Monday: Isaiah 11:1-10
Tuesday: Isaiah 40:1-11
Wednesday: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
Thursday: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Friday: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Saturday: Psalm 146:5-10
What comes to mind when you hear the word “peace”? Is it calm surroundings, a tidy home, or well-behaved children? Maybe relaxing on a beach, financial security, soft music, no strained relationships, or being in control? While those things can give us temporary peaceful feelings, our peace lasts as long as our ability to have or maintain them. They are self-dependent and over the long term, we cannot rely upon ourselves or our circumstances for the assurance of ultimate peace.
When our sense of peace is disrupted, it causes discomfort. We often try to change whatever we can to get back to our desired peaceful equilibrium. Yet, at Advent, we are invited to feel the dissonance of living in a broken, divided world and receive a peace that does not originate in our own hearts. Philippians 4:7 says that the peace of God passes all understanding. There is something about the peace of God that supersedes the mind. It simply is not of our world.
In the Bible, the word peace does not just mean rest, tranquility, or the absence of conflict. The Hebrew word for peace, “shalom,” used in the Old Testament, connotes complete wholeness, ultimate welfare, not lacking anything. The Greek word “eirene,” used in the New Testament, means unity or oneness from reconciliation, being made whole, harmony.
Jesus, who is called the Prince of Peace, promised in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” When Jesus took on flesh and entered our world, he did so in full knowledge of our broken state and his mission to bring us ultimate peace. Our relationship with God has been badly broken by our sin. The only way Jesus could make us whole again was to become one of us to reconcile and restore us to himself on the cross.
At Christmas, we love to gaze at the peaceful image of the manger scene. What could be more innocuous than shepherds, sheep, and donkeys? Yet that very scene was deeply disruptive to the order of the world. In the little town of Bethlehem, a new King was born. Ushering in a new Kingdom, upending our values and changing our vision.
This year, as we look around and see fractured relationships and hurting hearts all around us, we might ask, what can we do? How can we make a difference in the world? The first step is to be filled with and empowered by the peace of God that is not of ourselves. This Advent, we look in awe at the miracle of the incarnation. We sit at the foot of the cross overwhelmed by the gift of grace that gives us peace with God. Then we carry that peace, guided by the Spirit, as ambassadors of reconciliation to a hurting world. What difference one little light makes in the dark. Let’s each let our light shine.
Listen: “Still/ P E A C E” by Hillsong Worship, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Holy, Holy)” by Meredith Andrews
Ponder:
- What are the things you feel you need in order to experience peace? Pull them to mind. Picture those things piled up in your hands. Now, picture Jesus facing you with outstretched arms. One by one, place your things into his hands. With emptied hands, allow Jesus to fill you with His presence, His peace. Let Him remind you of who He is and what He has done for you. Write down anything you think or feel.
- Take a quiet prayer walk around your neighborhood. Let the Holy Spirit guide you into praying for specific homes and neighbors. Pray for the peace of God to fill you and others.