The Light of Peace
God is always in the midst of great darkness and anxiety, and even through life’s troubling times, he brings peace through the light of Jesus.
Many people today, even Jesus-followers, have lost sight of the simplicity and serenity of the Christmas season. Jesus offers hope, joy, peace and love for the hurting and eternal life for those who are willing to accept the Father’s gift of light—the birth of his Son. This Advent message series helps to remind us all that Christmas is not about us—Christmas is Jesus!
Why do we call “rush hour” “rush hour”? Nobody rushes anyplace. Life is like that—too much to do and not enough time to do it. Trying to keep up and seemingly falling behind. The holiday season only seems to make this worse with even more things to do. And emotions—everyone is suppose to experience contentment at Christmas. We sing “Silent Night”, and we’re not silent. We’re just trying to keep up. Many will see empty chairs at the family table—loved ones who are missed. Anxiety is a way of life this holiday season.
The circumstances of our lives and families—the economy, the world we live in—are constantly working to rob us of our peace. We constantly struggle to feel safe, less anxious, more in control of our lives. Where is the peace of Jesus in all this? That word “peace” is crucial for our lives. It’s crucial because we long for peace. Crucial because it is so hard for us to really know peace. With all the efforts of all the philosophers, all the governments, working to solve the deeper issues that plaque humankind, are we any closer to peace than the night when Jesus was born? How can we truly share the peace of Christmas when we are “wrapped up” and “tied up” in such a hectic pace called “rush hour”?
We are centering our focus upon four key declarations concerning darkness and light:
In the darkness of DESPAIR Jesus is the light of HOPE
In the darkness of FEAR Jesus is the light of JOY
In the darkness of ANXIETY Jesus is the light of PEACE
In the darkness of SUSPICION Jesus is the light of LOVE
The first Advent message focused on the fact that God brought us hope from despair through the Father’s gift of light—the birth of his Son. Traditionally Christmas is seen as a time of hope, but for so many people despair is the controlling emotion of their lives. And that despair can bring a suffocating darkness.
The second Advent message focused on the fact that God brought us joy from fear through the Father’s gift of light—the birth of his Son. Christmas is seen as a time of joy, but for so many people fear is the compelling emotion of their lives, and that fear can bring a paralyzing darkness.
The third Advent message focuses on the fact that God brings us peace from anxiety through the Father’s gift of light—the birth of his Son. Christmas is seen as a time of peace, but for so many people anxiety is the constraining emotion of their lives, and that anxiety can bring a troubling darkness.
Anxiety = a feeling of uneasiness or apprehension, cued by a future threat to something held essential.
When we were little, we lived in a world that seemed mostly safe and relatively secure. Our biggest worry was likely the monster living under the bed, waiting to pounce at “lights out.” As adults, we graduated to bigger worries — finances, illness, relationships and jobs, to name a few — and the world didn’t seem quite as safe anymore.
From the time the alarm rings in the morning till we crawl under the covers at night, we are faced with a multitude of choices, responsibilities and unknowns that add up to fatigue, stress and sometimes, chaos. The pressure of everyday life is only worsened by modern technology’s ability to beam play-by-play satellite pictures of political events and natural disasters wreaking havoc around the globe. Is it any wonder, then, that many of us find ourselves living with anxiety on a daily basis?
Despite our best attempts at positive thinking — amidst a cultural landscape abounding with counselors, therapists and self-help books — we often find ourselves plagued with both tangible concerns as well as seemingly unfounded feelings of uneasiness or apprehension. We wonder if it’s possible to find calm and peace anywhere.
Perhaps the answer to the question begins with taking a look again at the understanding of the origins of fear and anxiety. The common ground between the two is a threat, whether real or perceived, to security and safety. Fear and anxiety differ in a profound way, however. At its core, fear stems from an instinctual desire to survive and to recoil from the pain of outward circumstances. In contrast, anxiety stems from mental thought patterns in which safety is perceived as being jeopardized. Our mind becomes fixated on the future, possible events that may challenge our well-being or bring pain — whether that focus is three days or three minutes in the future.
Anxiety is characterized by “What if …?” thinking.
What if … I disappoint someone?
What if … my spouse leaves me?
What if … my boss lets me go?
What if … (Fill in the blank)?
The problem with “what if” thinking is focus. Fear sees the present danger and says, “It is happening, now!” Anxiety, on the other hand, pulls our focus away from the present, fixates on the future and says, “What if it happens someday, maybe?” The future does not yet exist, and may never exist the way we envision it in our mind. It’s likely that most of the things we’ve become anxious about over the years have never come to pass.
Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are: 1) the absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in feeling discontent. 2) Not living in the past or drawn to the future. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures or potential problems leading to depression. 3) Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions we cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it. 4) Force ourselves to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress. 5) Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands us a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune. 6) Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues–love, humor, compassion and loyalty. 7) Do not expect too much of ourselves. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and our ability to meet the goals we have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable. 
Paul warns Jesus-followers about being anxious in Philippians 4:6-7…
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul reminds us that we can do something—we can do the most effective thing when facing anxiety. We can place the problem squarely in the hands of the one Person in the universe who can deal with every threat. It is by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. It is our affirmation of faith that God will surely deal with the situation we have just handed over to him.
Why does the peace of God “transcend all understanding”? Larry Richards writes…On the surface, our circumstances will not have changed. Something we hold dear will still be threatened. We’ll still be out of work. Or our child will still be bullied on the playground. Or our spouse will still face a battle with ill health. We could explain the peace we feel to others if we could announce, ‘I have a new job’! Or if the bully was kicked out of school, or the doctor announced the illness cured.”
The thing that is special about the peace God gives, and the thing we can never explain to those who have never had the experience, is that we experience peace before the situation changes in any way. God’s Spirit calms us, and whispers in our hearts. “It’s all right now. I will provide.” Many people, of all walks of life, of all faiths, of all experiences find themselves apprehensive in the darkness of anxiety so deeply that they are restless and nervous. Yet, out of the darkness of anxiety, God brings Jesus—the light of peace.
To understand this peace, let’s look again at the continuing message announced to the shepherds on a hillside outside of Bethlehem. This time it was a calming message declared to them by an angelic choir that God would bring to them peace on earth. It’s a contrast of restless shepherds with the peaceful message of God’s glory in the highest heaven. It is the light of peace when God chose to bring his Son into the world.
This angelic encounter with the shepherds is recorded in Luke 2:12-17…
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
We can observe in these verses that the angelic choir, in similarity to the message of joy, appeared to shepherds in fields near Bethlehem. In Christ the Savior, our deepest anxiety is met. Through Christ, God’s goodwill is poured out on all whom God’s favor rests!
But that is exactly what God did. God took the darkness that caused nervousness in these restless shepherds. In the likeness of our previous messages in the series, God took the despairing and terrifying situation of Mary and Joseph, he took the things that made no sense at all and out of that darkness and anxiety, he brought light and peace…not just for sheepherders, but upon all whom God’s favor rests. We affirm that it’s just like God to take what’s weak, worthless, uneasy and dark and use it to bring light and peace to the world.
Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner. The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A turbulent waterfall cascaded down a rocky cliff; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a small, thin tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
Peace is more than absence of conflict. It is inner quietness, deep stillness in the soul, serenity of the spirit, a state of order, harmony, and wholeness. A peaceful individual lives in the midst of conflict without inner turmoil and anxiety. Peace does not depend on outward circumstances but on an inner relationship.
As we venture deeper into this Christmas season, many of us may feel like that little bird. We are living in the midst of stormy surroundings. However, this angelic choir will teach us that we can place our contentment upon the Lord and remain undisturbed in our stormy surroundings, manifesting peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
A Threefold Peace
We affirm once again the fact that God is not afraid of the dark. Out of darkness God can bring light and peace where otherwise there would be none. Let’s return once more to Luke’s narrative concerning the message of peace from this angelic choir to these restless shepherds.
Through the angels, God tells the shepherds the meaning of this most significant event in cosmic history. The meaning of peace; Jesus’ birth is to bring peace, shalom, blessedness, fullness. This is the message from the angels to the shepherds and through them to us. Christ’s coming means peace. Not the cessation of war necessarily, but a different kind of peace.
The angelic announcement of peace to these anxious shepherds proclaims a threefold blessing or fullness:
1. The forecast of peace in troubling times
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven…
The angels predicted this peace will come when we give glory to God in the highest. The peace does not come when wars among nations end. Peace will not come with arms or nuclear limitations treaties. Peace does not come when a general flow of goodwill wells up and we all feel high-minded about our neighbors. The angels give us the precondition for peace—that we give glory to God in the highest. This peace has nothing to do with whether or not we win the war.
The tragedy today is that we have made war glorious and peace dull and uninteresting. We have glamorized war and all its pursuits and have missed the excitement of the ultimate cause which is peace. It is a gift only God can give us, and it is the one thing for which our hearts yearn.
The lesson God has for us here is that we need to make peace with God. That’s where peace begins. We may be running because we are keeping a hectic pace which keeps us from settling down before God. We may simply be caught up in our own busyness. We can come home this Christmas. We belong to him. We give glory to God in the highest.
2. The favor of peace in unsettling times
14 “…and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
How surprising that this profound message of peace was entrusted to shepherds. We noted in our last message that these shepherds were likened to a despised class of people, outcasts from all respectable society. Their honesty and integrity was so questionable, not only were they banned from the Temple, they were not even allowed to testify in a court of law in those days. Now these particular shepherds were a part of an outcast group through whom God chose to reveal the meaning of Christ’s birth.
In giving this message to the shepherds God bypassed the professional peacemakers. He gave the message and its interpretation to amateurs. We need amateur peacemakers. The great diplomats and ambassadors of two thousand years ago, the councils that met and the peace treaties that were signed are mostly forgotten. But the world still reverberates with the peacemakers like the apostle Paul and Luke himself.
The next lesson God has for us here is that we need to make peace with our neighbor. We need reconciliation between the advantaged and the disadvantaged in our cities and in our land. America is a nation of the advantaged like no other nation. We are called to reconciliation in families, between husbands and wives, between parents and children. We are called to effect political reconciliation between right and left, liberal and conservative, the minority and the majority.
3. The form of peace in disquieting times
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
The form of peace is manifested in a child—a baby lying in the manger. This baby Jesus meets our deepest need for peace. In the shepherd’s search for peace they found Jesus. They didn’t find this peace in the right situation or circumstance. It was experienced in a personal encounter with Jesus—the light of peace. Peace within was one of the greatest needs for the shepherds. The same is true today for those who are disquieted and “wrapped up” with the hectic pace of life. The peace that Jesus offers is contentment—accepting God’s sovereign control over all life’s circumstances. Real peace hinges on what’s happening inside us, not around us. We are all tempted to believe the lie that our peace hinges on our ability to control what is going on around us.
To experience real peace, we need to experience Jesus firsthand. God will meet all our needs for peace in the form of a baby. God is going to take good care of us. When circumstances rob us of our peace, we must take responsibility. We must acknowledge that we are looking to what we cannot control to provide us with our peace. Only then can we begin to look to Jesus for our true form of peace.
The final lesson God has for us here is that we need to make peace with ourselves. The only way we can find harmony with ourselves is by experiencing peace with God through Jesus Christ. There is the old saying: “Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.” This real peace comes when we are willing to receive personally the babe of Bethlehem as Savior and Lord of our lives. An important dimension of peace comes to us when the head and heart and all our conflicting emotions come together in Jesus.
This Prince of Peace provides a remedy for this darkness of anxiety. Let’s note some of the comforting words of Jesus…
John 14:27
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.
John 16:33
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 20:21-22
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:4, 9
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted… 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 6:33-34
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
When God is involved, out of darkness comes light. Out of anxiety comes peace. This truth is vividly illustrated by a young college graduate who was traveling overseas and needed to get home in time for Christmas.
The first time I remember sensing the peace of God was when I was traveling in Europe after graduating from college. I had taken the trip with my younger sister. When we got to the London airport to catch our flights back to the US, her plane was ready to leave as
scheduled, but my flight was delayed. I found out that my plane could not leave because it
was presently not permitted to land in US airports. The plane was a DC-10, and there had been a major accident involving that type of plane a few days earlier. Since I had paid for a charter fight, the airline was under no obligation to pay for any food or lodging expenses incurred from the situation. I had little money left for expenses, and the information from the airlines was that the planes might not be allowed to land in the US for a week or more. Christmas Eve was only three days away, and I desperately wanted to be home with my family. Soon, my sister’s flight departed and I was left alone on my first major trip overseas. I could not get in touch with my parents through a collect phone call. The situation scared me and I could not think clearly about what to do because I was so upset. I spent the rest of that day and all of the next trying to get help—with no results. In desperation, I prayed for God’s help. Soon after I prayed, I sensed that I would be OK and make it home with the small amount of money I had. I experienced a sense of peace that had no rational basis in light of what I had been told by the airlines.
The assurance I sensed turned out to be correct. I called the airline again and learned that they had arranged for the passengers to fly on other airlines—at no additional cost. My connecting flight in New York City had left a few days earlier, but when I explained the situation the ticket employee wrote “involuntary reroute” on the ticket and told me I had a seat on the plane. I had to spend only a minimal amount of money to eat at the airport and arrived home safely the next day just in time for Christmas!
The Christmas story is a beautiful story from a growing darkness of anxiety to the light of peace. I don’t know what anxiety you may be dealing with in your life from unsettling turmoil or stormy situations this Christmas season. I don’t know if it’s just a shade of darkness or if it’s apprehensive anxiety. Whatever anxiety you are dealing with in the ever changing and challenging circumstances of life—whatever the situation you find to be anxious, I know that God isn’t afraid of the dark. I know that, just as he did on the night outside of Bethlehem to some restless shepherds, God will take that darkness and anxiety and he will bring light and peace…it’s what God does best.
You may be in the darkness right now, restless with anxious thoughts concerning your future. If anxiety describes your emotional state, your life—then I want to encourage you with the Christmas story. It is a story of God taking anxiety…the anxiety of troubling times, unsettling times and disquieting times, and out of that anxiety bringing PEACE. God will do the same with your anxiety. That’s what God does best. In the darkness of ANXIETY Jesus is the light of PEACE! Amen.
