Give Me a Peace of Christmas
From A Christmas Worth Having
by Pastor Nave on December 14, 2014
This sermon is the second segment in the Christmas Worth Having series. Our Scripture setting is found in Luke 2:8–14, with the key scripture in verse 14:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (KJV).
Christmas is a time a year that is supposed to accentuate pace. Mankind has always tried to secure the “promised peace” from the birth of Jesus. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah even shared this truth when he proclaimed that Jesus would be the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
The shepherds heard about this promised peace, but even 30 years later after Jesus was born, they didn’t yet see it. We might too discount the promise of peace in our lives, which translates into how we feel about Christmas. We might ask ourselves, why is there not peace―even today? To understand peace, we need to understand the following.
God’s peace is not the absence of “bad stuff” in our life. Peace is when we can have faith in God through the chaos, problems, and tension in our life. Matthew 5:45 tells us that God rains on the just and the unjust. Translation? Everyone is going to get wet. Just because we know Jesus doesn’t mean we aren’t going to experience hardship in our life.
Things may not work perfectly in our life and go according to “our plans.” Deviation can be a good thing, especially when God is involved. We may not see our plans play out perfectly in our life because it isn’t the right time according to God, or it’s just not right for us. When we allow God to show up in His perfect timing, and we look for His “yes,” we allow His “yes” to be the best that it can be for us. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). We might have chaos, but we need to remember that God is in control.
A lot of us love the idea of order―a place for everything, and everything in it’s place. But, when things aren’t organized and don’t fall into place, we assume “it’s just not meant to be.” This isn’t the case with God. God is a God of divine order; nothing happens on accident.
In the first century during the birth of Christ, all of these events were happening at different times and places. Luke wanted to show how all of these events were all a part of a divinely ordered plan of salvation so God could redeem people back to Himself (Luke 1:3). This Christmas story relates to the marvelous work of God in our life. Our Christmas may seem very random, but God is writing an incredible story in our life. We get a “peace of Christmas” when we understand the reason for our random. All things work out for our good (Romans 8:28).
We have to stop thinking about peace in the context of the human definition. Jesus defined His peace as different than what the world gives (John 14:25). His peace is a consistent, lasting peace that is promised to all.
Peace means “to set at one again” or “to make things right.” There is peace because we have a Savior that came to make things right in our life again so we can have a right standing with God. We were all born into sin, but Jesus came to break that yoke of sin and to set things right.
Jesus’ peace came in spite of everything else going on in the world. We need to remember this Christmas season that God can offer us something beyond what the world can offer―a relationship with Him. This is a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). If we can get Jesus into our heart, and seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, peace will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). When we have true peace, we will find it everywhere we look. We will find a peace of Christmas.
