On this day before the rush of Christmas week, we have gathered to be blessed by God.  We have come from decorated homes, busy workplaces, crowded stores and hectic roads.  We've come to remember why we are here.  And if you are stressed out, it could be worse.  In the past 24 hours, 300,000 people died in world; 6,000 were Americans and 60,000 were Chinese.  In the past 24 hours, 8,000 in the world have taken their own lives.  10 million have had serious headaches, so bad they just want to die, and most of them were the store clerks.

          On this Sunday before Christmas, let us consider the song of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." (Luke 2:14)  A glorious message -- peace, good will towards all.  The angels spoke hope to an empty, joyless world.  God could have said anything, but He spoke of peace and good will.  Salvation ultimately does being peace and good will to all people.

          We need them both, peace and good will.  I don't know about other ages or other times, but I do know that we need them today.  1989 saw the fall of Communism in Russia and Eastern Europe, like a mountain of decayed and crumbled bricks it fell and fell hard.  We all breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Now we will have peace."  2002 saw the Taliban fall, and the people of Afghanistan breathed a sigh for peace.  A cruel dictator has fallen in Iraq, and the people there hope for peace.  Our soldiers have done their absolute best to bring peace to a nation, but the insurgent few keep peace at arm's length.

          How can we ever find peace on earth?  How can we have good will towards men, or women or children, when there's so much sin around us?  It's a question that needs to be asked -- and answered.  The angels sang a wonderful song to the shepherds, and to us.  Is it more than a song?  Is it only wishful thinking?  Can we really have peace?  Will there ever be good will towards all?

          Peace is not of the body, it is of the heart.  It is not found in a society, but within each person.  Peace cannot be in the world unless it is first in you and in me.  If we want true peace, it must begin in our own hearts.  God tells us peace is a fruit of the Spirit, together with love and joy, patience and kindness, goodness and gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)   Peace is a fruit of the Spirit and fruit comes from within the tree.  The tree has to be right for the fruit to be right.  Thorn bushes don't bear grapes and thistles don't bear apples.  The tree has to be right or it will bear wrong fruit -- or no fruit at all.

          If Christmas is about peace, then we must come to the Prince of Peace.  He says to us, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you...  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

          Only Jesus can give us peace.  Only by trusting in Him will we find the peace we long for.  Not a self-help program, not winning the lottery, not a new job, not a new house.  It comes only in the heart, when the heart is in Christ.  It won't come from a good marriage, perfect children, or an ideal church -- they're all good, but none of them will bring true peace.  Only trusting in Jesus will.  Only in Him can we have, "Peace on earth, good will towards men."

          "But," you say, "I trust in Jesus and still I don't have peace."  I know the feeling.  Try your best and peace eludes you.  Trust with all your heart and still you are troubled.  Perhaps we seek the wrong thing.  Are we confusing peace with perfection?  Must everything be perfect to have peace?  Do you believe faith in God will solve all your problems?  God never promised that - He promised us strength in the midst of our problems.  Do you think belonging to a church will bring peace?  Jesus Himself said, "I have not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword." (Matthew 10:34)   Even trusting our Lord has its troubles.

          The Christian life is filled with roadblocks, stumbling blocks, even a few blockheads.  The devil, the world and our flesh don't want us to have peace.  That "Unholy Trinity" wants us afraid, queasy and unsettled.  That terrible trio wants us fearful and struggling.  What, then, can we do?

          We must do something we've forgotten to do.  In the name of Jesus, we must renounce them!  In the name of Jesus, we must trash them with our garbage!  The name of Jesus has great power.  We can use it to keep close to God and to keep the wolves at bay.  Wolves will never go away completely, but they need not control us.  We must call on the name of Jesus again and again, every day, to keep the wolves from coming into our homes and ruining us.

          The power of Satan, the lures of the world, and the pull of sin are all great.  We must acknowledge them, and renounce them.  Otherwise, they will never leave us alone; they will always haunt us and give us trouble, heartache, or sickness.

          Twelve years ago in 1992 NEWSWEEK magazine reported the kind of news story we normally associate with Hollywood fiction.  When a negligent landlord didn't clean up his broken-down apartment houses, he was sentenced to live in them.  According to NEWSWEEK, a Boston Housing Court Judge decided that it was the only way the slumlord could be persuaded to make the necessary repairs.  And while the slumlord was to live in the slums, the judge ordered his house to be occupied by a family of people who were living in those delapitated buildings.  Unfortunately, as expected, the decision was overturned by an "enlightened" appellate judge.

          Interesting story.  But it pales in comparison to the incarnation.  The God of all creation humbled himself and became a man.  He walked where we walk.  He knew what it meant to be human -- to experience our life.  He became one of us, and was even put to death for us.  Thanks be to God He didn't stay in the slums of the grave, but rose victoriously, that we also might rise with Him.  This is the peace and good will Christ's birth gives us.

          Most of life's troubles come from compliance rather than from surrender.  Compliance is doing and saying the right things with the head, but not with the heart.  Compliance goes to church but isn't sure he can believe.  Compliance says and does the right things, but the heart is not right.  Compliance tries to walk Christ's way, but stumbles because it is really going its own way.

          Surrender means going His way.  It means laying down our pride, our toys and our ways -- laying them down at the foot of the cross, and surrendering them to the One who died there.  Surrender cries out, "Save me, God!"  Surrender prays, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."  Surrender comes to God naked and empty, asking to be filled with the Spirit and clothed in righteousness.  Surrender is the most humbling and liberating thing you and I can do.

          Put away all the empty stuff and come to the manger filled with hope and joy.  Surrender yourself to Christ, and peace and good will can come that will last.  And may God give us good will towards all, no matter what.  And may the song of the angels fill your days with peace and good will.  Amen.

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.