You know the song….”let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”….it’s pretty…and yet something about it bugs me. I know….old Grinch here. It was a few years ago that I really started thinking more about this. The conductor spoke to the audience before leading the song; his explanation was fairly typical in saying that the earth needs peace, that the season is about peace, and that Jesus came to bring this peace…the end of war.
Actually, no he didn’t. Instead he said that the peace he gives is NOT something the world can give (John 14:27). In fact, he also went on to say that his type of peace actually will cause division (Matt 10:34-36). What’s up with that…where the angels confused in what they told the shepherds (Luke 2:14)?
No. The point is that the peace they sang about was not meant as peace between humans…at least not initially. Instead, His peace was meant as peace between an individual human and God himself. The apostle Paul said this when he wrote “You were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from Him by your evil actions.” So, in essence, whether we believe it or not, we were at war with God.
Jesus came as a baby to bring peace between us and Him. Paul shares that too: “For Christ himself has brought peace to us.” Thus, the “peace on earth” of the angels’ song.
Now ultimately, that DOES bring peace to earth as the humans talk about…an end to war. But it comes as we individually find peace with God…then as I am becoming this peaceful person, then how I interact with others will also reflect the peace I have found with God through Jesus.
It’s a great promise! I love it. But, it doesn’t begin with me. It begins with Jesus and it demands that I take the step of accepting the baby in the manger as my Lord and Savior. This holiday season, I hope you take that step.