7 Of the greatness of his
government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9
“If you are to win this beauty pageant crown,” goes the standard old question, “what is your goal?”
“World peace,” says the beautiful young lady.
And that’s the standard – clichéd – beauty pageant answer, right?
So much so that the Sandra Bullock movie, “Miss Congeniality,” spoofed this cliché perfectly. In the movie, a police woman goes undercover at a beauty pageant. In the question and answer portion of the gala, contestant after contestant answers this question, saying, “World peace.” “World peace.” “World peace.”
So the judges ask Gracie, “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” The police woman answers, “Harsher punishment for parole violators.”
The crowd is shocked. An awkward, stunned silence falls over the pageant hall.
Gracie then cracks an awkward smile and says, “and … world peace.” And the crowd erupts in cheers.
We all desire world peace, right? And that’s what Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was supposed to bring, right? I mean, it says it our lesson for today. The one who “reign[s] on David’s throne … forever” will be “establishing and upholding [his Kingdom] with justice and righteousness” and “of … his … peace there will be no end.”
Peace! Isn’t that what the Prince of Peace is supposed to bring? (I mean, isn’t that bold and beautiful word on half the Christmas cards arriving in the mail this mean?) “Peace on earth. Good will toward men.”
So … here’s the question: How come there isn’t peace on earth?!
I mean, Jesus came 2000 years ago, and most of the time it seems like things aren’t getting any better all. As the 20th Century rolled around, didn’t the world believe that we were evolving into a wise and progressive, peaceful and harmonious utopia? And yet wasn’t the 20th century filled instead with more bloodshed than almost all the other centuries combined? There were too world wars. Fire bombing and atomic bombs. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao exterminated up to 150 million of their own people. Where’s the promised peace?
No wonder so many grew disillusioned with the Prince of Peace.
And yet, was that the peace that Jesus came to bring?
If we want to understand true peace, we need to ask why there is not peace on earth and harmony even in many families. Why? Because of sin. And as long as there’s sin, there’s going to be anger, hatred, division, violence, and war.
But didn’t the Prince of Peace conquer sin and death on the cross. Yes! Absolutely. But the peace he made upon the cross was between us and God. Now there was no longer the hopelessness of guilt and shame. Now there was forgiveness and grace. Now there was hope. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ.
But there’s still sin on this earth. And as long as there sin, there’s going to anger, hatred, violence, and no peace … unless and until people of goodwill start reflecting the light of Christ. People of goodwill – whether Christian or not – can lead with forgiveness and bless with grace.
Even people in other religions are impressed with the character of Jesus. He led with forgiveness. He blessed “the least of these” with grace. And that’s where earthly peace finally comes from. It comes one person at a time.
So … what truly adds wind to the sails of earthly peace? It’s people who have discover peace with God. They’re forgiven and so they forgive. They are love in spite of their foibles, so they love even their enemies.
· Those who are in the family of this Prince don’t have to justify themselves … because we trust that God has already justified us.
· We don’t have to pridefully or insecurely prove our worth … because God continually bestows upon us mercy and honor.
· We won’t be cynical gadflies in ages of frustration …because our God infuses this world with meaning and purpose.
· Those who know the Prince of Peace have their anger tempered and the fear soothed.
· We’ll love others, rather than hate.
· We’ll be generous, rather than selfish and greed.
· We’ll be wise and winsome, rather than arrogant and foolish.
Sure, people can be generally nice without the Prince of Peace, but only because God created a standard of good that trumps survival-of-the-fittest and dog-eat-dog. Neither of those produces peace! That’s all we are without him. But because of him, we strive for the greater gifts.
That people hunger for peace really means they’re hungering for God – though they may never fully admit it. They are indeed hungering for something more glorious than a world of dog-eat-dog and sin. And we only fully find that in relationship with the Prince of Peace.
So … Mr. or Ms. Beauty Pageant Contestant, what do you want for this world?
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who visualizes
whirled peas
(say that outloud
a few times
until you get it)
No comments:
Post a Comment