Christmastime is supposed to be a time of peace. We sing about peace. We hear sermons about peace. We celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace. If peace is something that fluctuates throughout the year, it is supposed to be at it’s apex at Christmas.
But this is rarely the case. The season of peace becomes anything but peaceful. Instead of the season of peace, it’s more like the season of stress. Our calendars become hopelessly filled, our budgets become dangerously extended, traffic becomes infuriatingly heavy, and our patience becomes stretched to the limit. They don’t call it the “Christmas rush” for nothing.
In 1971, one of the most well-known and well-respected television journalists was Harry Reasoner. At Christmastime of that year, he offered the following commentary about the Christmas rush;
“…If Christmas is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the Universe in the form of a helpless baby, it’s quite a day. It’s a startling idea…It is the story of the great innocence of God, the baby, God in the power of man. And it is such a dramatic shot toward the heart that if it is not true, for Christians nothing is true. So even if you have not got your shopping all done and you are swamped with the commercialism and the frenzy, be at peace. . . . The story stands.”
Isn’t it remarkable that Mr. Reasoner finds peace not in the checking off of all the names on the Christmas list, or the completion of the wildly hectic holiday schedule–but he finds peace in the fact that the story stands. The reality and the incredibility of the Incarnation is Reasoner’s source of peace, “even if [we] have not got [our] shopping all done and [we] are swamped with the commercialism and the frenzy…”
We can easily mistake the peace of God with the peace of man. Both use the same word, “peace.” Both seem warm and inviting. Both are desirable. But that’s where the similarity ends. The peace of man is dependent entirely upon circumstances, most of which are beyond our control. The peace of God is dependent only upon the Prince of Peace who gives us his peace. The peace of man comes and goes. The peace of God abides, because the story stands.
In a well-known passage of Scripture, the Incarnate God speaks of the peace he offers. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (think peace). Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest (peace) for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Isn’t it interesting that the peace that Jesus offers is inseparably linked with a burden (v. 30)?
The peace that Jesus offers is not the absence of activity, it is not freeing ourselves from hectic holiday schedules. It is not taking the phone off the hook or getting the kids in bed early. The peace that Jesus offers has to do only with sharing his yoke, with being bound together with the one who came as a helpless baby in order to shoulder the burden of the sin of the world. The story stands.
Remind yourself through the coming week, as the busy-ness of Christmas reaches it’s peak–we are people of peace not because our burdens have been lifted, but because our burdens have been changed. Changed from heavy burdens to light burdens. Changed from meaningless burdens to eternally significant burdens. Our burdens are not pleasing everyone with “just the right gift.” Our burden is the yoke of the God-man, who came “gentle and lowly in heart” as the helpless baby. The God-man who was burdened that sinners would know him. Mediate on that burden this Christmas week, and you will refresh yourself with the peace of God that passes understanding (Phi. 4:6-7).