Isaiah 9:6-7, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:25-33

Tis the Season of Peace!

            War is never a pretty reality. The conflict and strife it causes, not only on the battlefield, but even in homes across the country and world is unmatched. When war persists, people can feel it drain the life right out of them. Yet, the opposite is also true. When there’s an absence of war, when there’s peace amongst the world, people can feel it. The anxiety and uncertainty that surround wars becomes nonexistent in periods of peace. For there’s one such time that this was the case, and we even have a name for it. The Pax Romana, the peace of Rome was a period of two hundred years where there was little conflict or worry in everyday life. As Augustus Caesar ascended to power, Roman society enjoyed the greatest period of peace and prosperity in all of its history. Because the Roman Empire had become so strong, citizens had little worry or thought of war breaking out. They could craft, bake, and create things in the freedom that peace brought. It was a peace that people could feel. Peace meant so much more than just the absence of war, it also meant the presence of opportunities. Peace isn’t just a term that we throw out there like “World peace”. It’s a feeling. It’s a reality that’s much more significant than people often understand. Peace, in many ways, is the pinnacle of this season. For what we normally experience and know of everyday life isn’t peace, but the dread of warfare and its effects. 

            Tonight, though, we focus on the season of peace. This is the season where we find peace that surpasses all understanding. It’s a peace we can feel. For our peace during this season isn’t of this world, but it’s peace with God. By the birth of our Savior, let us come to learn: 

CHRIST HAS BROUGHT AN END TO THE WARFARE WITHIN US!

I.

            If we’ve learned anything from history, there doesn’t need to be a war to be warfare. Even without literal fighting, we still endure the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty of war. Look to the Cold War or even modern tensions across the world. The threat of war is almost as draining on us as war itself. For if peace is an absence of war, it must also be an absence of hostility. That’s our problem, though. When we’re born into this world, we’re born in a state of hostility. Our sinful estate plops us right into a standoff with God almighty. As Scripture teaches us, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one,” Romans 3:10-12. Because of our sin, we take up arms against God. When we sin, we attack the very kingdom of God, seeking to overthrow it. Every one of us does this. No one is an innocent bystander. Every sin we commit is really a repeat of the original sin. It’s our desire to overthrow God and for us to take his place. And in that, there’s no peace.

            But the war isn’t just external, it’s internal too. You see, the war that rages between heaven and hell isn’t over territory, nor prestige, nor power. It’s over people. It’s over you and me. Ground zero of this clash happens within us. God and Satan war over our heart and mind. God’s law has been written on our heart, calling us to do good and follow God. Yet, our sinful passions rage and try to drown out that small voice calling us back to God. Instead, Satan tells us to embrace our selfish ambitions, to topple God, and partake of the fruit that we may be like God. Thus, we struggle daily with the war that rages within us. We struggle with hearing God’s law, yet feeling the pull towards sin and death. Concupiscence, that pull or inclination we have towards sin, beats us down when we try to fight it. When we give in to it, when we do fall to sin, then we struggle with the fear of God’s wrath. We worry and become uncertain about our future as we must look towards death mostly unaware of the consequences of our actions.

II.

            For let us now understand that peace isn’t so small a thing as there not being war. True peace is a feeling that comes from knowing the one who is peace. It comes from knowing Jesus who comes to us to be born in our flesh. As we heard, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6. The incarnation of our Lord places him right in the middle of our war. He takes up arms beside us to fight against Satan and sin. But this is what will confound us. He doesn’t fight in the way we expect. He doesn’t try to triumph over Satan with power or might. Rather, victory comes from surrender. Jesus surrenders himself to sin, Satan, and death on our behalf. Jesus surrenders to the will and judgment of God. This little baby born in a manger will be the one to give himself up for us on the cross. By his death, Jesus becomes our Prince of Peace. For God now shows us that his wrath has been completed. No more shall we fear God’s wrath because Jesus has taken it all. 

            In this war, we learn from Jesus that the only way to win or find peace is to surrender. We surrender to the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Just as Paul says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:1. Faith is the way we conquer in this fight and faith is passive. Faith doesn’t do, until Christ has done. That is, to finish the fight, we must give up our fight so that Christ can fight on our behalf. In that, there is peace! Peace because Christ brings to an end the war that rages within us. He silences the voice of Satan and declares to you, “Your sins are forgiven!” By God’s forgiveness, he strips away from us the uncertainty, the stress and anxiety of war. For peace with God is forgiveness. It’s grace and mercy. It’s living with the certainty of resurrection and life eternal. For consider at last the words of Jesus, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world,” John 16:33. Peace with God doesn’t mean we still won’t have trouble in the world. But it means it doesn’t have to affect us. Our world can be falling apart, yet we can have peace. A peace which surpasses all understanding because we know our future is secure in Christ!

            This is God’s peace, that he has brought to an end the warfare of our sin. He has conquered Satan and death by Jesus’s death upon the cross so that now, Jesus may be our mighty fortress, our defender against every attack of Satan that we may have peace! In Jesus’ name! Amen!

Now may the peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen!