The King of Peace

Lk 2:8-14

 

1. Christmas is the gracious season of peace when everybody, Christian or non-Christian, would have a warm heart of love and care to distance from any hate or fighting. Luke, a biblical historian, reports that a group of Bethlehem shepherds saw a host of angels and heard their magnificent song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests!”(14) Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah will come as “the Prince of Peace.”(9:6) His coming to the earth was the beginning of genuine peace in human history, for His salvation was that of peace.

2. Apostle Paul proclaimed that Jesus Christ is our peace in Eph 2:14. Why is Jesus our Peace, and why did angels sing that His coming would bring true peace on the earth? Jesus came peacefully to this hostile world. When “a great company of the heavenly angels” suddenly appeared and surrounded the shepherds, “they were terrified.”(9) But an angel comforted them: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”(10-12) God is omnipotent, and therefore the coming of His Son might be most terrifying. But, the sign of His coming was nothing to be terrified: “a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”(12)

3. It was different from popular expectations of the Messiah, for sinful humanity have waited the invincible warrior kings and worshipped them as heroes throughout the human history. Sinful humanity tried to be and raise the strongest to win and conquer the weaker people and nations by the law of jungle. It was the desire of every sinner. But Jesus came to the world as the weakest, even though He was the strongest by nature. It was the sign of the Messiah, the Savior of the world. While sinners chose every kind of war as the way of salvation, Jesus rejected such wisdom from below and chose peace, the wisdom from above, as the only way of human salvation and liberation. It was because war is the most typical sign of sinful slavery and the way of human destruction. God gave the force to the state for justice, and therefore the use of force is necessary to keep justice and defense. However, offensive war of expansion and influence is sinful injustice and it will cause self-destruction sooner or later. War lovers insist that war brings peace, but Jesus warned that war brings another wars. Jesus was the King and established His Kingdom, but His principle was peace, not war. He expanded His kingdom by peace and love, not by war and violence. It was regrettable that some Christian politicians made mistakes to use war and justified them for the Kingdom of God. But, His Kingdom has expanded to the largest and most powerful on the earth not by such wars but by His Gospel of peace. Whenever church uses force, she fails and retreats. The Bible warns that “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”(Heb 12:14) As a matter of fact, we are called to participate in peace and promote it: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”(Col 3:15)

4. In this violent age of continuous wars, terrorism, and violent culture, we Christians should be peace makers. In home, society, and church, we have to follow the way of Christ as His disciples of peace and distance from any violence or war. Roman Empire had many coliseums and gladiators, but do you know how it ended? A monk named Telemachus traveled to Rome and found that many people went to see gladiator game. He thought to himself, “Four centuries after Christ and they are killing each other for enjoyment? This isn’t right.” And he went out into the middle of the field and got between two gladiators. When he said that “In the name of Christ, forbear!” the crowd of 80,000 shouted to run him through and gladiators hit him with the back of sword. He did not give up. Finally, his continuous efforts made the crowd leave the coliseum. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome. Yes, Christians suffer when we give up the use of force, but it was the way of our Lord!

5. Christ is our peace! Jesus “made peace through his blood, shed on the cross” and gave it to us with the task of reconciliation: “through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”(Col 1:20) Sin continuously divided humanity into hostile groups one another, and it resulted in endless wars of every kinds. To end such hostile wars and free humanity from such sinful slavery, Christ died on the cross and opened the way of salvation and freedom from war and hostility. In this Christmas, we celebrate the Birth of our Lord, the King of Peace. Let us dedicate ourselves for unity, not for division of any kind that makes us proud to the other groups and hostile to them. First of all, we have to start from our church and our family: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace!”(Eph 4:3) And it has to expand to everybody, peoples and races, nations and the world: “If it is possible…  live at peace with everyone.”(Rom 12:18) Secular peace promotes secure and comfortable living in one’s own group, but Christian peace is the limitless reconciliation and unity in Christ. The peace of Christ will not fail you, because it is heavenly and extraordinary: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”(John 14:27); “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Phil 4:7)

6. Our God is God of Peace! We do not worship a war god. Our God is love and peace. Our Lord, He is our Peace! Ancient religions worshipped war gods, but our God teaches love and peace. Jesus clarified it as loving God and neighbors. Our peace begins from our peace with God, because our hostility and enmity to God is the reason of lacking true peace in our soul and society. When we surrender and return our sovereignty to our Creator, and when we give up our love of war and violence, our true peace makes a start. Therefore, Christmas is God’s gift of true and eternal peace to our life that the world cannot destroy but temporarily. Once we have peace with God, our peace continues to expand to our neighbors from close to far. And we wish and bless peace to everybody including our enemies who are hostile to us. Jesus said that “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.”(Lk 10:5-6) So, it became a Christian habit to bless peace, Shalom, to fellow believers and everybody. Today, I will give you Paul’s benediction to the Thessalonians Church: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you!”(2 Thess 3:16) Amen.