Ensign: Thirty-Two Days To Christmas, And On Earth Peace

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 23 November 2012

WORD COUNT: 36,000

[Because last week I found myself frustrated enough with the world around me to say “grant us WAR” instead of “grant us peace” in one of our homilies, I think this one coming out today fits. Something you and I need to hear, may God use them. – David]

It's the day after Thanksgiving ALREADY? Especially when I look at how my kids have grown (at six and five years old, respectively), I constantly get floored by how much time passes. Since we have pictures of when they were newly born, still really chubby, still small – comparatively speaking, it's amazing how Sarah and Jeffrey have grown in the brief time that my wife Martha and I have been privileged to have them. What I expect we ALL want for our children is to grow up in a better world, a more peaceful world. But are we making the conscious effort to build it with the right foundations?

Perhaps the most memorable mention of peace in the Bible is in the traditional Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. It's just after a single angel announces the birth of Jesus the Savior to the shepherds and tells them how they'll recognize Him. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14)

Keep in mind that angels in the Bible are not the cute greeting card figures with halos and wings (both inventions of the Middle Ages); indeed, their appearance to anyone as recorded in Scripture is always so awesome and terrifying that they're almost always saying “Fear not” whenever they appear. In the midst of even one's own unconscious fear and trembling, it takes a while to process a message of peace.

But what is it? Shortly after the original twelve disciples are assembled by the adult Jesus, they're given their “marching orders” in Matthew 10. Among them is a statement that flies in the face of much we've been taught about Him (two thousand years' hindsight is not often 20/20): “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”

I just noticed as I'm typing verse thirty-four that Jesus says “send” and not “bring”. The impression we and I expect the lion's share of people had in Jesus' time upon earth is that peace – an end to war, which could just as easily be an end to ANY conflict between individuals and nations – is going to get forced on us. Just as we are all created by God and freely choose to accept or reject Him, so He's not going to force peace on us. We have to make the active choice to pursue peace in our own lives. Psalm 34:14 calls for us to “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” How many of us seek peace (or at least say we do) but don't pursue it?

For God to force that upon us would be a complete denial of Who He is. Within the church, chapter four of James speaks of wars and fightings coming from our lusts and selfish desires. Verse two elaborates, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” If this is true in the church which is supposed to stand out as a light upon a hill, how much more true is it of the world we live in, one where the foundation of Jesus Christ as God's Son and Our Savior is not known or actively pursued?

There's more truth to the campfire song "Let There Be Peace On Earth" than is obvious, at least to me. It's got to start with us. It's got to begin with me. The confession of sin – deliberate rebellion against God, on the personal and the national level – has got to begin with each one of us or it doesn't mean a thing. To fix a problem, we have to acknowledge there is one. Which makes peace ultimately more than the absence of war but rather the end of conflict with each other and contentment with ourselves and in every situation. That we can only learn through the grace of God.

Sincerely yours,

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world. WE REJOICE THAT WE'RE BACK IN OUR FLOODED HOUSE, PRAISE GOD!

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.