It is hard to believe, but here we are on the fourth Sunday of Advent! We shall continue to investigate “Bethlehem’s Light” as we have been for the past three weeks. So far, we have looked at Jesus Christ as “Bethlehem’s Light Of Hope”, “Bethlehem’s Light Love”, and as “Bethlehem’s Light Of Joy”. Today, we shall see that Jesus is also “Bethlehem’s Light Of Peace”!
Hear the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in the fields that night so many years ago: “This will be a sign for you; you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Then a multitude of angels began singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
After the angels had said this, the shepherds made haste to go to Bethlehem to “…see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Ah, what a great revelation! Peace on Earth at last!
But wait a minute. Is there peace on Earth? Is there good will to men? This is one of the most often used critiques of the Bible by those who choose not to believe in Christ and by those who wish to damage the Bible’s reputation in order to create doubt as to its authenticity as the “Word of God.”
“See,” they say, “the Bible says that at the birth of Jesus, peace was to come to Earth, and good will to all men. There is no peace on Earth, and men are just as cruel to each other today as ever! This proves that the Bible is not truly the word of God as you gullible Christians believe it to be.”
Wow! Could this be true? Are we Christians deceived in our belief that Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Can the critics be correct? I mean, even Jesus says in Matthew 10:34, “You believe that I have come to bring peace, but I tell you the truth, I have not come to bring peace, but the sword!”
Were the angels lying to the shepherds and to us when they made their proclamation that night? Is this an error proving that the Bible is merely the musings of over 40 men, in 66 books, written over a period of 1500 years plus? Well, to use the angelic terminology, “Fear not!” It is not the angels who are in error. Nor is it the Bible that is in error. It is those people who would like to destroy the Bible’s credibility who are, once again, dead wrong!
Let’s look more closely at what the angels told us that night. First of all, it is true that the angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace and good will among men with whom He (God) is well pleased.” When we look closely at what the angels said, we see that it is not the blanket statement of “peace on Earth” that many mistakenly take it to be. The “peace and good will” is applied only to those people with whom God is well pleased! Even so, just look at the Church today, and you will be hard pressed to find “peace”. At least that is the way it appears at first glance. But is that really true? It seems that way because we are looking to find evidence of the wrong kind of peace.
When we hear or use the word “peace”, we almost always mean “the cessation of hostilities”. But the Greek language is much more expressive than our language and there are several words that are translated into English as “peace”. Each of those Greek words has a different connotation. When the angels in these passages and Jesus Christ talk about “peace”, they are not speaking of the lack of hostilities among nations (or people for that matter). They are speaking of the “inner peace” of the spirit as people are reconciled to God. That is the most important “peace” that there is!
The world has at different times provided a temporary “peace”, for instance, the Pax Romana that was present in the Roman Empire after they had conquered all of their enemies at the time. But Jesus is talking about an everlasting peace that is beyond all understanding. In John 14:27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Yes, in today’s world in order to find signs indicating the presence of God’s Peace, we must look for them. Just as the shepherds in the fields long ago, we too must find the baby born in the stable, wrapped in swaddling cloth. For His birth 2000 years ago was a sign of God’s mercy, grace, love and a sign of God’s peace. If we will look around in our world today, even as bad as it seems to be at times, we really do not have to look too far to see signs of God’s peace, for the signs are all around us. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s peace, and if you will simply look, you will find Him.
Where will you find Him? You will find Him in the ordinary, everyday things of life.
The angels were saying, “Glory to God” because He was sending His Son, Jesus Christ to bring His peace of the spirit, to embody that peace. to proclaim that peace, to offer that peace and to be that peace! That promise is given to you. If you have not already done so, won’t you accept this most wonderful promise from God today? Once we have done that, once we have accepted that promise as our very own, we must then go to the place where “Bethlehem’s Light Of Peace” is.
Many people put themselves in all kinds of places looking for peace. I mean, they will try anything! Then, after trying everything else, oft times at great expense, in an attempt to alleviate their anxiety they think, “Maybe I’ll try God now.” They have been into sports, exercise, drugs and therapy, all of which has failed to provide peace in their lives. So they think, “I’ll try out God now”, in the same way that they might try on a new suit or pair of shoes.
Well, that is not what I mean, and trust me on this one, that is not what God has in mind for us either! We need to go to a place where we can find “Bethlehem’s Light Of Peace”. We do that by putting our lives, every area of our lives, into God’s hands. It is in His hands, and only in His hands, that we can find the true peace of the spirit as God has intended for us from the beginning of time.
Once there was a man and his wife who wanted to go out for a while, but they needed to find a baby-sitter to watch their two-year-old son while they were gone. Their nephew volunteered to watch the boy and they agreed. The nephew came over and had his grandmother’s phone number in case he needed some advice or help.
Things went smoothly for a while, but then he called his grandmother and said, “I’ve done everything on the list, everything I’m supposed to do. I changed him, put on his pajamas, gave him his milk, and he is just standing in the middle of the floor looking up at me. What do I do now?” His grandmother answered, “Tommy, pick him up.”
This Christmas, don’t just stand by the manger looking at the Baby Jesus, thinking how cute and nice it all is. Pick Him up. Embrace Him. Make Him your very own. Let the Christ Child come into your life and take up residence in your heart. Do that and “Bethlehem’s Light Of Peace” will shine on you. Then you will have God’s peace, that peace which passes all understanding, as your very own to experience for all eternity. Amen!