Close Menu X
Navigate

Peace on Earth?

December 22, 2024 Speaker: Brian Wilbur Series: Advent

Topic: Biblical Theology Passage: Luke 2:8–14

PEACE ON EARTH?

A Reflection on a Prominent Christmas Theme

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: December 22, 2024

Series: Advent

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

This morning I would like to reflect on a favorite Christmas theme that flows directly from the narrative about our Lord’s coming. The theme to which I refer is peace on earth. The phrase “peace on earth” gets plenty of traction on Christmas cards, Christmas decorations, and Christmas songs. And who doesn’t want peace? I asked Google, “If you could wish for anything in the world what would it be?” And the AI [Artificial Intelligence] mind linked to Google gave the sort of answer that many people would give: “If I could wish for anything in the world, I would wish for lasting global peace and prosperity. This would involve eliminating poverty, hunger, and conflict, and ensuring a sustainable and equitable future for all.” Thank you, Mr. AI, you speak for millions! Peace and prosperity, flourishing and goodwill, love and justice. Who doesn’t want such things? It would sound rather cold to wish for the opposite. And yet, the devil is in the details.

The passage which I will read today was written amid a time of history that has been called the Pax Romana, that is, Roman peace, the peace of the Roman Empire. From around 27BC to 180AD, the vast Roman Empire enjoyed a stretch of relative peace and stability.[1] It wasn’t a perfect peace, of course, but it has nevertheless stood out as an achievement among the ancient civilizations. The Messiah was born amid the early days of this Roman peace, and yet the Messiah’s birth signaled that a different kind of peace was coming into the world.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:8-14)

THREE PARTS TO THIS SERMON

I would like to do three things in this sermon. First, I would like to provide a brief overview of this familiar passage. Second, I would like to ponder the human struggle to wrestle with the promise of peace by referring to two 19th century hymns that address it. And third, I would like to clarify the unique nature of the peace that Christ brings.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PASSAGE

So first, let’s get a handle on the text. In Luke 2:1-7, the Christ child was born in Bethlehem. While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem to be registered for the Roman census, Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) At this tender moment when our Lord was born, the Father in heaven wanted to broadcast the birth of His Son. And so, He dispatched an angel to certain shepherds in the Bethlehem region who were watching over their flock under the nighttime sky (v. 8). The darkness on earth was suddenly interrupted by the shining forth of God’s glory around them, and the mundaneness of their duties was suddenly broken up by the appearing of a holy angel (v. 9). Confronted with such divine and angelic transcendence, “they were filled with great fear” (v. 9). This sounds familiar. “[Fear] fell upon [Zechariah]” when an angel appeared to him in the temple (Luke 1:8-12). Mary was “greatly troubled” when the angel Gabriel greeted her (Luke 1:26-29). It is understandable that mortals on earth are overwhelmed when they are confronted by a messenger from heaven. We shouldn’t be casual about encounters with God or His holy angels.

However, we must see that in the context of Luke 1-2, God’s angels come bearing good news. When heaven opens up and descends upon us with grace, we discover that He comes to relieve us, not distress us. And so, the angel says to Zechariah,

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13)

John comes to pave the way for the Lord’s coming – good news, not fearful news. And Gabriel ways to Mary,

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)

Jesus comes to sit on the throne of David and administer everlasting peace, justice, and righteousness for the good of God’s people – good news, not fearful news. And now, in due course, the angel utters familiar words to the frightened shepherds: “Fear not” (v. 10). Why not fear? The angel says,

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (v 10-12)

Each phrase is worth reflecting upon.

“good news of great joy”

The first phrase: “good news of great joy”. Not news. Not bad news. Not troubling news. Not interesting news. But good news. And not good news of minor importance…. Nor even good news of some joy. But “good news of great joy” – this is high-level joy. How can you know if you truly understand the good news? It’s easy: does the good news give you great joy? The divine Messiah coming to earth to save you is a big deal – it ought to make you weep or jump out of your seat or shout out a loud “Yes and Amen” or “make haste to Bethlehem” which is just what the shepherds do. When the shepherds are “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20), they show that they had begun to understand the great joy of the good news. Becoming and growing as a Christian involves learning to savor and cherish the best things, and to hold everything else with an open hand.

“for all the people” / “unto you”

The second phrase: “that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David” (v. 10-11). This “good news of great joy” is good news for all kinds of people: shepherds and farmers, landowners and tenants, tax collectors and leather workers, noblemen and poor men, wise men from the east and lepers consigned to the margins, the old as well as the young, women as well as men. Which means, as you are sitting there with this proclamation ringing in your ears, you are supposed to understand that this indescribable gift is intended for you. For those of us who practice gift-giving to one another during Christmastime, we understand that some of the presents under the Christmas tree are not for us. When I was a child, I was especially interested in those select gifts under the tree that had my name on it. Some gifts go this person, some gifts go to that person, but I can’t wait to open my next gift. But the beautiful thing about this gift is that it is the best gift and it is intended for you. No gift is comparable. An all-expense paid trip to Europe, a brand new Lexus, or a $20,000 Rolex gold watch cannot compare with the “good news of great joy” that is the little one “born this day in the city of David” and wrapped in swaddling cloths and laying in a manger. Blessed are you if you have eyes to see the incomparable worth of Christ Jesus.

Savior, Christ, Lord

The third phrase: “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” His personal name is Jesus, as we see in Luke 2:21. But here at the end of verse 11 we are introduced to three prominent titles of Jesus. Jesus is Savior, the One who saves His people “from our enemies” (Luke 1:71) and from our sins (Matthew 1:21). Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the One chosen and anointed by God to reign forever as the true King over God’s kingdom. Jesus is the Lord, the divine Son who has always enjoyed equality with the Father, the One through whom all things were made, the One who is worthy of our worship, the One who laid aside His heavenly comforts and became incarnate as a man.

“in swaddling cloths”

The final phrase: “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” You might think that the lofty titles of Savior, Messiah, and Lord must refer to a conquering general or a victorious king, which Jesus would prove to be in due course, but at this moment in Luke 2, the lofty titles of Savior, Messiah, and Lord refer to a newborn baby asleep in a manger. All of God’s purposes will be brought to fulfillment through Him. As it says in one of our Christmas hymns:

“Yet it thy dark streets shineth / The everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years / Are met in thee tonight.”[2]

The heavenly host

After the angel proclaims this good news to the shepherds in the field, “a multitude of the heavenly host” came to the angel’s side, declaring their ‘Yes and Amen’ to the angel’s words, praising God, and celebrating His glory and grace in the presence of the shepherds:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (v. 14)

In this holy moment, there is sweet fellowship between heaven and earth. After verse 14, we are told that “the angels went away from them into heaven” (Luke 2:15). But in terms of verses 8-14, the angels are dispatched from heaven to shepherds on earth. “[The] heavenly host” sounds forth the praise of God in the ears of men. The divine glory invades the earthly night sky. And the praise itself is first directed upward: “Glory to God in the highest”. The glory of God shining around the shepherds was designed to put the spotlight upon the baby Jesus. The “good news of great joy” is embodied in the person of Jesus, and His coming to us mortals on earth redounds to the praise of God in heaven. He is the originator of this greatest of gifts, and He deserves our praise and thanksgiving. When we praise God, we ascribe to Him the glory that is rightly His. All glory, honor, and blessing belongs to the living God, for He alone is worthy of our worship.

And yet, the “good news of great joy” that directs our praise upward to the Father in heaven also stirs up our hopefulness for the plight of men on earth: “and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” The King James Version puts it a little bit differently: “and on earth peace, good will toward men.” I want to probe the meaning of this peace, but before we do that, I simply want to express sympathy toward people who hear this declaration of peace on earth, and based on their own understanding of what peace means, they wish for it. And the understanding that people often have of peace is outward peace or social peace. We wish for peace and not strife in our homes. We wish for peace and not stress and gun violence in our communities and schools. We wish for peace and not hate and vitriol in our politics and in our online interactions. We wish for peace and not war in the Middle East, in Israel, in the Ukraine. The Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights says that it is currently monitoring more than 110 armed conflicts in the world. We wish for peace and safety, good will and tranquility in our world. We might wonder if the angelic words about peace on earth are a pipe dream. But we should also wonder whether we have understood the angels’ words correctly.

TWO 19TH CENTURY HYMNS

This brings me to two mid-19th century Christmas hymns, written just fourteen years apart.

“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”

Edmund H. Sears wrote “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” in 1849. I don’t presume to know exactly what is in an author’s mind when he writes a hymn, but it seems apparent that Sears was troubled by social strife. One hymnal editor observes that this “hymn’s central theme contrasts the scourge of war with the song of the angels’ ‘peace to God’s people on earth.’”[3]The Wikipedia entry for this hymn says, “Writing during a period of personal melancholy, and with news of revolution in Europe and the United States' war with Mexico fresh in his mind, Sears portrayed the world as dark, full of "sin and strife", and not hearing the Christmas message.”[4] “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” is Hymn #128 in our hymnal, with our version differing a little bit from the original words. I would like to read the original five-verse hymn as a way of pondering the apparent disconnect between the promise of peace in Luke 2:14 and the ongoing plague of social strife.

Verse 1

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Verse 2

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

Verse 3

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.

Verse 4

And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

Verse 5

For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing

Here is a brief summary of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. In verse 1, the angels bring their initial message to the shepherds of Luke 2. In verse 2, the angels’ words are still being spoken over the present world. In verse 3, the angels’ words have gone unheeded for two thousand years, such that the world is characterized mainly by strife, wrongdoing, and war. In verse 4, the present day hearer is invited to step aside from the weariness and give fresh attention to the angels’ words. In verse 5, we are assured that there will be a golden age at some undisclosed time in the future, and finally at that time the angels’ words will be realized and peace shall prevail. But I have a question: have the angels’ words about peace really been unrealized for the past two thousand years?

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

The second hymn that I want us to consider was written by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” in the year 1863. Longfellow’s poem-turned-hymn is clearly situated within the context of America’s Civil War. Longfellow had known personal tragedy in 1861 when his wife tragically died from a burning accident. Then in 1863 Longfellow’s son Charles went off to fight in the war, and in November 1863 Charles was severely wounded.[5] This set the stage for Longfellow to pen his now famous poem on Christmas Day, 1863. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is Hymn #152 in our hymnal, and here again our version differs somewhat from the original. Longfellow’s original poem contained seven verses, and I would like to share all seven verses as a way of continuing to reflect on the apparent contrast between the promise of peace in Luke 2:14 and the troubles that remain with us. 

Verse 1

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play, 
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 

Verse 2

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom 
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Verse 3

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Verse 4

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South, 
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Verse 5

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Verse 6

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, good-will to men!"

Verse 7

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, good-will to men."

Here is a brief analysis of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. Basically, the announcement and experience of peace and good-will has been rudely interrupted by war and hate, which mocks the angels’ song and brings about great loss among human beings. The hymn concludes with the assurance that at some indefinite time in the future, God will see to it that righteousness triumphs and peace prevails. But is the “peace on earth” that Longfellow is writing about the same peace that the angels were singing about?

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ANGELS’ PROCLAMATION OF PEACE

With those two thoughtful hymns in the background, I would now like to take a closer look at the proclamation of peace in Luke 2:14. While I understand and appreciate how the poets Edmund Sears and Henry Longfellow were perplexed when they put the angels’ song about peace side by side with the absence of peace in our world, and they relegated the fulfillment of peace to some indefinite time in the future, I do think that both of these hymns have missed the crucial point. The fact of the matter is that the angels’ declaration of peace is not a universal promise of world peace for human beings in general. And this is the case regardless of how the verse is translated.

God’s peace is bestowed upon His faithful, favored ones

As I mentioned earlier, the King James Version translates, “on earth peace, good will toward men.” Even if this was a good translation, it wouldn’t change the fact that the realization of biblical promises in people’s lives is consistently linked to personal faith. God’s promises descend upon us in the context of trusting Him. God’s promises do not get realized in the lives of unbelievers. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3) By contrast: ““There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”” (Isaiah 48:22)

Even so, the preferred translation in most Bible translations today makes this point explicit: “on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” The object of the peace is not the earth; the object of the peace is not the world or humankind in general; the object of the peace is those whom God favors, which in the context of Luke 1-3 is obviously not everybody. In Mary’s Song (Luke 1:46-55), the proud are scattered, the mighty are brought down, the rich are sent away empty. In Zechariah’s Song (Luke 1:68-79), the enemies of God’s people lose their grip. In John the Baptist’s preaching in Luke 3, the unrepentant are put on notice: “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:9, 17). God’s peace is bestowed in a discriminating manner upon some but not on others. Indeed, God’s peace is bestowed only upon those with whom God is pleased.

Who are the ones with whom God is pleased? Biblically speaking, this question can be answered from two vantage points. From the vantage point of God’s eternal perspective and sovereign election, those with whom God is pleased are the ones that God has chosen to save from before the foundation of the world. From the vantage point of our temporal perspective and our responsibility to repent and believe the gospel, those with whom God is pleased are those who trust in Jesus. Both of these vantage points are biblical and true.

Other passages in Luke and John confirm this understanding

The rest of the Gospel of Luke reinforces this understanding that the angels’ song is not a declaration of world peace for humankind in general, but is rather a special peace for believers who are set apart from the world. Consider the following testimony in the Gospel of Luke regarding peace.

In Luke 2:22-35, the faithful old man named Simeon is about to “depart in peace” (Luke 2:29) because He got to see and hold the baby Jesus before he died. This is a spiritual peace, not a social peace.

In Luke 7:36-50, a woman who had a reputation for being a great sinner, demonstrated great devotion to Jesus, kissing his feet and anointing his feet with an “alabaster flask of ointment” (Luke 7:37). She loved Jesus much, because she had been forgiven much. The passage concludes with Jesus speaking to her: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:50) Once again, this is quite obviously a spiritual peace, not a social peace.

In Luke 8:43-48, Jesus spoke in the same manner to the “woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years” (Luke 8:43), and who had been healed when she “touched the fringe of his garment” (Luke 8:44). Jesus comforter her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:48)

In Luke 10:1-12, Jesus sends out the seventy-two disciples on a mission journey. Jesus instructs them, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.” (Luke 10:5-6) God’s peace rests only upon those people who have been made conformable to it. Those who receive the Lord’s messengers and the message that they proclaim, receive the Lord Himself and enjoy the Lord’s peace. But those who reject the Lord’s messengers and reject the message that they preach, reject the Lord Himself and they shall have no peace.

In Luke 12:49-53, Jesus directly confronts “peace on earth” theology. He says,

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished? Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)

Jesus brings true peace to those who receive Him, and He brings judgment to those who reject Him. And there is a great divide between those who receive Him and those who reject Him, between believers and unbelievers, between those who have God’s favor resting on them and those who have God’s wrath remaining on them. Do you see?

Jesus is not unfeeling about the tragic loss that befalls those who reject Him. As Jesus made His way to Jerusalem, where He would lay down His life, He was grieved over the spiritual blindness that afflicted the people. Luke 19:41-44 says,

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

When you reject the grace and peace that could be yours, the eventual outcome is that you will be utterly forsaken and ruined.

Finally, in Luke 24, after He had been crucified for the sins of His people and rose again from the dead, the risen Lord Jesus Christ “stood among them [His disciples], and said to them, “Peace to you!”” (Luke 24:36) Don’t miss the obvious: Jesus conveys peace to His disciples – to those who trust Him and follow Him. Similarly, in the Gospel of John, Jesus said to His disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) And again: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And after His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His disciples: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

And so, with all of that biblical instruction underneath our feet, we can see that taking the angels’ words about peace and then being dismayed at how humankind fails to experience that peace, misses the point. The peace of Luke 2:14 is not a worldly peace, is not a social peace, is not a community solidarity peace, is not a Roman peace and stability, is not an American peace and prosperity. Luke 2:14 is talking about a different kind of peace, a spiritual peace, the peace of being in right relationship with the Father, and having His peace upon your life and within your heart. The sinful woman of Luke 7 understood this promised peace, a peace that is linked to the forgiveness of sins, a peace that is received through faith. And Zechariah understood this, for when he spoke about the impact of the Lord’s coming in Luke 1:77-79, he said that the Lord’s coming is designed “to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:77-79). Forgiveness and mercy, light and life and peace – the spiritual blessings that Jesus secured for His people through His atoning death and victorious resurrection.

JESUS OFFERS US A UNIQUE AND UNWORLDLY PEACE

As I wrap up this message, let me attempt an application, a correction, a re-direction. As long as we are in this present world, we are going to have troubles of various kinds. One of the commonest temptations that we face is the temptation to secure an outward peace, a social peace, a material and comfort peace. But what we need to understand is that in this present life, outward peace is not promised to us. There may be seasons of outward peace interspersed with seasons of disorder or hostility. There will be ups and downs in our nations, our churches, our neighborhoods, our families, our circumstances. People chase after outward peace, because they think they can attain it, and because attaining it would make them comfortable, and people want to be comfortable. Of course, outward peace is always fragile, and sinners will never fail to break that fragile outward peace and take up arms and seek vengeance and persecute believers and wreak havoc on one another and on the world. And I’m here this morning to tell you that the ups and downs of outward peace are beside the point. Maybe you are here this morning and you are frustrated, you are conflicted, you are losing your grip, life isn’t going your way, things are falling apart, and you are crumbling. And you are tempted to think that if you could only get your circumstances straightened out, then all would be well. If only you could get the right people around you, if only you could get the right job situation, if only you could get the right financial situation, if only you could get the right living situation, if only you could get the right medical care, if only you could get other people to change, then you would be better. And I’m here to tell you that that way of thinking is a lie. I don’t mean that those things don’t matter at all, but I do mean that those things are not the fundamental issue.

While we’re attempting to reconfigure the outward details of our life, Jesus offers us something completely different. Our Savior, Christ the Lord, came to save you from your sins, to remove all your guilt and shame. Jesus died on the cross in order to bring about the forgiveness of your sins, and to grant you peace with the Father, and to send the Holy Spirit into your heart and life. Show me the people who know that Jesus paid it all and that all of their sins are washed clean in the Savior’s blood, who know that the Father’s smile is upon them and that He hears their prayers, who know that the Holy Spirit lives within them and produces supernatural love, joy, and peace within their hearts, who know that nothing can separate them from the precious love of Christ, and who know that they are rightly aligned with their fellow believers with whom they are bound together in Christ’s love – show me those people, and I will show you people who remain steadfast under trials, who endure great difficulties with integrity and grace, and who get back on their feet after they stumble because they know that their Redeemer lives.

If I have just described someone else but not you, I want to give you a personal invitation to come to Jesus this morning. “Let every heart prepare Him room”![6] For Jesus is the “[joy] of every longing heart”.[7] “Where meek souls will receive Him still / The dear Christ enters in.” [8] “The King of kings salvation brings, / Let loving hearts enthrone Him.” [9] Will you come to Jesus this morning? You will beat your head against many walls, and chase outward peace in vain, until you come to the Prince of Peace and let His peace reign in your heart.

During this final set of songs, if you need to do business with God, seek His face and cry out to Him for mercy. If you feel like you need counsel, I’ll be standing in the back and you’re welcome to meet me there. Jesus gives peace, not as the world gives peace, but true peace that abides forever. And a broken and contrite heart He will not turn away. 

In this world you will have trouble, but Jesus stands forth as the peace, strength, and hope of all those who trust in Him.

ENDNOTES

[1] See Wikipedia entry “Pax Romana”. Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana

[2] From the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Phillips Brooks

[3] Carlton Young, quoted in “History of Hymns: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”” by Dr. C. Michael Hawn. June 21, 2013. Available online: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-it-came-upon-a-midnight-clear

[4] The Wikipedia entry “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_Upon_the_Midnight_Clear

[5] The Wikipedia entry “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_the_Bells_on_Christmas_Day

[6] From the hymn “Joy to the World!” by Isaac Watts

[7] From the hymn “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley

[8] From the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Phillips Brooks

[9] From the hymn “What Child Is This?” by William C. Dix

More in Advent

December 24, 2024

Love for Christmas

December 24, 2023

Jesus Our Savior

December 24, 2023

Let’s Join the Chorus of Praise