the power of prayer happens in this experience of peace as our perspective changes and finds an understanding that God is with us, no matter what.

We remember what God has already done and it reminds us of His love and faithfulness.

It is an acknowledgment and acceptance that He’s got this, He can be trusted, He is enough.

3. Peace is a person.

It all comes back to a person. Peace is a person.

Peace is Jesus.

“For He Himself is our peace,” Paul says in Ephesians 2:14 (NIV).

Ephesians 2:14 ESV

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

And long before His arrival on earth, the prophet Isaiah called Jesus the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

There are political-sounding tones to this message, and you can see why the Jews who wanted their political freedom and independence were eager to see a political Messiah.

And more importantly, there are tones of the completion of Christ’s work and His eventual establishment of God’s kingdom.

But most of all, this child that is born, this Son that is given to us, brings the power and rule of His peace into our personal lives.

He is the bringer of peace between us and God, the sacrificial lamb, the giver of life.

He is the embodiment of shalom, wholeness, that we find in relationship with Him.

Jesus is with us.

One of the names that Jesus is given is “Emmanuel” meaning “God is with us”.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

It is a promise of God’s Presence with His people, but also literally, that God became a person and lived among us.

Jesus is Immanuel!

Jesus is the God who is come to be with us, and He offers us this invitation in this Advent season and always:

Matthew 11:28–30 NLT

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Is that not an offer of peace? Let’s let those words wash over us.

And in this second week of Advent, let me encourage you to look for the Prince of Peace, even when the winds blow and the storms swirl.

Let me encourage us all to come to Him and worship like the shepherds, even when we find ourselves in the darkness or the storms.

Let me remind us to come to Him. Because He is here. The Prince of Peace is with us.

Action Steps

Last week I asked you to watch a Christmas movie or do something that reminds you of hope in this season. Did you do that? Are you hopeful?

This week I want you to take some time out, whether a few minutes or a few hours, and allow God’s peace to come to you. Go for a walk or sit down with a cup of tea or cocoa. Pray and meditate on God’s peace.

Share peace with someone this week. Ask them how they are doing. Take time to listen and pray with someone. Share the good news of Jesus with someone this week. we have tracts available to help you do this.

Benediction

May Jesus be your peace this week, guarding your soul with peace, filling your spirit with the wholeness of shalom, and ruling as the Prince of Peace in your heart.

May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. (2 Thessalonians 3:16, NIV)