Pastor Jon Burgess
November 29, 2015 - W1548

What's so special about Christmas?  That's the question we're starting off with.  It's kind of a broad question, but hopefully you'll understand that everything changed when Jesus came. 

It all started in Luke 2:10-11, 14 when

"...the angel reassured them.  'Don't be afraid!' he said.  'I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior ?? yes, the Messiah, the Lord ?? has been born today in Bethlehem, the City of David! ...Glory to God in highest heaven … and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.'"

Why is Christmas so special?  Because Jesus came and brought something that would be impossible without him---peace on earth. 

We really need to understand that what happened at Christmas actually applies here today.  Not just then, but now.  Not just sometimes, but all the time.  And that's why it's important to understand peace isn't just for the perfect.  It's not just for the super spiritual.  It's not just for a momentary pleasure.  It is every time, all the time, 24/7, because peace is personal. 

1. Personal peace is a Person to know and follow.

   “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Eph. 2:13-18 NIV) 

   Peace is personal because peace is a personthat we can know and follow in Jesus Christ. It's not circumstantial. It's not just for those quiet and beautiful moments. It's not just for those that are praying all the time. It's for every single one of us. That's why the angels declared what they did, that peace is on earth.

   Three places where I have no peace___________________

   __________________________ _________________________

   Only you can fill in the blanks there. Whatever they are Jesus will conquer them because the Lord is peace.

2. Powerful Peace is a Prayer to Receive and Give.

   "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27 NIV)

   Jesus came to bring us something powerful.

   “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” (2 Thess. 3:16-18 NASB)

   Peace is the punctuation on the life of prayer. If you live a life of prayer where you're walking into situations and out of situations with a prayer constantly on your lips where you're talking to God about that situation, that stressful circumstance, that interaction that kind of left you feeling with your heart going thump, thump, thump, but you are walking in prayer, then you get to do the same thing that Paul is doing here and you are changing the situation.

3. Purposeful Peace is Responding not Reacting.

   “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:13-16 NKJV)

   The salt left inside of the shaker does no good. Light that is covered up does no good. Peacemakers that are not making peace do no good. Why did Jesus have to come? Why do we celebrate Christmas at all? Because we change the world around us one person at a time, one interaction at a time, and our world is in desperate need of seeing the light shine again, of seeing the salt season again, of seeing the peacemakers making peace again. There's nothing passive about this. There's nothing wimpy about this. Peace is powerful. Peace will literally change the circumstances around us if we will walk in it.

   Why does this matter? Because God has called us to be peacemakers, change agents in the world around us and catalysts for change. See, Christmas gets so bogged down in all of the wonderful traditions that we have that we forget it's actually extremely powerful. Jesus came. The declaration of the angels in the sky was not just so that we could have songs to sing about it. It was because our world desperately needs to know peace.

   3 Circumstances That Need A Peacemaker: ___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

   Again, only you can fill the blanks. 

   There are places in your life and mine, three circumstances that need a peacemaker. There are places in your life and mine where we are experiencing some things that are very stressful. They're producing a lot of fear. Relationships need a peacemaker. Maybe it's at work, maybe it's at your home, maybe it's at school, and maybe it's right here at church. And God is telling you today you are no longer a passive observer. You are an active participant. You are salt that is outside of the shaker. You are a light in the night. You are a peacemaker in the situation of chaos and turmoil.

   A rabbi once said, though, unfortunately, "In speaking of peace, when all is said and done, more is said than done." It's true. We're really good at that as Christians. We're really good at talking about it and not walking it.

   I wanted to share with you a closing story, one of the amazing things out of that Paris tragedy. “Porte Ouverte”. I don't know if you saw that hash tag while the terrorists were bombing things, but this started going all over the Internet, all over social media. And what it means is "open the door." And the reason why it was going all over the Internet was because there were people running all over the place out of buildings. No one knew what was going on because there were multiple attacks and multiple bombings all over the city. The police were trying to close off streets. People couldn't even get to their houses or their place of residence.

   And so this word started to go around, open the door, open the door, and people started texting and tweeting and posting on Facebook, my door is open. In the middle of this fear and this tragedy, this chaos where people didn't even know ?? our own authorities weren't even sure what was going on ?? people were willing to say, “I'm going to let complete strangers come into my home so they can find a place of shelter and wait this night out.”

   And I thought of that and how that's exactly why Christmas is so special. That's why it matters. Because in the middle of our chaos and all of our fear and all of the death and destruction and terror, God flung the door wide open to complete strangers, and He said, I'm making you mine. You're my own. Come on in through my son Jesus Christ. I'm taking on your skin. I'm taking on your sin. I'm taking on your shame. I'm making you my own. He shouldn't have let us in. We know what we've done. We know how we've sinned. But through Jesus Christ, because He came, we're now welcome into His home. He opened the door for us. And what He calls us to do as peacemakers is to go out and do the same, to not hide away in fear, but to literally be a refuge, a place of Shalom or my door is open for those in this world.

   We're going to celebrate communion on the heels of Thanksgiving and as we head into our Christmas season because Jesus is what we're talking about. Why does it matter? Why do we take communion; because through Jesus Christ that which was broken is now made whole. It's okay if you've already lost your head, you're going crazy, and things are insane right now. I want to bring you back to the prince of peace, the super glue of our souls that can make whole that which was broken. Let's pray.

   Questions

1. What’s so special about Christmas?

2. What are the three circumstances of peace?

3. What are three places where you have no peace?

4. What are three circumstances that need a peacemaker?

5. Why is it true that in speaking of peace, when all is said and done, more is said than done?