Peace on Earth... Where there is no Peace
It's a phrase we hear and see and sing all the time during the holidays: "Peace on Earth!" That first Christmas night, out in the fields, this was the message proclaimed to humble shepherds by a choir of Heavenly Messengers:
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!"
- Luke 2:14
Their message did not go unremembered. From generation to generation, their words remain a comfort to our hearts at Christmas time, finding their way into Christmas decorations and light displays as well as our popular carols and songs. What a wonderful notion, what an admirable aspiration: "Peace on Earth!"
But do we really believe it? I mean, didn't we just spend 11 months trying to avoid life-threatening illlness and yelling at each other about politics? Do we just suddenly experience peace out of nowhere because it's December?
It puts me in mind of the words of Jeremiah:
"For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially, claiming,
'Peace, peace, when there is no peace.'"
- Jeremiah 6:13-14
This lament came in a time of great turmoil for Israel, when corrupt leaders tried to play God and spread falsehoods as truth for their own gain. Jeremiah gets on to these people for trying to act like everything was just peachy because they didn't feel like challenging the status quo. He urged Israel to pause and take a moment to admit that things were not okay. (I personally love the way the International Children's Bible puts it: "They say, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right!’ But really, it is not all right.")
I have to admit that sometimes this is what I hear in my head even though I am singing "Peace on Earth!" It feels so often like I am just painting pretty words over tough situations and hoping that helps. How do we reconcile a God that chides his people for saying "Peace, when there is no Peace" and then, in the middle of an imperial takeover, one of the very worst times for the oppressed and disheartened Jewish people, declares to a shepherd,"Peace!"?
Then I remember there was another prophet, Isaiah, who shared these famed words:
"For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
- Isaiah 9:6
In pondering this, I realised why Jesus must have come as a child. A child is an amazing gift and a wonderful source of peace in a parent's life; but a child can also be a difficulty. It literally takes a lifetime of work and toil to take a child and produce a healthy, successful adult, but any parent who has put in that work can tell you, It's worth it!
"Peace on Earth" came the night the Angels said, but it came with a whole life ahead of it, a life that never stopped labouring until his final, forgiving breath, and then... new life in the resurrection, and it was worth it!
I believe the message of Christmas is that there really is a way to bring Peace; it's not just a lie we tell ourselves to feel better. But if we are going to see Peace on Earth for real, it takes work. Invest in the hope of Christmas and the Word of God each day, and don't stop when the holidays are over. Peace isn't something we paint over hardship, it's a transformative force. Let it change you, let it work in you, and you will experience "Peace on Earth."