Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:6
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(NIV)
In a world of tragedy, sadness, war, and loneliness, some people wonder whether the greeting "Merry Christmas!" is appropriate.
What is there to be Merry about anyway?
• At a time when terror reigns from the Middle East and from the middle of the neighborhoods where we live, what is there to be merry about?
• When death rushes in, whether unannounced or anticipated and we are left sifting through what is left over from our loved ones, what is there to be merry about?
• When, as one lady told me the other day, “even rich folk struggle to make dollars stretch” and poverty is on the rise, what is there to be merry about?
• What is there to be merry about when you have a war raging within your heart, your mind, your home?
Today, I want us to look at the one word which occurs in every book of the New Testament but one. It is the one word which sums up why Jesus came. It is probably the most ill-defined word in the English language. The word: “Peace”.
Journey back with me to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth. There isn’t much that looks peaceful here. Streets are crowded, businesses crowded, everyone’s in a hurry. Sound familiar? I can’t say that one can experience “road rage” driving a donkey or camel, but I would think it could be worst that from within a vehicle! The people you shout at might actually hear you! Bethlehem is full of strangers due to a census imposed by someone everyone hates. The out-of-towners hate being in Bethlehem and the local folk hate all the traffic brought by the out-of towners. And they both hate the Romans.
Bethlehem is not a peaceful place.
These words from Scripture could be said about Bethlehem in the time of Jesus and about our world today:
Isaiah 59:8
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. (NIV)
Yet just outside of town, some hated men are working the graveyard shift. We are told that the shepherds were hated by the good Jewish folk of that day because they couldn’t keep up with all the proper rules and etiquette imposed on the people. The shepherds always had dirty hands, they were always missing church services, and they always smelled like sheep! The good clean church folk simply hated the shepherds!
Yet these very shepherds provided sheep for sacrifice. Since little lambs were to be offered for sacrifice twice everyday in the Temple just a few miles away, these stinking, hated shepherds tended to the very sheep which would be brought for purchase by the very ones who hated them.
Can there ever be peace where hatred abounds?
As you look across the fields white with wool, although not snow, you’ll notice that there is something different stirring in the air. The sheep sense it, the shepherds start looking for an attacker when an angel appears:
Luke 2:9-14
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
(NIV)
There’s that word again: “Peace”.
Isn’t peace the absence of fear?
Luke 2:9
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
(NIV)
Verse 9 says that the shepherds were terrified, literally “they feared with great fear”! Doesn’t sound very peace producing to me! Then the angel is joined by “a great company of the heavenly host”, an army of angels, who literally surround these shepherds. Imagine being surrounded by an army of angels, clothed with brightness, lighting up the place like a Christmas tree, and their surround sound announcing “peace”! An army announcing peace!
Do you think the shepherds were full of peace? Then as suddenly as the angels came onto the stage of earth they retreated to the backstage of Heaven. The glow disappears and all that is left is the echo of the angelic message. “Peace.”
When nothing about your life says, “peace”, you will respond to the promise of peace
anytime you hear it.
When the road is dark and uncertain ahead of you, you relax when you see the peaceful lights of home. When you are afraid of what may wait for you around the next bend in the road, the road sign saying that your destination is not far away brings a sense of peace.
Luke 2:15
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
(NIV)
They were told that peace is not far away! So they started heading for peace! Wouldn’t you?
A pastor was preparing his sermon when his daughter came in and said, “Daddy, can you come and play with me?” Her father responded, “Honey, I need to finish my sermon, but give me an hour, and I will play with you.” “Okay,” said the girl, “And when you finish, I am going to give you a great big hug.” So the daughter started out of her dad’s office and then turned around and gave her dad a big hug. “I thought you were going to give me a hug when I was finished?” asked her father. “Daddy, I just wanted you to know what you have to look forward to!”
The angel said, “Peace is what you have to look forward to.” It’s not far away, just over the next hill.
Luke 2:16
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
(NIV)
That must have not been a very peaceful visit either. All those stinking shepherds, hurrying with all their stinking, bleating sheep, to invade the privacy of the birthing room in a barn where Peace laid on a pallet of hay.
Luke 2:17-18
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
(NIV)
Was the shepherds’ situation different than before? No, they were still despised and outcast. They still had to work the graveyard shift, still could not go to church, still kept at arms length by the good folk of this town.
The shepherds’ situation was the same, but they were different! They had found the Prince of Peace.
Peace is not the absence of trouble; peace is the presence of God!
That’s what this word “peace” means. It does not mean that everything is coming up roses in your life. You may still feel the pain of the thorns more than you smell the sweetness of the rose.
How can you know peace when the thorns stab you from within? How can you find peace when the war between what you know is right and the taunting voice of wrong raging within?
When you are caught in the middle of the war, there is only one way to peace: Surrender to the Prince of Peace!
One evening, an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a "battle" that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between the two wolves inside us all.
"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Quit feeding the warring wolf! Surrender to the Prince of Peace!
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
(NIV)
There is always a price to pay for peace. It was not easy for God to give us Christmas. It was not easy for Christ. It was not easy to keep loving and coming after a creation that had continually rejected him and his love. It was not easy when he realized what his Son would have to go through, especially the cross. The Christmas story is not as cute as it is profound. A child born to die. A child destined for suffering, abuse and misunderstanding. A child whose life was in danger shortly after his birth. It is a story of a God who gave until it hurt—until we could know peace.
Where there is no God, there is no peace.
When we know God, we know peace!
Gordon McDonald tells this story: “A Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States came out of the crowd today to say something kind about the lecture I had just given. She introduced herself using an American name. ‘What’s your African name?’ I asked. She immediately gave it to me, several syllables long with a musical sound to it. ‘What does the name mean?’ I wondered. She answered, ‘It means “Child who takes the anger away.”’ When I inquired as to why she would have been given this name, she said, ‘My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry. But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway. For several years they were ostracized from both their families. Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept the anger away. And that’s the name my mother and father gave me.’” McDonald concluded, “It occurred to me that her name would be a suitable one for Jesus.”
Yes, when Jesus came, he was the child who took the anger away between ourselves and God. God’s wrath melted, and our anger at God was over. He brought us together. He was the child who takes the anger away — or as we know him: The Prince of Peace.
Peace on Earth can never start until we surrender one-by-one and let the Prince reign in our hearts !
Perhaps you desperately need the Prince of Peace to come and settle a conflict or mend a division. That’s why Jesus came: to be your Prince of Peace. To mend your brokenness, your broken relationships and bring peace.
In 1962, missionaries named Don and Carol Richardson went to New Guinea to bring the Good News of Christ to a group of people known as the Sawi. The Sawi was a headhunting, cannibalistic tribe who used the skulls of their victims as pillows. He wrote a book about his experience called Peace Child. He began his work among the Sawi by reading through the Gospel of Matthew. But to his consternation when he got to the part of Judas betraying Christ everyone cheered. He did not realize that their culture was one built around treachery. The one who was the most devious was the one who had the most respect in their tribe. The missionary searched for every possible means to explain the greatness of God’s gift of truth and pure love to a people whose values were based on deceit. Then one day he witnessed a solemn ceremony between two warring tribes. One of the chiefs walked over to the other and handed him a child. In fact, it was the chief’s own son. Their custom had been that peace could come between two tribes only if the chief of one of the tribes would give his son over to the people of the other tribe. He was called the “peace child.” The chief would place his own son in the hands of a people who hated him and had been his enemies. It was the only way to bring peace between them. Richardson saw in this act the perfect bridge to help these people understand what God had done. God had given his “peace child” into the hands of a hostile world in order to bring the hostility between us to an end.
Isaiah 9:7
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
(NIV)
We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.
— A. W. Tozer
Come to the Prince of Peace today!
