It is often said that Christmas is a time of peace. We see the billboard signs with the saying “Peace
on Earth & Good-will to Men” in the city.
We send cards with pictures of snowflakes and angels offering good
tidings to our friends and acquaintances.
We sing songs that tell of joy and harmony and merry cheer for the
entire world. However, many of us live
in a reality that is far from peaceful.
Many families are hurting.
Some fathers are fighting in a foreign land. Some mothers are alone working two jobs to
make ends meet. Some sons are sick;
battling a disease there is no cure for.
Some daughters are seeking comfort from men who promise much but deliver
little. Yes, many of us are feeling the
weight of insignificance, living in the land of the marginal. Peace is not an adjective that many of us use
to describe our current position in life; and rightly so, for we are a broken
people in need of a redemptive solution.
In Luke 2: 14 we hear the angels say, as they announce the
birth of Christ to a group of shepherds,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he
is pleased!” Shepherds, in the time of
Christ birth, were considered lowly and insignificant. They were the untouchables of the Jewish
community. Considered dirty and deceitful, they were not respected in the community as anyone of worth. They were the insignificant
and the marginal. Yet to these, against all human reason and wisdom, God brought
the greatest news the earth has ever received; peace has come.
Peace has come not to the rich or the politically astute, nor to the philosophers and poets, or to the pompest and prestigious. No, God first announced the birth of His son to the pawns of the world, the poppers and vagabonds. He went to the broken, the needy, the hopeless, and proclaimed a solution to man’s brokenness, a
cure to the human condition of turmoil and dysfunction; this day the Savior is born.
No longer does man have to live in enmity with God. No
longer does man have to live in a broken state apart from any hope or remedy. Christmas is a time of peace. It is a time when the world is given a glimpse
of the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
A peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27), but only the one born of a virgin,
that was placed in an animal eating trough, and worshiped by magi (Luke 2:1-21). It is a peace that will one day wipe away
ever tear and lay all fear to rest. And God gives this peace to those whom He is pleased, those who know His Son Jesus Christ.
This
Christmas season, when you read the billboard signs and the cards, when you
sing your songs, keep in mind that the peace you are reading of, speaking of,
and singing of, truly exists and within your reach. He is no longer a humble child, laying in a
feeding trough, being hunted by a tyrant (Matthew 2:1-7).
He is a mighty King, reigning at the right hand of His Father, redeeming
the marginal and insignificant for His kingdom.
This Christmas, here the words of Jesus, " I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. Take heart! I have won the battle over the world." John 16:33
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