Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you in the Name of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today’s message is from the Gospel reading Luke 2:14. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
“Peace on earth” is a palatable refrain to the world in which we live. We hear it in prays. We hear it in songs, old and new. We even hear it in the proverbial answer by pageant contestants: “What does our society need most? Of course, world peace.” And who can argue against desiring/wishing for peace on earth? It has been said that no one prays for peace like a soldier in combat. Some will argue against “peace if it is at any cost” because this idea can be seen as compromising morals, principals, or values.
Sorry to tell you, peace on earth is not possible. We are fallen people. There are many wicked people who live with the sole purpose of taking life, possessions, even freedom of worship, from others. The angels do not proclaim peace upon all of the earth in this passage–not that God doesn’t want the world to have peace. The simple reality is that until the new Heaven and the new earth come, until that day when we no longer are both saint and sinner, well, the simple reality is that we are not going to have “world peace.”
And Scripture makes this very clear. All of creation groans as in pangs of childbirth. We are told that there will be wars and rumors of wars. Jesus Himself told us, “If they treat the teacher this way, they will treat you who are My students, even worse” (John 15:20).
This announcement by the angels is practically an indictment of the Church today. God’s messengers tell us that He expects peace among those with whom He is pleased.
So, “Is God pleased with me?” Perhaps more to the point, “Is God pleased with my spouse, my child, my boss, my coworker, my neighbor?” Let’s not miss this: “Is God pleased with my fellow church member?” You see, if God is pleased with you, then He expects to see peace in your relationships within the Church.
I believe that one of our biggest jobs in serving within a Church is to work and pray for our fellow members to interact with each other in a Christ-pleasing way. Is God pleased with me? How are we interacting with our fellow members? Is maintaining His peace the most important thing in our relationship with other members of our church? It’s not easy having peace among those with whom He is well pleased. No, it’s not easy at all. In fact, it took His Son dying on the cross to make this peace possible. Jesus had to suffer an excruciating and violent death just to make peace among us, in this church, possible.
Is God pleased with me?
No, not when we rely on oneself. Because on our own, we are sinners and we have no means of saving ourselves. God could never be pleased with that, but that’s a good thing. He loves us too much. That’s why God brings His mercy to us. He did this in the waters of our Baptism. He does this in the words of Absolution. He does this in Communion. He does this through Scripture and in our prayers. He does this through the Priesthood of the Baptized–our fellow members who lift us up, hold us accountable, and walk with us in our good times and in our weak times.
Is God pleased with me? Now that’s a good question to keep on our minds. That’s why we have such a great mission statement as a church: “We will glorify God by spreading the Gospel through our preaching, our teaching, and living our daily lives.”
Now, may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
