Peace On Earth

TAKE 2 minutes FOR TRAINING

TAKE2 TRANSCRIPT

There’s a little hand-lettered sign on my desk that’s kind of chiding me this morning.
It reads: PEACE ON EARTH, and I haven’t been feeling very peaceful the last few days.
So I rephrase it in my own words because I know there’s a piece of this message that I need to preach to my own heart. A distilled version sounds something like this:

Hey you! YOU be peaceful. YOU be a peacemaker.

At this point in history, peace starts one heart at a time, doesn’t it? There won’t be
peace on earth, or peace in your little world unless YOU are peaceful. Maybe instead of seeing PEACE ON EARTH as some kind of overarching generic blessing, perhaps
we need to start hearing it as a command to obey.

Hey you! What will it take right now for you to be peaceful?

I think the first part of that answer is: It will take HUMILITY.
When there are differences most of us start out by thinking we are right. And then from there, we just get stubborn. But maybe, just maybe maybe maybe, we are not always 100% right.

And that humility makes room for the second part of the answer which I think is about GRACE.

Let’s be people who slather grace. Not rationing it out; deciding how much and to whom we’lll be gracious. Let’s give grace in abundance. John 1:16 reminds us that we have all received from His fullness grace upon grace. So part of being a Christ follower is about being people who slather grace.

For the third part of my answer I go back to Luke and read “Glory to God in the highest heaven”. And I’m reminded of Psalm 121 “I lift my eyes up because my help comes from the Lord”.

So this Christmas season if you, like me, find that your peace is occasionally disturbed
remember, when we are not able, He is.

He can:
1) help us be humble
2) give us the capacity to slather grace
3) give us strength when our focus is on Him

And all of those things will allow us contribute to bringing PEACE to our little corner ON EARTH.