Christmas Eve 2021 – Peace on Earth
PART I – A VISION OF PEACE
What makes you special?
What makes you one-of-a-kind?
What are you really good at?
What do you know a lot about?
That is really great stuff, guys! I love that about you. And guess what? So does God. Isn’t it amazing that he made every one of us unique?
Now, what I want to do right now is tell you a story from the Bible that you probably haven’t heard at Christmastime. But I promise it’s connected.
Isaiah 60:1
Now, a quick bit of context before we read this prophecy. At the time this passage was written, the people of Israel were in a pretty rough spot.
After years of war and exile and destruction at the hands of enemy nations, Israel was just a shadow of its former self. Many Israelites were scattered, living in pockets all over the ancient world.
The temple of God had been destroyed, and the one they rebuilt didn’t hold a candle to the old one.
And yet, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah with a pretty clear message: this isn’t the end of the story.
Isaiah 60:1-7
“Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.
Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.
All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
“Look and see, for everyone is coming home!
Your sons are coming from distant lands;
your little daughters will be carried home.
Your eyes will shine,
and your heart will thrill with joy,
for merchants from around the world will come to you.
They will bring you the wealth of many lands.
Vast caravans of camels will converge on you,
the camels of Midian and Ephah.
The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense
and will come worshiping the LORD.
The flocks of Kedar will be given to you,
and the rams of Nebaioth will be brought for my altars.
I will accept their offerings,
and I will make my Temple glorious.
Isn’t that beautiful? The prophecy goes on. The ships of Tarshish - who used to be bad guys in the Bible - are bringing scattered Israelites home.
Later it says builders and craftsmen from all over the world come to rebuild Israel and the temple using the best timber around. Stonemasons and carpenters and artists…
Everyone is bringing precious gifts to God. Everyone is worshipping Yahweh.
There is no more violence, all war ends, there’s no more sadness or grief…
It’s peace on earth.
But remember, biblical peace is not just an absence of warfare. God’s peace means wholeness, completeness, life… It’s a return to Eden for humanity. The world made right.
And we see that in this vision too… There’s flourishing and abundance. There’s joy and celebration and harmony between people.
And what I love about Isaiah 60 is that the whole world is coming to experience this. Every nation - every tribe, every people group - is flooding to Jerusalem to worship God.
Verse 3. “All nations will come to your light.”
But don’t miss this. Yes, all people are unified here in their worship of God, but this does not involve having their uniqueness or their culture stripped away. Just the opposite.
Kids, you just told me the ways that you are unique. Well, all the different people in this story are unique, too.
Verse 5. “Merchants from around the world will come to you. They will bring you the wealth of many lands.” Gold from one place, sheep from another. Lumber from this region, camels from that one.
And all those craftsmen are bringing the best techniques from all over the world to rebuild Jerusalem. Can you imagine all the different architectural styles that would be on display? It’s a beautiful picture.
All humanity living together, bringing the very best of their skills and gifts and cultures to God in worship.
THAT is peace on earth.
THAT is the future God promised his children. That is where things are headed.
And on the night Jesus was born, this is exactly what the angels declared had come to pass.
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Peace on earth had come. Isaiah 60 was going to finally come true…
There’s only one problem with that. It didn’t, did it? I mean, there is still war. There’s still violence. People don’t like each other.
So what’s that all about? Were the angels wrong? Was this just some future ideal? Maybe peace on earth is just too much to ask…
Let’s take a break. When we come back, we’ll try to answer those questions.
And I’ll give you a sneak peek right now… The angels weren’t wrong!
[dismiss kids back to their seats]
PART II – THE MAGI ARRIVE
So, we left off asking the question, were the angels wrong? Is peace on earth still just a future ideal or did something actually happen on Christmas morning to change this world?
Well, let’s go back to Isaiah 60 for a second. I want to point out one little detail to you I find interesting. In verse 3, Isaiah’s prophecy says:
Isaiah 60:3
All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
So, these foreign rulers are streaming to Jerusalem to see God’s light. And they’re bearing luxurious gifts. Look at verse 6.
Isaiah 60:6
The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense and will come worshiping the LORD.
Now, Sheba was a wealthy Arabian kingdom to the east of Israel. Precious metals, incense, spices… They’re bringing all of this as a gift to Israel’s God.
And notice what these wealthy people do when they arrive: they “worship the Lord.”
This is just a little sliver of Isaiah 60, but there are four important details we need to pay attention to here.
Foreigners from the east
Coming to God’s light
Gifts of Gold and Frankincense
Worshiping the Lord
Does any of that ring a bell at all?
Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” … The star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Wait just a minute. That sounds awfully familiar!
Foreigners from the east
Coming to God’s light
Gifts of Gold and Frankincense
Worshiping the Lord
Is this all just a coincidence? I don’t think so.
I believe the moment Jesus was born, the prophecy of Isaiah 60 started coming true. This vision of the nations coming to worship the Lord had begun to be realized. Peace on earth had begun.
It began with these magi from the east. But it only continued from there.
As Jesus grew up and taught his followers, Samaritans began to believe. On Pentecost, Jewish people from all over the known world heard the good news and they started to follow.
And then all Gentiles were invited to join the family of God. Christ followers from every nation began streaming to worship him.
Not at the physical Jerusalem or the physical temple, but in the person of Christ Jesus, the new temple.
Because of him, all the human brokenness and depravity and sin which leads to war and violence can now cease. In his kingdom there is no violence. Because of Jesus, humanity can return to Eden and walk with God again.
The light of Yahweh has come and all nations can worship him together.
Isaiah 60 is coming true in our world, and it began with the birth of Jesus on Christmas morning.
Is the prophecy completely fulfilled yet? No. This world is still broken in many ways. But you and I are invited to tell everyone who will listen the good news that, though peace on earth is not yet complete, it’s possible.
Verse 17 of Isaiah 60 says,
Isaiah 60:17
I will make peace your leader and righteousness your ruler.
Well, we have a king in Jesus - we call him the prince of peace - and he is making all things right. The doors of Jerusalem are open. The light of God shines brightly.
Why would we not go to him and bring him the very best of our lives in worship? The magi from the east did it. We can too.
Peace on earth is not just a future ideal. It’s a reality that began breaking into our world on Christmas morning and hasn’t stopped yet.
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
UNIQUENESS
All month we’ve been talking about how to experience this peace. This peace that goes beyond our ability to understand. This return to God’s ideal - this return to the garden of Eden.
We can start by recognizing deep in our hearts that because of the birth of Jesus, the Lord is near and we are not alone.
We can learn how to practice the self-giving love of Jesus in our families - the same love he demonstrated by setting himself aside and becoming one of us.
And we can show our community the way of peace by rejecting the tribalism of our time and being transformed into new people who live and love like Jesus.
And this Christmas Eve, as we think about the Magi and Isaiah 60, there’s just one final puzzle peace to add.
If we want to experience peace on earth, we need to acknowledge that Isaiah’s vision has already begun and we need to start living like it’s true.
How do we do this? Two simple ways. First,
Live like everyone is welcome at the table.
In Isaiah’s vision, every nation is coming together as one to worship God. Different cultures, different languages, strong nations, weak nations, former enemies… They are all one in their worship.
Old conflicts are forgotten, war has no place, because everyone has their eyes focused on the light.
Now that Christ has come, now that he has shown us the way, we can live like that is true. We don’t have to wait.
We can make room in our hearts and in our lives for those who are different than us. We can set aside old grudges and toss our prejudice in the trash.
We can live like everyone is welcome at the table, because in the kingdom of God, they are… The second way we can experience this peace is to
Cherish the unique gifts of others.
In Isaiah 60 we see all the nations bringing their very best in worship. When the Magi showed up to worship Jesus, they brought gold, frankincense, myrrh - the finest gifts their people had to offer.
In this vision of peace on earth, yes everyone is welcome at the table. All people are unified in their worship of God.
But their uniqueness, their culture, their gifts, their skills, are not stripped away. Just the opposite!
Everyone brings their uniqueness to God because God was the one who made them unique. [mention kids’ uniqueness]
In the kingdom of God, we are unified in the saving love of Jesus. We are all just alike in our sin and all just alike in the grace that has transformed us.
Jesus came to save all of us. That’s what began Christmas morning.
But the birth of Jesus is also a reminder that every individual, every family, every culture, every nationality, and ethnicity carries a unique spark of God's character.
If we want to truly fulfil the vision of peace on earth, we will learn to cherish and celebrate the unique gifts each of us bring to worship Jesus.
Peace in our world. Live like everyone is welcome at the table and cherish the unique gifts of others.
The magi started this pilgrimage of peace. It’s time for us to join the caravan.
The Lord is near. Peace on earth has come.
What if we lived like it’s true?