Christmas Day Thoughts 2007

It is a great blessing to us that the coming Jesus was identified as the “Prince of Peace”. Not the “Prince” of conflict or violence, not the “Prince” of anxiety or busyness, but the “Prince of Peace”.

This means that Jesus would firstly be the ‘conveyor’ of inner peace: where through him we find grace to touch our guilt, mercy to touch our sin, and salvation to touch our lostness.

Then this also means that Jesus would be the ‘promoter’ of peaceful relationships: so we seek to live our lives in harmony with all those we are in contact with (wife, husband, daughter, son, parents, other family members, neighbours, friends, work colleagues, school-mates etc), as well as living in harmony with creation itself.

And further, Jesus being the “Prince of Peace” means that he is the ‘example’ of what it is to be a peacemaker; so when we take on board Jesus’ ‘beattitude’ (Matt 5:9) – "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" – we will actually look to Jesus to learn how to bring that off!

As an aside … some people when looking at the whole breadth of the Bible might wonder how to get a handle on all this complexity and work out how to live – I think the answer is this … we study the life of Jesus first, and then work both back and forward from there. A true Christian way of thinking can only be focussed on what Jesus would say or do!

Now, sometimes other people make it impossible for us to live at peace with them. However, this does not mean we stop being peacemakers, it just means we live with integrity within disharmony. Just because we are offended against doesn’t mean that we have the right to get back at another or establish our own position by force. We don’t want to be like those people who call themselves Christians and adhere themselves to the church, but seem to ignore some of the most important things the founder of the movement (and the head of the church) teaches.

Jesus the “Prince of Peace” calls us to be peacemakers and then shows us in the Gospel narratives how to go about it! I’ve had some difficult issues to deal with this year in my community work, but I’ve had to remember that my calling as a peacemaker supersedes any other task that has to be undertaken or problem that has to be solved. I am first and foremost a Jesus follower!

This is the Jesus who we celebrate today – a baby born in humble circumstances destined by origin to be the Saviour of the World and the “Prince of Peace”. God had hinted at all this some 700 years earlier through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah knew that no matter how bad the world got, and no matter how much God way’s were ignored, that God would not give up on seeking to redeem His people; not only that – but God would go to extraordinary lengths to achieve such a reconciliation!

True prophets like Isaiah could not abide injustice, the debasing of human dignity, or the exploitation of God’s generosity, and preached strongly against such behaviour – longing for the day when God would decisively act. In the birth of the Christ Child at Bethlehem God certainly acted! And Jesus showed us that part of peacemaking is taking a stand against injustice, and actively seeking to right society’s wrongs.

Part of Isaiah’s great vision (in 9:1-7), was that through God’s decisive activity, and because the people “have seen a great light” (v.2), violence will cease, the implements of war will be superfluous, peace & security will be established, and life will be celebrated! Yet we know that this great potential lying in the depths of God’s heart, remains dependent on people being lifted out of darkness, being spiritually enlightened, and becoming peacemaking followers of Jesus. For me, the highlight of John Howard’s 11 years of being Prime Minister, was in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, legislating for that “gun buy back scheme”, and seeing all those tools of terror being pulverised into impotence. This (although costly to the taxpayer) was a significant act of peacemaking!

In the biblical text, when one acquires a certain name like “Prince of Peace”, this indicates a lot about this person’s character – who & what they are. To be a “Prince of Peace” means that Jesus was an ‘administrator’ of peace in people’s lives … he administers the benefits of peace and wholeness. Jesus brings the potential of peace –
· between myself and God (and yourself and God)
· within the achings of my (and your) own heart
· between me & you
· between me and my community
· between me and my environment
· within my family and community, and
· between my nation and other nations.

Jesus was truly interested in people, he discerned and understood them, and addressed their most pressing needs. He taught them passionately about the Kingdom of God and what was most important in life. Jesus continually rejected power and fame in favour of being a suffering servant. When we sing “Glory to God in the Highest” – we could just as much sing “Glory to God in the Lowest”! Jesus set the standard for loving, and for offering hope, and for giving … to those who needed this the most.

The world that was in need of a “Prince of Peace” in the time of Isaiah, and the world that was in need of a Saviour when Jesus came; is the same world that is in need of a Saviour and “Prince of Peace” now! We can carry Jesus into a hurting society, where there is much spiritual poverty, relational dislocation, violence and injustice. Our availability to be a peacemaker depends upon our willingness to allow Jesus to be the “Prince of Peace” of each of our hearts. In the face of all complexity and adversity, Jesus can settle us down, calm us, de-complicate us, re-focus us; and then surely we will feel his abiding, reassuring peaceful presence.

Happy Birthday, Prince of Peace!