Peace on Earth, Good-Will to Men

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9)

With the confluence of the Advent season and mass shootings occurring at (what should be) alarming rates, I am reminded of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Christmas Bells." It was penned during a time of great personal pain for Longfellow. As the Civil War raged, Longfellow lamented the loss of his wife to a terrible accident and the near-fatal injuries his son had sustained in battle. He described the dissonance within his own heart at hearing Christmas bells wring out, "Peace on earth, good-will to men!" while his own experiences demonstrated anything but.

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

But even as Longfellow's circumstances truly were terrible, they would not get the final word. Instead, he turned his attention to what he knew to be true about the loving God who superintends those circumstances:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

This Christmas season, may the bells (and all the other trappings) of Christmas remind us that just as Jesus came once, he is coming again. And when he does, he will set all things to rights, for it is his heart that there should be "peace on earth, good-will toward men." In a world filled with so much Wrong, I can think of no greater encouragement than the knowledge that the Right will indeed prevail!

But let's take it a step further, shall we? For if this idea of "peace on earth, good-will to men" is important to Jesus, then it should also be important to those of us who are his followers. Therefore, let us take tangible steps to promote peace, to demonstrate good-will:

• Love your neighbor, even when they're not very lovely
• Forgive those who have wronged you, even though they don't deserve it
• Seek reconciliation with those with whom you are at odds
• Focus less on how we've been wronged (be it as individuals or as a group) and spend more time prayerfully considering where we might have been wronged by others
• Humbly seek forgiveness from others regardless of whether they're willing to admit the wrong that they've done
• Pray (really pray) for those who are your enemies 
• Show respect to everyone, as those who bear the image of God, even if you disagree vehemently with them on the most fundamental and important of issues

In doing these types of things, we will truly be followers of Christ, those who are about "peace on earth, good-will to men."

Maundy Thursday Sermon...Denying Jesus

Last night at our Maundy Thursday service, I preached from Luke 22:31-34 on Denying Jesus. Audio is available here and below is an excerpt.

Peter needed to come to a realization and it's the same realization we need to make: We do not strive on the basis of our own strength; we thrive on the basis of God's strength. When we are weak, he is strong through us.

We need to remember at all times that it is not our personal holiness that earns our spot with God. I need to remember that I am a wretched, miserable sinner, saved by grace alone that I might pursue holiness to the glory of God. And I even fail at that having been saved, and yet, as great as my sin is, the grace of God is greater still! And I must remember that always.

God pours out his grace on us. He floods us with his grace. And we must realize too that he does this not merely so that we would be receptacles of his grace, but that it might flood into us and flow through us and pour out of us into the lives of others. We are to be conduits of God's grace, not merely receptacles of it.

Now what does that look like? Well, it means that we ought to serve humbly, realizing that we are no better than anyone else. It means that we should serve selflessly and sacrificially. It means that we should offer forgiveness to those who have offended us, to those who have wronged us, to those who have injured us, to those who are even our enemies. Not because they deserve it, but because they need it, and because when we needed it Christ Jesus gave it to us.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Luther on the Accusations of Satan

"So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!'"

Martin Luther

The Queen, Forgiveness, and a Christmas Prayer

I'm not usually one who pays a whole lot of attention to royal proclamations, but did you happen to catch Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message? In this age of an ever-increasing secularization of Christmas, I was amazed and refreshed by the Christocentricity of her words.

I've posted a video of the part I most enjoyed below.  If you'd like to hear the entire message, click here.


I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season, and may Christ dwell in each of us year-round!

(HT: reformation21)

Apologizing and Forgiveness...Neither is Easy

My brother-in-law Tyson Sturgeon sent me a link to this story and interview from Good Morning America.  In it I learned of Matt Kravchuk, a sophomore basketball player for Holy Family University in Philadelphia, and John O'Connor, the team's coach.  Last month in a practice, O'Connor shoved Kravchuk, knocking him to the ground.  What has followed has been accusations and legal actions, culminating in the coach's resignation.

This came hours after both men appeared on ABC's Good Morning America.  In that interview, George Stephanopolous prompted the coach to apologize, at which time O'Connor said to Kravchuk, "The main thing is that this was an accident..I was just trying to make us a better team, make us more competitive and in doing so an accident happened.  And it was unintentional by me, and I'm really sorry that it happened.  If I could take it back I certainly would.  But again, it was an accident and I'm really sorry it happened."

"To be honest, it's kind of hard to accept your apology, just because you claim it's justified, you claim you weren't crossing the line...I can't play for you anymore because as your player I'm supposed to be able to respect you and I don't feel I can do that anymore."

In the end, I'm not posting this to spark a conversation as to whether the coach's actions were justified, wether he ought to have resigned, or whether other further legal and disciplinary steps need to be taken. What I want to draw our attention to is something that Tyson pointed out to me.  He put it exceedingly well, so I'll leave you with his words:

"I just thought it was fascinating in two regards, especially when I think about my own life:

1. How difficult it is to truly apologize and say you were wrong and feel it in your heart and let it be what it is, and
2. How difficult it can be to forgive, let someone say they made a mistake, and let that be what it is and live with the hurt that is still there.

This back and forth really made it hit home for me how much we need the Gospel to penetrate our hearts to be able to do both well."

Gilead and the Implications of Grace

In Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, Rev. John Ames is in failing health, approaching death. He has a young son, the product of a late-in-life marriage to a much younger woman. Realizing that there is much that he will not be present to teach his son, Rev. Ames takes up writing a letter to his son, intending it to be read when his son is closer to adulthood.

In this letter he writes about many of life’s lessons that he’s learned and recounts many of the events that have made up his life. At one point (pp. 72-73), Rev. Ames has this to say about his best friend’s son:

“I don’t know how one boy could have caused so much disappointment without ever giving any grounds for hope. Man, I should say, since he’s well into his thirties. No, he must be forty by now. He is not the eldest or the youngest or the best or the bravest, only the most beloved.”

He goes on to state,

“I have said at least once a week that there is an absolute disjunction between our Father’s love and our deserving. Still, when I see this same disjunction between human parents and children, it always irritates me a little. (I know you will be and I hope you are an excellent man and I will love you absolutely if you are not.)”

Indeed, how absolute is the disjunction between God’s love and our deserving. This is one of the hardest lessons for us to learn. Even after we’ve learned it conceptually, it is so hard to learn it functionally. The Bible is absolutely clear that we can do nothing to merit God’s love. Our sinful condition leaves us deserving nothing but his wrath. And yet he has loved us still! Christ’s perfect obedience has earned the Father’s love and favor for us, and his death on the cross has atoned for our sin, absorbing the punishment we deserved.

Especially in light of this grace, it is amazing how quick we are to apply standards to others that we have no intention of applying to ourselves. Rev. Ames readily acknowledges that he will love his son absolutely regardless of his deserving, when only a sentence earlier he had stated how much that irritates him in others. If we were to, in humility count others more significant than ourselves (Philippians 2:19) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18), it would radically change the amount of grace we are willing to afford others.

How easily we disconnect the gospel from its natural implications. If we truly understand how little we deserve and deeply know the grace that God has shown us, then that will transform the way we look at others. Indeed, I need to love others better. But that is not the sickness; it is only a symptom. What I really need to do is know the love of God better, for if I do, I will be compelled to love others better. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19).