Sunday's Message - Unwrapping the Gift of Peace

As a kid, unwrapping Christmas presents is one of the highlights of the entire year. Even for adults, the mystery of what’s beneath the paper is still exciting. But we don’t want to forget that not all our gifts can be found under the tree. During the Sundays before Christmas, we’re going to focus on how we might unwrap four other gifts of Christmas that we’ve received from God himself:

• November 30 - Unwrapping the Gift of Hope
• December 7 - Unwrapping the Gift of Peace
• December 14 - Unwrapping the Gift of Joy
• December 21 - Unwrapping the Gift of Love

On Sunday, we continued this series by looking at how we can celebrate the gift of peace. Below is a video presentation and the text for the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Yesterday, my niece texted me this picture of her and my dad. And I’ll tell you, I’m really glad she sent it. You see, being way up here in Pennsylvania, sometimes, well, it seems as though life on Moose Avenue gets a little rocky. I mean, there have been times when I’ve gotten a phone call either to be a referee or to still the waters. But that seems light years away from this picture. Good night nurse, there they are, laughing and pointing, wearing their holiday sweaters, standing in front of a Christmas tree and an inflatable Santa, under the banner “Merry & Bright.” And I’ll tell you, as I looked at it, I thought, these two definitely don’t need to hear the sermon I’m preaching this morning.

You see, on this second Sunday in Advent, we’re continuing the series we started a week ago, dealing with four Christmas gifts God has given to us, each of which is represented by one of the Advent candles. And last Sunday, we started by unwrapping God’s gift of hope, you know, how it’s liberating and eternal and constant; therefore, it can shape the way we view the past and the future and the present. And this week, as y’all know, we’ve moved on to the second purple candle, the one that represents peace.

And I’ll tell you, during this time of year, man, peace is really in short supply, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve got eighteen days, for crying out loud. And even though, when it comes to decorating, we start much earlier than we did back in the day, we’ve still got a lot to do. My gosh, cookies still need to be baked and iced. And presents still need to be bought and wrapped. And if we’ve got folks coming home for the holidays, bedrooms still need to be straightened up and aired out. Let’s face it, all this business about “peace on earth, good will toward men,” well, that’s something we can look at after the crumbs have been collected and after the paper has been bagged and after the relatives have packed up their car. Yesterday, I googled “Stress at Christmas,” and this was the AI response:

Christmas stress comes from financial pressure, social obligations, unrealistic expectations, and end-of-year work, leading to overwhelm, anxiety, and fatigue, but can be managed by setting boundaries, simplifying plans, prioritizing self-care (sleep, exercise, relaxation), managing finances, and letting go of perfection to focus on what truly matters. Common symptoms include anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, poor sleep, headaches, and irritability, often fueled by social media comparison and family tensions. 

Now that’s what it said, and since it’s artificial intelligence, it must be right. Let’s just say, as we deal with everything that’s going on in our lives, any sense of peace would surely seem to be elusive, at best.

And for that reason, as we get ourselves ready to celebrate the coming of Christ, I think that’s why our topic this morning is so important. You see, during this message, we’re going to focus on the two kinds of peace God has given us through Jesus Christ, the reason for the season. And for each, we’ll use some scripture to talk about what it means and how we might respond. Now that’s the plan. And even though I don’t believe it’ll make all the holiday stress go away, it just might give us a little bit of strength and focus to get us to the new year. 

You see, first, through Jesus Christ, I believe we have peace with God. In other words, thanks to the Son, the tension has been eased and the barriers have come down and the gap between us and our creator has disappeared. We have peace with God. And I think that was the point Paul was making to the Romans when he wrote this:

By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God’s gift of undeserved grace on which we now take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. But that’s not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love.

Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by the life of his Son. And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us. [Romans 5:1-11, CEV]

Now that’s what Paul wrote. 

And just think about what it means. Through Jesus Christ, we’ve been reconciled with God. You see, as we talked about last week, when he was nailed to the cross, we were too. And when he died, the power of sin was broken forever. Put another way, thanks to what he did, that chasm created by sin has been bridged and the covenant relationship that we enjoyed with the Creator back in the day has been restored. Man, we’ve been reconciled with God. But even more than that, we’ve also been forgiven; therefore, we’ve been set free from the fear of being condemned. We’re no longer strangers to his mercy, because we’ve been brought into a secure and eternal relationship with him. Now that’s what peace with God is all about.

And right here and right now, we can decide to accept it. I mean, we can decide to turn from all that stuff that kept us gagged and bound before we realized that we’ve been reconciled and forgiven. We can acknowledge openly that we are recovering sinners who are loved by God. And we can shape our behavior in such a way that everybody around us can see that, for us, repentance and confession is a whole lot more than a bunch of spiritual-sounding words. Man, we can turn. And we can also decide to trust. We can trust all those promises that God made to his people in the past. And we can trust that through Jesus Christ our relationship with God has changed. And we can trust that, since we’ve been freed from the past, the Spirit is leading us into the future while offering us comfort and support and confidence right here and now. You see, because we’ve been reconciled and forgiven, we are now able to turn and to trust. But you know, that’s only possible because, through Jesus Christ, first, we have peace with God. But I’ll tell you, when it comes to the gift of peace, man, that’s only half of it.

Because, second, through Jesus Christ, we also have peace from God. In other words, we’ve been given something special, you know, on the inside, that offers a sense of serenity and of tranquility and of contentment that doesn’t depend on what’s happening on the outside. And I believe this incredible gift is grounded in the words of Jesus himself when he said this to his disciples:

I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

I give you peace, the kind of peace only I can give. It isn’t like the peace this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.

You have already heard me say I am going and I will also come back to you. If you really love me, you should be glad I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am.

I am telling you this before I leave, so when it does happen, you will have faith in me. I cannot speak with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. But he has no power over me. I obey my Father, so everyone in the world might know that I love him. [John 14:25-31, CEV]

Now that’s what he said. That’s what he promised.

And I’ll tell you, I think that promise was fulfilled when “...he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” [John 20:22, CEV] You see, it’s through this Spirit that we have a presence that we carry around with us all the time: a presence that reminds us that no matter where we go or what we do, we’re never alone and a presence that can keep us moving forward even when we feel too tired to take another step and a presence that can calm us down when everything around us seems chaotic and confused. But more than just that, we also have a power: a power to move forward rather than to step back and a power to speak up rather than to shut down and a power drawing us together rather than tearing us apart. Now I believe this presence and this power is at the very core of the peace we receive from God.

And I’ll tell you, because it is, I mean, because this is what God has given each and everyone here this morning, I think we can claim it by doing two things. You see, on one hand we can choose to remain, you know, remain in his presence. In other words, to receive this peace from God, we can pray and we can meditate on his words and we can muster up the courage to come to Jesus with all our problems and pain, our trials and troubles, our frustrations. Man, this we can do because of what he said to his disciples: “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30, CEV] You see, if we want to feel the kind of peace that comes from God, on one hand, we really need to stay close to Jesus. But on the other hand, I think we must also decide to follow, to follow his example. I mean, I think it’s ridiculous to assume that we’re going to experience any kind of Godly peace, if we refuse to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, if we refuse to welcome the stranger and clothe the naked, if we refuse to care for the sick and comfort the prisoner. My gosh, how can we expect peace from God, if we knowingly refuse to do what he told us to do? In other words, when Jesus said, “You must love [God] with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these,” [Mark 12:30-31, CEV] I think he meant it. And, in my opinion, so should we, because it was through Jesus Christ that we have peace from God. And that’s the second kind of peace we’ve been given.

Now, do you remember that picture I showed you at the very beginning of the sermon, you know, the one with my dad and my niece looking so happy and relaxed. Of course, underneath the picture, Charle, my niece, wrote, “Playing with AI.” In other words, it’s not real. Of course, I must admit, I smelled a rat anyway. I mean, that is clearly not my dad’s house, because he’d never buy an inflatable Santa. And even my mother wouldn’t have gotten him to wear a Rudolph sweater. And let’s get real, we’ve only got eighteen days left for crying out loud. Nobody should be that Holly Jolly happy with all the stuff that has to be done. No, I think peace is a premium there, just like it is here. 

And for that reason, on this second Sunday in Advent, I think it’s important to remember that right here, through Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. We’ve been reconciled and forgiven, something we can accept by turning and by trusting. And right now, through Jesus Christ, we also have peace from God. We have a presence and a power that we can claim by remaining and by following. Now, for me, that’s what we receive when we unwrap the gift of peace.