Not within ourselves

We live in a time where most of us have not experienced war or the deprivations of war, certainly not on our soil. We live in a time of unprecedented prosperity; and while many of us struggle, most of our physical needs are met. We live in a time of peace, and yet for many, a true sense of peace remains elusive. Many of us find ourselves consumed by anxiety, racked by a sense of guilt, or feeling that we just don’t measure up. Our relationships with family, neighbors, and coworkers is characterized by conflict rather than harmony. And there is a sense of deep division within our society, often cutting right through the middle of communities, congregations, and even households. Peace does not seem to be a word that defines the time in which we are living, at least not on any deep level.

Surveying the topic of peace, here is what many wise people over the years have to say.

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” —Saint Francis de Sales
“The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.” —Norman Vincent Peale
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” —Dalai Lama
“Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you are depressed you are living in the past if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” —Lao Tzu

There is truth in all of these words, and yet in reading them one gets the sense that peace is a state of being that is achieved through developing a different frame of mind and perspective within ourselves. But in this Advent season, as we talk about peace, we are not merely talking about growing a new attitude deep within ourselves. Rather we are talking about something much bigger, much grander – and something that has its source not within ourselves but within the heart of God.

Luke 2:8-14

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

The Meaning of Peace

The dictionary defines peace in a couple of different ways. There is “a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.” This is peace as the opposite of war, a lack of violence. On a more personal level, peace is defined as “freedom from disturbance; tranquility.” But the idea of peace in the Bible is a bit different from either the absence of conflict or a state of rest.

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, and it means completeness, soundness, and welfare. It comes from a root word which means to make amends or to restore. Shalom is sometimes used to mean well-being, and it is often used as a greeting or blessing between people.

The Greek word for peace used in the New Testament is eiréné, which means one, peace, quietness, and rest. It originates from the root word eirō, which means to join, or tie together into a whole. So eiréné means unity, the bringing together of multiple parts to form, or reform, a whole. An example would be two friends who have had a fight, and they come together and reconcile and make eiréné and their relationship is made whole.

So we can see that there is more going on in the biblical idea of peace. Rather than merely the absence of conflict, it is taking action to restore a broken situation; rather than a personal sense of tranquility, it is completeness and wholeness. In scripture, there is a higher vision, that of things being as they should be. This is why there is such an emphasis on confession and making amends in the Bible; the biblical story is one of relationships being damaged and broken apart by sin, and which God desires and is at work to bring about healing and restoration.

True peace has its source in God. One of the names given to God in the Old Testament is Yahweh Shalom, which means “the LORD Is Peace” (Judges 6:24). The vision of shalom is the vision of God for the wholeness and restoration of all things, and it was through the promised Messiah that this shalom would be achieved. The Prince of Peace, or the Prince of Shalom, is one of the titles given to the promised savior in Isaiah 9. There are three ways that Jesus brings us peace.

Peace with God

Most importantly, Jesus brings us peace with God. This is the heart of the Advent message and the Christmas story. The story of the fall, way back in the beginning of the Bible, is the story of humanity’s rebellion against God. In choosing our way over God’s way, humanity became alienated from God. The resulting rift is the true source of all our problems.

The Bible takes sin very seriously, but also makes it clear that it is God who ultimately deals with it. God knew that we were helpless to save ourselves, and therefore provided the one who could save us. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is God entering the world, taking on human flesh and becoming one of us. The Advent story leads to the Easter story, the story of Christ’s suffering and death, of taking the weight of the world’s sins upon himself and dealing with them and their consequences.

The Prince of Peace brings us shalom, or wholeness, with God. 2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” The message of the angels to the shepherds – the wonderful news – is that God desires and will provide peace and reconciliation between Himself and us through the Jesus the Messiah.

Peace with Ourselves

Second, Jesus brings us peace with ourselves. Again, it is important to remember that shalom is different than tranquility; shalom is wholeness and well-being. One of the results of sin is alienation from our true selves; we don’t know who we truly are. Our lives become a desperate search for meaning and significance, often with destructive results.

The Prince of Peace not only saves us from sin, but also reveals to us who God is. God is love, and we are God’s beloved. God sent Jesus to us because God loves us so much that He could not let us continue down the path of sin and separation from Him. In Jesus, the love of God is revealed in human form. In Jesus’ life and death, God’s self-giving and self-sacrificing love is demonstrated to us. God’s love in Christ reveals to us our true identity: we are God’s beloved children.

We do not need to earn God’s love; in fact, there’s nothing you or I can do to make God love us more than He already does. God created us in love for love, and in Jesus God draws us back to Himself. Shalom means that we recognize that even while we were sinners, God still loved us; even when we fall short of God’s goodness, God still loves us. We can begin to see ourselves through God’s eyes. And realizing that we are accepted by God, we can accept ourselves; and understanding that we are loved by God, we can love ourselves. And we know that God isn’t finished with us yet; scripture tells us that “He who began a good work in us will continue it on until the day of completion” (Phil. 1).

Peace with Others

Third, Jesus brings us peace with others. The vision of biblical shalom, what some call the dream of God, is not just the absence of conflict or a state of tranquility, but of true reconciliation and wholeness. We see the beginnings of this in the commandments not to kill, steal, lie, etc. But Jesus takes it much further – we are to love our neighbor as ourselves; we are not to retaliate or seek revenge; we are to pray for our enemies and seek good for those who would seek to harm us.

This seems unrealistic and even impossible, but this is what God desires and this is what Jesus demonstrated for us in his own earthly life. And this is what Jesus calls his followers to live out. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus says, “for they will be called children of God.” Also, back to 2 Corinthians 5:18, “God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ… has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Jesus leads us to seek shalom with other people, beginning with those closest to us, but eventually opening out to all people.

This is potentially the most radical aspect of biblical shalom. Is peace on Earth actually anything more than a pleasant notion or a dream? If it is a dream, it is God’s dream – and it is also a promise. This is what Christ brings to the world, and he brings it through the transformed lives of his followers. You and I are to be followers of the Prince of Peace, people of shalom, those to whom the ministry of reconciliation has been entrusted. When we begin to see other people the way that God sees them – as deeply loved and deeply forgiven – then we will “no longer view them from a worldly point of view” (2 Cor. 5:16). We can begin loving them as God does.

Conclusion

True peace has its source in God. Shalom is God’s dream for the world. Rather than the absence of conflict, it is God’s active work of reconciliation through Jesus Christ; rather than personal tranquility, it is the wholeness that results from all things being gathered up in Christ. The hope and the promise of God’s peace becomes real in our lives through God’s gift of His Son, the Prince of Peace, who brings us peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with one another. Jesus is our peace.