Homily Pastor
Celebration
of Advent: Peace
While shepherds watched their flocks by night… we’re so used to singing
the carol. Can you imagine how strange this scene really was? Shepherds tending
their sheep… keeping watch over their sheep… they were likely looking forward
to a quiet night.
Suddenly, an angel appears and brings news… good news.
It says news of “great joy
for all people.”
The Jews were a people who had endured hardship, war, captivity, and
betrayal.
One truth that kept them persevering through it all was the hope of the
promised Messiah. So the best news would be news of the Messiah… the Savior.
A Messiah… a political leader to deliver them from
Roman rule.
A Messiah… a savior to deliver them from sickness an
physical hardship.
A Messiah… the Savior to deliver them from sin and
death.
So here’s the angel, no Advent candles, no weeks of decoration, no
seasonal music on the radio, no warning, no build-up… just “hey, the Messiah is
here!”
That is hard to believe.
And… here’s the sign. You’ll find the Messiah-baby just wrapped up in a
manger, a trough, something livestock would eat out of.
That is hard to believe.
Then the one angel is joined by a whole choir… a great company… a heavenly
host. The once quiet night, a silent night interrupted only by an occasionally
noisy sheep, was now filled with an amazing, heavenly song delivered by
heaven’s best.
Amazing.
But what was most amazing was what they sang… what the Church has historically
called the “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.”
(v.14)
If we could just bring ourselves to looking at this story from a fresh
perspective, if we could just shake-off all our presuppositions about this story…
we’d be forced to come to the conclusion that this is a strange scene… really
bizarre.
And furthermore, it is remarkable to remember that the writer, Luke,
was a serious historian and he wants us to know that this actually happened.
This is a true story! He wants us to believe:
- An angel appeared to common shepherds
- He announced that there really is a
Messiah
- And that the Messiah was born in the
simplest circumstances
- He wants us to believe the night sky was
filled by a heavenly choir
- And he wants us to believe the promise:
Peace on Earth
One writer wrote:
Well, I suppose if
there was to be peace on earth it would be pretty amazing. Unbelievable in fact. We’ve got:
·
war on terrorism
·
war on famine
·
war against
·
war against Catholic and war against Protestant
·
war between Jews and Arabs in
·
drug wars, cyber wars, virtual wars,
Not very peaceful this
time of year is it? Where is this much talked about “peace on earth”? So it probably seems
like a bit of a fairy story. Maybe we
can believe the stuff about angels.
Maybe even the stuff about the Messiah.
But peace on earth? Not sure about that…
I understand this writer’s frustration, this writer’s point of view.
But could we be missing the point?
Maybe we should ask ourselves an important question:
What is the antonym of peace? War?
What does the Bible tell us? What does this passage tell us?
Take a look at verse 9
What was the first thing that the angel said? “Do not be afraid.”
What were they afraid of? It was an angel.
Come on! I’ve seen angels.
Angels are all the rage… especially at Christmas.
We have them all over the house. In our tree, on the shelves, in the garland,
on the wreathes… we even have one made out of wire and
lights that stands about 4-feet tall in our front yard.
What were they afraid of?
Wouldn’t seeing an angel be an exciting thing?
To be touched by an angel… wow!
But the text indicated they were afraid… terrified really.
When the glory of the Lord shone around them, the shepherds first
response was that something bad was about to happen. That was a reasonable
reaction because throughout the Bible angels bring bad news, judgment, and
destruction.
They were afraid because they understood they were faced with God’s
glory, God’s holiness and they were undone. They understood that sin separated
them from God. They understood a bit of what was described by the prophet
Isaiah.
There was no peace. There was fear.
War isn’t the antonym of peace… fear is the antonym of peace.
When we find ourselves face to face with a genuine expression of God’s
glory, if left to our own merits and righteousness, our natural response is
fear.
Fear because we don’t measure up.
Fear because we deserve punishment.
In the Bible, when you see an angel it often means it is time for God’s
judgment – a perfect and utterly impartial standard of justice applied to
everyone who declares war on God. So no
wonder the shepherds were terrified!
They know that they, like all of us, deserve to be punished by God.
But what did the angel actually say to them? Let’s look again at verse 10:
Do not be afraid. I
bring you good news of great joy…
This angel isn’t bringing bad news about God’s judgment. The real surprise is that this angel is
bringing good news! And the good news is
what Christmas is all about. The good
news is all about Jesus. “Today in the
town of
Good news! A savior has been born.
I’ve made the point before that it seems really easy for our culture to
embrace Christmas. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!
The religious ideas are pretty easy to take… that a baby was born to do
good things. Angels, and stars, and wisemen… nativity
scenes… it is all marvelous.
But it isn’t just Baby Jesus… not just the Jesus of Christmas.
He who saves us is the Jesus of Easter… the crucified and resurrected
Jesus.
When he died on the cross, he took the punishment that we deserve from
God, so that we don’t have to. He saved
us by dying in our place. This little
baby in the manger was pure and innocent.
And he remained pure and innocent his whole life. He didn’t rebel against God or deserve God’s
judgment. And yet he was nailed to a
cross - killed like a common criminal – to take all the punishment that we
deserve from God.
He was judged and condemned so that we can be free – free to have a
relationship with God without fear. Free to enjoy peace with God.
Jesus didn’t come to merely end war… to broker a peace treaty.
Jesus didn’t come merely to preach, teach or talk about peace.
He came to be peace.
So there were these shepherds, watching their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to
them. Perhaps it sounds a bit
far-fetched?
But what would you expect? A
heavenly fanfare doesn’t seem too much to announce the arrival of the
Savior. This was an astounding day – the
day that Jesus came to rescue us from centuries of war. Jesus came to bring peace to the earth – not
peace between Arab and Jew or between
Peace on earth and
mercy mild,
God and sinners
reconciled!
Do you know what it is like to be reconciled to God? Do you know what it is like to be saved from
God’s judgment and to be able to relate to him without fear? If we turn to Jesus and ask him to be our
Savior this Christmas, we can be forgiven by God and have the slate wiped
clean.
Most, if not all, of us experience this peace. Have you shared this peace?
Christmas is a great time to share your testimony of peace. It is a great time
to introduce people to Jesus. Go ahead and start with Baby Jesus… but be sure
to introduce them to the Savior too!
Christians rejoice every year as we remember the birth of Jesus. We celebrate the coming of our savior, the
one who rescued us from God’s judgment and reconciled us to him. That’s what Christmas is really all about:
not a temporary truce on the battlefields of the world or a superficial calm
over Christmas dinner, but real peace between us and God.
But you may have missed out on this kind of Christmas in the past. If so, don’t let another Christmas slip by
without asking Jesus to be your savior, and to give you this peace.