EDITORIAL: A peace-full gift for a war-weary world

Posted: 12/15/06

EDITORIAL:
A peace-full gift for a war-weary world

Let us celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.

Do we ever need peace now.

If you doubt it, fly on an airplane. You’ll ponder peace—or the possibility of its polar opposite, violence—as you fulfill all the requirements to board a plane in safety: From double- and triple-checked identification, to X-ray machines, to metal-detectors, to drug-scanners, to pat-downs and delays, such is the time-consuming price of peace in the airways.

Since Cain murdered Abel in the first case of religion gone wrong, the world has experienced precious little peace. The prophets railed against heart-wickedness that produced cold malice and perversity, and they predicted military annihilation as divine punishment. I just read a fascinating article about the revolt of the Jews against Antiochus Epiphanes, a vile dictator who sought to impose Greek religion on the whole world and sacrificed a pig in the Temple in Jerusalem. Led by the brilliant general Judas Maccabeus, the Jews rose up and won a measure of victory. It was one of their finest hours. And it was bloody.

So, we are not surprised to look back and realize that, as in millennia gone before, the most significant pages of world history during the last century were written in blood. From World Wars, to Holocaust, to guerrilla skirmishes, to genocide and ethnic cleansing, to suicide bombings, to Five-Year Plans and Cultural Revolutions. The mind goes numb contemplating the pain and anguish. From Stalin, to Hitler, to Pinochet, to Mao, to Pol Pot, to Amin, and Bull Connor and on and on. The capacity for individuals to embody evil defies human imagination.

And yet, for all the violence of the past century, the world seems even less peaceful today. Witness security shakedowns in every airport. And that’s nothing compared to what a mother must feel in Baghdad, or a child in Palestine, or a father in Afghanistan, or just about everyone in Darfur.

Those are the most egregious examples of systemic violence—un-peace. But the world is a pretty peace-less place, even closer to home. Pick up the paper, and you’ll read about domestic violence, rape, arson, road rage, suicide and fisticuffs on youth football fields. Think about your friends and neighbors, maybe even family and church members. You’ll see the tell-tale signs of people searching for peace in all the wrong places—possession of things, out-of-marriage sex, alcohol abuse, over-the-top busy-ness, narcissism, worry, out-of-control debt, sleeplessness. Even secure in rural villages and upscale suburbs, locked behind bolted doors and alarm systems, we are a people without peace.

So, at Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. Does this mean anything to us and for us this December 2006?

First, we must accept Christ’s offer of peace for ourselves. Peace is the quiet equivalent of joy. Like joy, peace exists independent of circumstances. It arrives in the presence of Christ, when we realize he alone is sufficient, enough, all. Possessions come and go. Health fails. Friends and family disappoint. Jobs fade. Yet in Christ, we discover peace. And through Christ, peace remains. I can’t explain it. If you don’t understand, you don’t have it. But you can; accept Christ not only as Savior, but as Lord over all you have and all you are.

Second, we must fight for peace for others. Walker Knight, the great Baptist journalist and civil rights advocate, issued the call years ago: Wage peace.

As long as other people of any race or creed endure injustice, discrimination or persecution, we must wage peace on their behalf. We must be the voices calling for justice when theirs are silent. We must be the ones who stoop down to pick up a load when their backs are breaking. We must be the ones who look power in the face when they cannot lift their heads. We must demand peace when others lust for violence and war. We must be the open arms, moving feet and loving voices who demonstrate peace when elsewhere around them they see, feel and hear ample evidence of anything but peace.

Of course, this is hard to do. Our materialistic and political culture urges us to look out for No. 1. Nationalism claims we’re better and more deserving. Fanatical religion declares we’re right and denigrates others for believing differently. Peacemaking is counter-intuitive, counter-cultural. It reminds us of someone. Oh, yeah, Jesus. Prince of Peace.

A popular Christmas song poses a good question: What can I bring Jesus for Christmas?

The Prince of Peace beckons his followers to be bearers of peace.

–Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.