People of peace

So often when we think of peace, we think of a lack of war. But that idea of peace falls well short of the peace God ultimately desires. God does not simply wish that we would stop fighting. Peace in the Kingdom of God is so much more.

God’s peace is about restoration and redemption. It is about making things right in the world.

So, as we consider the arrival of Christ into the world, we find God preparing to answer hundreds, if not thousands of years of prayer. After many promises, prophecies, and predictions, the Messiah is about to arrive on the scene.

But the Messiah was not the one many had hoped for. Instead of a king who would rise up and defeat the empires with an army, his weapon was a cross. Instead of killing, he healed. When he faced execution, he displayed humility and servanthood, even to the point of death.

This was a Messiah who was seeking to restore the world to what God had dreamed of since the beginning. A world where everyone would be loved and no one was excluded. A world where power, position, and possessions were not the defining markers of someone’s worth. This Messiah used his power without seeking attention. His position was one of a servant. His possessions were few and humble.

As we pursue peace, we must use the values of the Kingdom way to achieve it. We are not called to be people of evil or violence. Evil breeds evil and violence breeds violence. Instead, we are called to be people of peace. People who put others first. People who love the unlovable. People who not only talk about peace, but practice it.

The Savior of the universe, God in the flesh, entered the world in the most humble of circumstances. Born in a manger in a small village in Israel, God himself entered the world as a helpless infant. His parents fled to Egypt before their son could be murdered and they raised him as a carpenter in Nazareth.

Peace did not come with a loud trumpet cry, but instead with the cry of a newborn baby. Peace did not come with a large army, but instead with the presence of shepherds, the lowest of society. Peace did not come through a large palace, but instead with some hay in a wooden bed that normally served as a feeding trough for animals.

If we are to be people of peace, we must follow the One who showed us how to make peace. We must live in way that turns the world upside down though sacrifice and servanthood. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

 

shine!
Jason