This week, our Advent Journey points toward the picture of Jesus, the Prince of peace. Last week we talked about hope, you can catch up by clicking here. This is certainly not a new name, or even a new idea because we love to talk about the peace of Christ at Christmastime. 

But what does it mean to embrace the Prince of peace? What does it look like to wait with peace when the world is falling around you? How do we hold peace in the midst of a messy pandemic Christmas? 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the inner noise of stress and fear can silence the voice of truth. There are been many dark days over the last year, where it’s been hard to wait in faith. 

The reality is that while none of this is new, this year feels like a special kind of disorienting sorrow. We’ve experienced horror heaped upon horror exposed in bold ways we’re not used to seeing. 

It’s tempting to call foul, objecting to the way truth is being exposed, but that’s what the light does. It pulls back the blinds, shines the light over everything exposing the deeds of darkness while at the same time declaring the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear, but following the voice of truth is the only way to peace. 

Can I let you in on a little secret?

We can do hard things. When we trust Jesus, His light and words of truth will lead us to peace, because He IS the peace. 

Waiting with peace

I’m just going to say it…

I don’t think we wait well. Patience is not a well-rehearsed virtue in our modern affluent culture. We become irritated when traffic is heavy causing us to sit and wait. Or what about having to stand in lines at the grocery store? And, when the stakes are really high waiting for important information can feel unbearable. We’ve all been there, right?

I remember, almost five years ago now, just after we had learned that my husband, Ryan had Cancer. Our family doctor had run a number of tests and the results all seemed to point toward Multiple Myeloma. She had immediately scheduled a consult an Oncologist, and then promptly removed herself from the equation—she was that sure. 

I sat that night, Bible in hand, reading and praying. As the inner battle was brewing, I heard the LORD say, “Don’t worry about this. I’ve got him.” And then he gave me a scripture promise to hold.

The righteous person faces many troubles. But the Lord comes to the rescue each time. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!

Psalm 34:19-20

That word from God inspired hope. Now, I wanted the Oncologist to tell us that is wasn’t Cancer but that’s not how the story goes. Ryan battled Multiple Myeloma and believe me when I say, there were many dark days in that journey, but we held onto God’s promise, which led the way to peace.

Waiting with peace is about keeping eyes and heart fixed on the Lord. Jesus is the prince of peace, the one who redeems, restores, and renews. He is our righteousness and the right-ness he imparts affects everything.

Embrace the Prince of peace

Israel had been waiting for hundreds of years for the promise of this prince of peace. The people of God believed that salvation would come rescue them from the hand of their enemies. After hundreds of years of captivity and oppression bitterness and doubt set in. By the time Christ was born, there was just a small remnant of belief.

Christ the Messiah, was born into dark oppressive environment and the people in that time where not expecting the Lord to come as a baby. Today, we exalt this part of the story, but I wonder if we would have missed it back then too?  The story of Christ’s birth is remarkable and miraculous, but not for those looking for a commander in chief. So, God revealed this glorious truth to a handful of people, with whom He trusted to steward the promise. 

God invited Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon and Anna into this powerful part of the story. Was it easy? Of course not! Each one wrestled over the assignment of the Lord, but ultimately, they embraced Jesus, the prince of peace.

Embracing the prince of peace means letting go of our preconceived ideas of who He should be. The road to peace seldom looks the way we think it should, often offending our hearts by how it is. May we all be like Simeon who declared,

Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!

Luke 2:29-32

Holding onto the prince of peace

Holding onto Jesus means letting go of the offenses of the heart. He is the prince of peace, the one who brings light and right-ness making the soul whole, but wholeness only comes as we trust and surrender to the King.

Jesus birth in a manger is offensive. No room at the inn, they said, and so Joseph took Mary to the stable and delivered the one who came to deliver him. Think about it!  The King of kings was born surrounded by livestock, manure, and hay. The people who welcomed Christ that night, were humble and unimportant in ways of influence and power, yet God entrusted them with the good news. When the angels revealed Christ, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and the shepherds let go of their preconceived ideas, even when it felt offensive, to hold Jesus the prince of peace.

The ways of God seldom make sense to human reason. We like to think we know God and what He’s doing, but we are no different than the people of Israel as they waiting for the Messiah. How often do we throw a fit when God acts contrary to the way we expect? I’m going to say, A LOT, because human nature is naturally prone to selfishness. We want what we want and often times we are arrogant enough to believe that we know the best way for that to happen.

What if we let go of our preconceived ideas and instead cultivated hearts that trust the promises of God? Holding onto Jesus is about trusting him, even when circumstances look bleak and hard. Salvation has come, bringing light and life into the darkness of our hearts. Emmanuel—God with us—is peace.

Shalom is found in Christ alone.

Peacemakers

The Imago Dei did not cease to exist just because sin entered the world. Shalom is perfect wholeness. It’s a completeness with nothing missing, broken, or lost. And this aspect of God’s character and nature is woven into the fabric of our DNA. 

The pursuit of peace is hard-wired in the soul, which is why we long for it. The problem comes as we search for it in all the wrong places. Money, influence, and power will never secure peace, they just lead to anxiety and fear. 

Jesus, the prince of peace is the only way to restore the Imago Dei. Salvation gives us access to the presence of God, where restoration, revival, and renewal happen at his redemptive hand. That right there is miraculous. 

The goodness of God works on our behalf to bring us back into an intimate relationship restoring shalom, and then through that miraculous impartation of grace He fills us until we overflow. Peace isn’t meant to be hidden and held back, it’s meant to be carried and spilled out everywhere we go.

Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

Matthew 5:9, Amplified Bible

Jesus, the prince of peace came to bring shalom (salvation) to all people and reveal God to the nations. He does that in us and through us. As children of God, we pursue peace not just for our sake, but for the sake of the world. 

Declaring Peace

The prince of peace is not elusive, He is as close as the air you breathe. The desire of the LORD is that all would be saved, so He has made it as plain and clear as can be. 

Choose to believe…

Isaiah told King Ahaz to stop worrying, to stop trying to secure military control by aligning with the surrounding nations, and to just trust God. Israel and Syria were plotting against Judah which created fear in Ahaz, so He took his eyes off the Lord and did what he thought was best. This man? He was the King of Judah, from the line of David; he’s part of Jesus’ lineage.

God speaks, but too often we miss the message because of unbelief. King Ahaz refused to believe God, even though God had sent Isaiah the prophet to speak directly to the situation. God promises peace, but if we aren’t willing to take hold of it, we set ourselves at the mercy of the storm—that’s essentially what God told Ahaz. 

…Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.

Isaiah 7:9

We must train our hearts to run to the promises of God when bad news threatens to upheave and unravel the foundations of our hearts. Unlike King Ahaz, we have access to the prince of peace all the time. The sons and daughters of God get to live from peace, not for it. 

Jesus is the King of kings, and everything must bow down. When we choose to believe Him, it takes the power out of the conflict. Trusting the Lord enables us to lift our eyes to the supernatural work of God. 

This is peace…

O Come O Come Emmanuel

Verse 1

O come O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Chorus

Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel

Verse 2

O come Thou Dayspring come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Verse 3

O come Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go

Verse 4

O come Desire of nations bind
All peoples in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace

John Mason Neale | Thomas Helmore

© Words: Public Domain
Music: Public Domain

I pray that our words and lives stand in agreement with the prince of peace this pandemic Christmas. That we, the children of God, be peace-bearers as we carry hope and light into the dark places of our communities.

Bearers of peace, that’s what this world needs in the middle of all the crazy and the yuck.