All I want for Christmas is peace. Part of what I'm asking for is obvious, the end of violence in places like Ukraine, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel. Places where strong are killing weak people, including Sudan and Haiti. Places in the U.S. where people turn to guns to express their anger or get attention. I am sickened by daily reports of people killed while just trying to feed their families and go to work or school. Please, O God, calm the violent human heart!
Another part of peace is healthy relationships. I long for Christmas meals where family members can come together without dragging up old pain. A meal where people where people can talk about why they voted for Trump or Harris without fearing that someone else will jump down their throat. A conversation where people will listen without defensiveness to one person's fear that they may be deported even after having lived in the U.S. since they were an infant AND another's fear that uncontrolled immigration will change our country for the worse. Please, O God, open our ears and guide our tongues!
Another part of peace is contentment before God. I continue to hear from people who are afraid they aren't pleasing God, that they haven't been good enough for God. When they think of God, they think only of judgment for their failures, their habits of selfishness, and the ways they've hurt others. I long for everyone to know the true peace with God that comes in Christ Jesus, the only one who has pleased God, who is good enough for heaven--and who wants to bring each one of us with him. I long for everyone to trust Jesus and be freed from guilt or shame and to come before God fully content that Jesus has done everything for us. Please, O God, free us from our fruitless worry and striving!
If you're longing for peace, do you see? You are longing for Jesus! God sends us Jesus at the first Christmas to show us the one who gives peace with God, which leads to peace in our relationships and the end of violence. That first Christmas was only a preview of the peace that comes when the Son of God will return. The cry of Advent is the cry for peace: come, Lord Jesus!
Longing for Jesus,
Pastor Peter
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