I'm sure many of you have heard the story, or some mutated version of
the story, of the miraculous Christmas Peace that happened during WW I.
(if you haven't here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce)
One of the prophecies we hear quite often around Christmas time is
Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a Child is born .... and He will be called....
Prince of Peace"
I spend most of my time thinking on the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the
coming Messiah and most of those thoughts are centered on the enormity
of God becoming flesh. But today I have been thinking about the
concept of PEACE.
The word used there for PEACE entails a lot of leadership. At the time
of the prophecy, there was horrible, wicked, leadership. The prophecy
was giving hope to a world without it. A world who was crying out for
someone to be a decent leader, and to bring peace.
I grew up in a country, and a state (California) where even the history
of war was barely alive. If you visit the southern states, you'll find
the Civil War is very much still in the memory of the people. If you
visit the South Pacific Islands, WWII wreckage is not hard to find.
But I grew up knowing peace where I was and so the idea of a savior who
brought peace, wasn't the most impressive thing about Christmas to me.
If you watch what is going on in the Middle East, it definitely doesn't
feel like peace. And yet, in the middle of WW I , this random peace
broke out, because of the celebration of the birth of Christ.
I live in a country now where Peace is needed. There are always rumors
of impending fighting. We have witnessed village houses burning down,
people fighting, killing. People not showing up one day because they
have to attend a funeral. Nearly everyone we know from this country has
lost multiple relatives in some fight or another. Peace is not a way of
life here.
And those who find Christ, and try to rely on Him, often try to choose
more wisely and still find themselves under extreme pressure in the
culture to seek violence.
You killed my brother, so I'll kill your brother, then you killed my
uncle, so I'll kill your uncle, and it goes and goes and goes.
This week, I'm focusing on the fact that a name for Christ is the Prince
of Peace. Because that seems like a very real need to me around here.
