Peace on Earth

I love reading Christmas greeting cards. One card states on the front, "Santa is watching to see if you have been naughty or nice." On the inside, the card reads, "Perhaps with luck he will get you mixed up with somebody else!"

Another card has Mrs. Claus sitting on her porch. The card says, "Every year as Santa prepares to fly off and deliver toys to all of the good children in the world, Mrs. Claus stands at the door and send him off with these same words: 'Hey, fat boy, why don't you get a real job?'"

The first Christmas greeting card was sent by an angel to some shepherds in a field. The message was "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom God's favor rests." Sometimes it is phrased "Peace on earth, good will towards men."

Peace on earth? There are almost 1.5 million divorces in America each year. The United States has 2.5 million attorneys. It is said that one out of every ten people walking on the streets of Washington D.C. is a lawyer.

Peace on earth? Tell that to the Iraqis, or the Israelis, or the Palestinians, or the people in Chechnya, the Sudan, or Kashmir.

Why is peace such a rare commodity 2000 years after the announcement of the birth of the Prince of Peace?

According to the Bible, peace is both a gift to be received, and a task to be done. On the one hand, peace is a gift to be received. Thus the apostle Paul writes: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

In other words, through our trust in the perfect life, the sacrificial death, and the resurrection of Christ, we enter a new relationship with God. Once we were enemies, but now we are God's friends. Peace with God is a gift.

On the other hand, peace is a task to be accomplished by every one of Christ's followers. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God (Mt. 5:9). Peace is something that we must create. Jesus also said, Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift (Mt. 5:23,24). Reconciling with a person with whom we are estranged is so important to Jesus, that he tells us to leave God waiting, until we do all that we can to make peace. Making peace takes priority over worship, or better stated, making peace makes our worship authentic and genuine.

Why is peace such a rare commodity? In order to achieve peace, we must engage in two actions, both of which are profoundly unnatural for us without God's help. The first action necessary to achieve peace is confession. Confession involves a simple, unadorned statement in which one person says to another person, "I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me." We always want to embellish our confessions with all the reasons why we did what we did. We also always want to add how the other person is also to blame. It is rare for us to make a simple confession.

The second prerequisite for making peace, which is just as unnatural as confession, is extending forgiveness. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "We demand an eye for an eye until the whole world will go blind." At some point, you and I must decide to break the continual cycle of charge and counter-charge, of blame and revenge, of "you never's" and "you always."

Will you take a moment to engage in this spiritual exercise: examine your relationships past and present. Are there any people you have wronged and not yet confessed your wrong? Are there any burned-out bridges that you need to repair? If so, why not make peace by seeking out the person you have offended and confessing your fault in a simple, unadorned way. Before you worship this New Year, attempt to reconcile with the person you have offended.

Is there anyone whose sins you have not forgiven? Before you seek God's forgiveness in the New Year, extend forgiveness to every person who has offended or hurt you.

Make deliberate plans to confess and to forgive. The greeting card sent by the angels, Peace on Earth, was not intended to be a pious sentiment or an unrealistic ideal. Rather, it expressed God's explicit intention for the relationships of those to whom he has shown favor.

Blessings to you this Christmas,
Rich Nathan