I’m thinking about Pearl Harbor this morning, as are many of you – not to mention the contemporary backdrop of strife both global and local – and it’s easy to get caught up in a feeling of sadness over the condition of the world. Where is the hopeful “peace on earth” promised by the angels, or was that just a holiday jingle?
Our Lord Jesus was born into a part of the world that had experienced a rapid succession of military overthrows by conquering assailants, and into a time when warfare had been rife for millennia. In the year of Christ’s birth, Judea and King Herod were under Roman rule. Herod, always fearful of a rival ruler, attempted to deceive the magi from the East into serving as his personal GPS so that he could get his grimy hands on this newborn king. That effort failed, as you know, and later Herod outrageously decreed death for all boys under age two. That’s why Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus to Egypt. All of this took place during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus, quite ironically during a period that was known for its “Roman peace.” Just like now, as you probably guessed, such “peace” was quite limited in scope and definition. Yes, the Roman Empire protected and governed individual provinces, such as Judea, but that also translated into Roman laws and Roman taxes and Roman control. Step outside the lines, no more peace for you. The four Gospels and history bear this out.
As long as we inhabit this fallen planet, we know that political (did somebody say, “Georgia runoff”?), religious, philosophical, and other sharp differences will create colossal divides between and among human beings. Until the end of this age, Jesus has promised as much, even in some of our closest interpersonal relationships (Matthew 10:34). On an even broader scale, the signs of Christ’s second advent include – by our Savior’s own testimony – “wars and rumors of wars … nation against nation … kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6-7). He’s certainly not describing Christmas card material in every chapter of our lives or of human history, as you and I might have naively imagined.
But, come what may, we can have peace with God. That’s the wonder of the season. That’s the foundation of all true and lasting peace. That’s the prerequisite peace for all other peace. In Christ, that peace is ours now. When it comes to the peace that permeates everything, you and I still wait, for we live simultaneously in “the now and the not yet.” So let me say it loud and clear: peace, in all its fullness, is well on its way. I have that on good authority. The Prince of Peace has come, and “He shall reign forever and ever.”
On December 25, 1864, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) composed the seven stanzas that became “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Civil War-torn America was months away from Lee’s surrender to Grant, and the lyrics capture our nation’s utter despair. Soon after the war’s first shots were fired, Henry’s dear wife had been fatally burned at Cambridge, Massachusetts, as she tried to melt a bar of sealing wax to preserve some of her young daughter’s curls after a haircut. Attempting to save his wife by smothering the flames with a throw rug, Longfellow so badly injured his face that he was partially disfigured for the remainder of his life. Less than a year later, his son Charles was severely crippled by war wounds. So Longfellow’s words reflect his personal grief, as well as America’s shared grief. But Charles lived, and a poem – and eventually a famous Christmas carol – was born. I’ll include the original words below.
May you and yours be blessed by this old song that does in fact end on a note of peace and Christian triumph! God is here, friends. He has not left us. That is the joy of Christmas: we are never alone. It’s the difference that only Christ could make, and that He has made (Matthew 1:23): “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet, the words repeat, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
And thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along, the unbroken song, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
Then from each black accursed mouth, the cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound, the carols drowned, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent, the hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song, of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
By God’s grace, I think that we can hear the bells.
Listening with you,
Pastor Charles
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