Peace on Earth

I’ve been decorating my house and listening to Christmas music. Decorating can stress me out; the music calms me down – good to have both. We do a lot of entertaining during the season, including hosting Christmas day. I get these pictures in my head of how I’d like things to look, and my expectations generally out distance reality. So I get stressed. This year, I started early, tried to have more realistic expectations, and it’s been a lot better. I find it hard to make my focus about the people who come to our home rather than on how clean and shiny everything looks. I think that’s normal, but how ironic on the first Christmas the angels said the coming of Jesus was to bring peace on earth, and we make the celebration of that event so stressful.

This season has been jarred by terrorism all over the world, including our own back door in California. Nothing peaceful about people with bombs and guns trying to make a point by killing innocents. A lot of rhetoric has been thrown around with ideas for achieving peace, including killing everyone who disrupts our peace. Isn’t that what the other side is doing? The world’s go-to for peace is too often war. It really has never worked, beyond maybe a temporary stay.

I wonder at the stories of wartime cease fires to celebrate Christmas. In World War Two both sides sang carols during a cease fire. How does that work? For one day everyone goes to their corners and we have peace. If it’s so easy to stop for a day, why not just stop? How do you sing Silent Night one day and the next resume shooting?

Peace on earth has long been sought after and never found. Our part of the world might be free of war, but I don’t think there’s ever been a time when the world was totally free of war. And even if we had no wars, somebody somewhere is taking someone’s life, or disrupting someone’s world. And if all violence were to take a cease fire, we’d still be stressing out over getting a job, or hosting a party, or whatever it is that stresses us out and takes away our peace.

Yet the angels said “fear not for behold I bring good news of great joy. For unto you is born a savior, Christ our Lord…glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2).  Peace on earth – for those with whom God is pleased. Whom might that be? Well, those who receive His gift I imagine. Peace on earth begins in the hearts of believers. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace – peace is a product of the Holy Spirit living out God’s righteousness through those who have put their trust in Jesus. Christians are peace on earth.

How’s that working for us? Would the world say Christians are indeed peace makers? Probably not. Some of those Christians are the politicians calling for carpet bombing of the terrorists. The Bible says Christians have found peace with God and are then to share with the world the same grace, acceptance and forgiveness God has given them. That would only be possible if Christians were faithfully allowing the Holy Spirit control in their life so God’s love and peace would flow out. But I imagine most Christians are a lot like me, wanting to control my own life, and so I fail at being a peacemaker. I don’t feel God’s peace, I feel my stress and anxiety. When that happens it should be a warning that I’m in control again. But I fool myself into thinking I can do it all. Unfortunately you can multiply this by all believers and you see why peace on earth is so lacking.

I need to be reminded often that I cannot do anything of value apart from God working through me. I need to put Christ back in control and be more aware of when he isn’t. How different would my life be if I was more proactive in giving God the controls?  How different would our world be if more Christians made this a daily, hourly priority?

Everyone talks about finding peace. When the Pope visited earlier this year, he spoke a lot about finding peace on earth. We’ve heard choirs and Christmas specials all singing about peace. The call for peace is all around us. So is the way. We obviously have failed at achieving any kind of peace on earth apart from God. Maybe it’s time to look to him and seek his answers?

At the very least peace should start with those of us who know God. Let’s at least challenge ourselves this season to give God the controls, bear the fruit of the Spirit and bring forth Love, Joy and Peace. We certainly need it.