“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Luke 19:38
We are just completing the season we most commonly associate with “peace on earth.” However, it is doubtful that December 2014 will go into the books as one of the more peaceful periods in history. In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which I quoted in my second Advent sermon in December, “There is no peace on earth…for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on Earth good will to men.”
Interestingly, the peace spoken of in Luke 19:38 is not referring to Christmas. Instead, it is a quote found at Christ’s triumphal entry. As we have seen in our
continuing series in the Gospel of Luke, “Walking with Jesus”, peace appears throughout this Gospel, but most significantly at these pivotal points: Christ’s birth and Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.
What is the significance of this proclamation of peace? Jesus is fulfilling Messianic prophecy. The peace for which the people so desperately long is found in God’s Messiah—Jesus. True peace is found in the fact that God has come to earth—a message especially impactful in the face of weeks of not so peaceful protests across our country and, much more significantly, the massacre of more than 140 innocents in northwestern Pakistan.
We live in a world where peace is so hard to find. In response, we try and tell ourselves things are getting better. We create an image that makes things look
more peaceful than they really are. It makes me think of President Bush’s statement during his address to the nation following 9/11, “Islam is peace.” Islamic terrorists around the world beg to differ as they perpetrate increasingly unthinkable acts of violence against innocents. Even Hollywood, one of our favorite anesthetics against the lack of peace in our world, has come face to face with this reality. Ask Sony executives about peace on earth.
Don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to be a scrooge with all of this bah, humbug! To the contrary, my true motivation is peace. Yet I think it important to say that the peace we are looking for is not found in Hollywood or world religions or the power of positive thinking. There is a peace that is lasting, authentic, life-giving, but it is not found in the schemes of man.
Where is genuine peace found? It is found in God’s purposes. It is found in Jesus. But someone might say, “Well, Jesus came, but still peace is lacking.” In fact, you could go a step further and quote Jesus’ own words about Himself in Luke 12:51, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” But what must be understood is that the peace Jesus offers is, first and foremost, peace between us and our Creator. There is no more profound peace than experiencing peace with God. With this in mind, though we tend to think of Christmas when we think of peace on earth, it is just as appropriate, if not more so, to think of Easter.
It is not too surprising, then, to find words of peace pronounced at the triumphal entry, just days before Jesus’ crucifixion, where He would purchase our peace through His death on the cross. For this is the peace that is the starting point of peace in our world.
And though this peace will one day permeate the earth, Jesus made it quite clear that it would not occur until His second coming. Ultimate and final peace for all the earth awaits Jesus’ return. So, does that mean that we simply throw up our arms in defeat and find a cave to hide in until such a time as Christ brings this peace? In the words of the apostle Paul, “may it never be!” To the contrary, those of us who have found true peace with God are called upon to be ambassadors of His peace in this often violent and chaotic world. In the New Testament, we are called to “live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18), “do what leads to peace” (Rom 14:19) and “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col 3:15). It’s not about pacifism, for Jesus demonstrated that a strong, even violent, response is sometimes called for (think money-changers!). But it is about sowing peace (Jam 3:18).
We who are followers of Jesus need to promote peace both in the way we treat others and by doing our part in sharing the Gospel of peace. For when it is all said and done, it is this peace that truly matters. As we embark on a new year, may we be ambassadors of peace for Jesus Christ, our Lord!
Pastor Dan