Peace.
“At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, peace to all men and women on earth who please him.” — Luke 2:13–14, The Message
This the fourth week of Advent is when we light the Angel’s candle which points us to peace. Peace is what was proclaimed by the these messengers from heaven as they glorified God at the announcement of the birth of Jesus. This same Jesus would, in a few years say, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.”
We live in a tumultuous world. The news is filled with pain and suffering and death. There are wars and rumors of wars. The very creation itself seems to be at unrest as earthquakes and tsunamis and hurricanes are regular occurrences. When you look at your social media it is much the same only more personal. There is little in our world that points toward peace.
Peace is the message that the follower of Jesus proclaims. In Ephesians 6 we are told to put on the shoes of peace to help us stand firm. This message of peace is foundational to who we are. Yet, we live in this time when to be a peacemaker or to cry out for peace is considered weakness.
Peace.
As we make the final dash toward Christmas morning, perhaps your life is like mine, lacking in some peace. We have a great deal of shopping left. Which means that we have even more wrapping left. The list of to-dos only seems to grow and grow. The kids are home from school so there are extra people around. There are more demands on time and energy than seems possible.
Peace.
Recently I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ stories about people missing out on things because they were too distracted. They weren’t ready because of all the stuff going on around them and they simply missed it.
How much of Christmas do we miss because we aren’t at peace?