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Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 [IMAGE]
During the Bosnian war in the mid-nineties, a cellist named Vedran Smailovic was deeply saddened by the destruction of his hometown of Sarajevo.
He began playing classical pieces on his cello amid the ruins in spite of the risk of dying in the bombardment or by sniper fire.
His goal was to contrast the human destruction all around with the beauty that humans can create and to honor 22 Bosnians who were killed by mortar fire in the market square.
His story has inspired many other artists.
Perhaps most famous is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra who created a wonderful Christmas piece that melds “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” with the “Carol of the Bells.”
They also wanted to musically represent the conflict and the potential for peace.
The Peace of Wholeness
The Hebrew word used in that blessing and throughout the Old Testament is shalom, and it conveys rich, powerful meaning.
So much more than just the absence of fighting, shalom reflects safety, completeness, and wholeness.
This is the type of peace brought by God with Us.
Jesus is the Prince of Shalom foretold by the prophet Isaiah:
This completeness and wholeness with God is what Jesus brought into and left in our world.
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 me.
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.
Peace Is a Person
Near the end of Jesus’s life, He spoke these words to His disciples shortly before He was arrested and crucified:
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.
Paul told us in
As we experience God’s presence, we become interwoven in and inseparable from the peace that He is and that He gives to us.
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.
Peace Transforms Us and Calms Our Storms
How peaceful is your Christmas season?
If we’re honest, we might choose words like busy, hectic, and 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, an illness.
You name it.
For many of us, peace sounds like a long way away.
A good idea.
A nice thought for the holidays.
Something we long for.
If only we could feel the peace of God with Us!
If this is where you find yourself today, let me encourage you that God is there.
He is God with Us, always present, and He knows all that swirls around and within us.
He sees beyond the waves and winds of our circumstances.
The power of His peace isn’t diminished by our storms.
We can allow it to fill our hearts with calm and courage as we turn to Him, giving our requests to Him in prayer and focusing on His faithfulness.
God with Us will never leave us.
He will never fail.
It is this presence of peace that we celebrate on our journey toward Christmas.
And it is this presence of peace that we can access and practice.
How?
When we come to God through prayer, He changes us inside.
God’s peace is able to bring a powerful transformation in our spirits.
No matter what we are anxious or worried about, we can bring our needs and requests to God.
Paul described the process like this: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7).
As we talk to Him and give Him thanks, God’s peace swells within us and guards our emotions.
This is a miraculous peace, one that transcends all understanding.
It doesn’t make sense given the worry and fear we are facing.
It wouldn’t naturally exist in the midst of our struggles.
But this is God we are dealing with!
This is our Prince of Peace, the giver of shalom, the giver of His Spirit of peace.
When we come close to Him—when we go to worship Him like those shepherds did—we connect with Him, and He transforms us and our outlook.
No matter how bad the storm swirling around and within us, He can calm it.
And He can carry us through it.
Let me encourage you in this final week of Advent to look for Him, even when the winds blow and the storms swirl.
You may find Him as a babe lying in a manger or a carpenter’s son asleep in the boat.
It may even initially seem to you, as it did to the disciples, that He does not care.
But in the midst of whatever life holds this week, remember that Jesus comes in power as the Prince of Peace, always with us, restoring us to God through wholeness and comfort.
May He 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.
Benediction
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