How Christmas Shall Define Who We Are

The need is “Peace”.  It is one word that embodies so very much, from our Lord Jesus as our “Prince of Peace” to the great gift that will be brought to the world after the Day of Judgment.  It is the centerpiece of what our church is working toward.  Our tagline, “a neighborhood in the Kingdom of God”, is indicative of where a peaceful community is truly to be found.  Our mission focal points, on our kids, on pastoral care, on our relationship to Jesus, all pivot to bring peace into our lives.

                Peace sits on a tripod foundation: Love, Justice, and Faith.  I Corinthians 13 defines them as Faith, Hope, and Love, the greatest being love.  Can we dwell on the intimate connection of Hope and Justice? 

                Peace is often confused with other things.  Here are five things Peace is not:

1. “Ceasefire”, or ‘the absence of war’.  A Ceasefire ended active hostilities between North and South Korea in 1953, but peace has never been achieved.
2. “Inertia”, or ‘the status quo’.  It can take some time to get things moving.  You know the expression ‘the lull before the storm’?
3. “Rest”, or ‘simple exhaustion’.  Everybody has to sleep, even the most evil among us. 
4. “Inactivity”.  Just because the terrorists haven’t attacked in a month does not mean that peace reigns. 
5. “Singular”, or of a single facet.  Multiple lines of work, aid, and activity must go into creating peace. 

Peace does not ‘happen’, peace is built.  Peace is maintained through vigilance and must be protected.  Peace abhors violence but peace will overcome evil with good when it must.  Peace must be the will of the community, it must have ‘buy in’ from the members of the community, it must rest upon its tripod foundation.

We can learn about Peace from our sister Abrahamic faiths.  In Hebrew, the term is “shalom” and in Arabic the term is “salaam”.  Study the terms and what they mean in the Jewish and Islamic traditions and we can learn much to our advantage in the Christian tradition.

Peace, it is who we must be and what we must be about to transform and heal this world.

The image is the baby lying in the manger.  When we have achieved peace, the baby will lie in that manger without fear of the cruel world, want of basic necessities, or lack of community to surround him.