Pursue
peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the
Lord. Hebrews 12:14
This past Sunday we lit the Peace
candle on the Advent wreath. Yesterday
we focused on how Christmas can bring us peace with God and today – Christmas
can bring us peace with others.
Christmas Brings Us Peace with Others.
·
God is a
peace-loving God, and a peace-making God.
The whole
history of redemption, including the birth of Christ and His death and
resurrection, is God's strategy to bring about peace between man and himself,
and then between man and man. Therefore,
God's children are that way, too. They have the character of their Father. What
he loves they love. What he pursues they pursue. You can know his children by
whether they are willing to make sacrifices for peace the way God did.
For those
who have come to Christ, the conflict should be over. We have peace with God.
And because we have peace with God, we should be those who do His work of
peacemaking.
What will bring you peace with others? FORGIVENESS!
"No peace will exist between nations
unless peace reigns in each country. And no country will have peace unless
peace resides in each community. And no community will have peace unless peace
dwells with in its people. And no people will have peace unless they surrender
to the Prince of Peace." - Haddon
W. Robinson
Isn’t it sad
when you stop to think about it...how “out of sorts” people can get with one
another, how estranged people can become, how hostile they can feel toward one
another? Revenge actually is never
sweet; it ultimately becomes a sour stomach and a bitter memory. Violence only breeds more violence. Hate poisons the soul. Resentment, jealousy, bigotry, prejudice —
these are spiritual viruses that will absolutely make us sick!
You can be
right and do wrong by destroying relationships in your demand to win.
Be of the same
mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the
lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to
anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as
it depends on you, be at peace with all men. - Romans 12:16-18
I saw a
strange Christmas headband. It has mistletoe above it on a spring. When you
wear it… everywhere you go… you’re under the mistletoe. Do you know where the
custom of kissing under the mistletoe came from? Actually, it came from the
Druids in Northern Europe. They believed mistletoe had curative power and could
cure lots of things including separation between people.
When two
enemies happened to meet under an oak tree with mistletoe hanging above them, they
took it as a sign from God that they should drop their weapons and be
reconciled. They would drop their animosities and embrace one another under the
mistletoe.
When the
missionaries moved into northern Europe they saw this mistletoe custom as a
perfect symbol for what happened to the world at Christmas. God had embraced
the world through His Son. At Christmas a new age dawned, it was a time of
peace, a time of healing, a time of reconciliation, a time for embracing one
another.
Christmas
offers us the gift of peace within and the gift of peace with others, but we
have to accept the gifts. If you want to
have a “peace-full” Christmas, go in the spirit of love and fix those broken
relationships in your life.
If you are
alienated or estranged or cut off or at odds with any other person, go in the
spirit of Christmas and make peace. Don’t put it off any longer… drop your
pride, drop your resentment, drop your grudges, and go set it right. Go… and God will go with you. That’s what
mistletoe is really about…and that’s what Christmas is about.
God comes to
us in the Christ Child so that we might be…set right with God, set right with
ourselves, and set right with other people.
This simple story exemplifies what God did:
One day very close to Christmas, a young
boy was coming down the hallway at church. He had in his hand a little ceramic
tray that he had made in Sunday School. It was to be his Christmas gift to his
mother. He had been working on it for several weeks and he was so proud of it. As he ran down the hall, he tripped and fell.
The tray crashed to the floor and broke into several pieces. The little boy was
devastated. He began to cry loudly and uncontrollably. He was absolutely
heartbroken. People tried to comfort him with all kinds of counsel: It was just
a tray. Not worth much. No big loss. Besides, you can make another one. It’s
nothing, forget it. You can give your mother something else. Don’t worry about
it.” But nothing helped. The child was inconsolable. Finally his mother arrived
on the scene. Quickly she realized what had happened. Kneeling down beside her
crestfallen, distraught son with his broken gift, she hugged him tightly and
said, “Well, now, I think this is fixable... Let’s pick up the pieces and take
it all home. We’ll put it back together and see what we can make of it.” The
little boy hugged his mom back and smiled.
Isn’t that exactly what the Christmas message is about? The world is
broken into many fragments, as are our lives. And God stoops down beside us. He
hugs us and says, “Well, now, this is fixable. Let me help you pick up the
pieces. We’ll put it back together and see what we can make of it.”
In the same
sense, Christ has come down to this earth to help us get back together with God
who made us… and who loves us. That’s what
that word Emmanuel means - God with us! God comes in the Christ Child to seek
and save the lost. That’s what Christmas is all about.
Scripture to Claim:
Now may the Lord of peace
himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2
Thessalonians 3:16
