Peace on Earth!

 

“And there were shepherd abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night…”

So begins the passage from Luke 2 about visitors who traveled – not from eastern lands, but simply from pastures outside of Bethlehem.  They were field workers who watched over sheep and goats and the only notable thing about them was that they saw a group of angels and then went to see Jesus.

They seem to have been pretty impressed by what they saw.  “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” (Luke 2:20)

Surely, not all of the shepherds went.  Some of the shepherds must have stayed back to watch the sheep and I wonder how they responded to the excitement of their compatriots.  “What’s the big deal?”  They might have said.  “It’s just a baby – and more than that, a baby with parents too poor to have room inside.  They’re living in a stable – nothing kingly about that, is there?”

Some of the others may have gotten excited from the stories they had been told.  Between groups of angels proclaiming the Good News and the excitement of the shepherds who had visited the stable, they knew that something had changed.  Centuries of oppression by foreign empires was going to end with the birth of God’s anointed One – the Messiah.

Of course, we today are in much the same boat as the shepherds who stayed back.  Since the first century, no one has walked dusty trails with Jesus or watched Him walk on water or eaten bread that He broke to feed the ten thousand.  We only have the stories that those early followers of His left behind and can sense the excitement they experienced in His presence.

For many people, it is all too much to believe.  “What’s the big deal?”  They ask.  “A poor Galilean carpenter lived and was crucified, and His followers blew Him up into a big deal He never was during His lifetime.  There’s nothing there for me to be excited about.”

They go on their ways unmoved and unchanged by the message the angels brought to the shepherds.  They have jobs to take care of and chores to do and no time for any of this Messianic silliness.

On the other hand, some of us read the stories and catch the excitement.  There is something more – Good News, not only for first century Jews, but for All People! 

Those of us who believe can look back and realize that Jesus came to bring peace to the nations. 

If there is one thing that is needed it is peace.  For nations rise against nations and kingdom against kingdom.  Even in the United States, polarization rules supreme and men attack each other in anger and even school children are not immune to the fear of shooters showing up to kill teachers and students.

This Christmas season, I pray for peace to the One who came to bring peace.  With the shepherds, I rejoice, because God’s Messiah has come to bring peace to a world torn by war and conflict.

Busted Lips and Loose Teeth

 

“Oh no!”  Elise shrieked, sounding like a girl who has just discovered that her entire family was swallowed by a great white shark.

“What’s the matter?”  Her mother asked her.  Elaine has experienced enough of these wails of disaster not to get too bent out of shape over them.

“I fell down roller skating,” Elise said between sobs.  “And I hit my mouth and now it’s bleeding!”

There’s nothing like the sight of blood to strike fear in the heart of six-year-old girls (and plenty of older people as well).  Elise was rapidly losing blood and her parents were standing around chatting like they were at a fellowship evening at church.

“Let me look at it,” Elaine said.  “I’m sure you just scraped up your lip…”

“It needs a Band Aid!  It needs a Band Aid!”  Elise said. 

“We can’t put a Band Aid on your lip,” Elaine said.  “It wouldn’t stick.”  She looked at Elise’s mouth.  “It isn’t your lip at all,” she pronounced.  “You must have had a lose tooth and it just came out.  Look, here it is on your dress.”

Just that quickly, the script flipped.  “I’m SO lucky!”  Elise said, suddenly all smiles.  “I wanted to lose that tooth and that fall helped it come out.  It didn’t even hurt a bit!”

I listened to this interchange and found it amusing.  Elise gets a small sum of money in exchange for her teeth, while she gets no payment for busted lips, hence the difference in response between the two.

Optimists look at the silver lining.  Pessimists see the dark clouds.  Realists simply hope the clouds bring needed rain and not disastrous hail.

Christians are not commanded to look at silver linings or to de-emphasize the clouds.  They are to have joy, but there is something more.  They are commanded to focus their attention on Jesus.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

The point is that we are not to focus either on the present suffering or the silver linings, but on our example and leader.  He saw the rewards and was willing to go through much suffering for our gain.

It may be that we can gain some benefit from trying to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, but we gain the most from fixing our attention on our Lord and trying to follow His example.  It is a dark world, but He is our light and our salvation – whether we are experiencing a busted lip or a loose tooth.

The Master "A"

 

The concert master strode on to the stage.  The applause of the audience rose up, and he turned towards the audience and bowed briefly.  Then, turning back towards the orchestra, he pointed to the oboes where the principal oboist began playing an “A.”

Each section listened carefully and then began to tune.  Brass, woodwinds, and strings all heard the same note and made certain that their instruments were tuned exactly right.  This done, quiet descended on the stage and the concert master seated himself, waiting for the arrival of the conductor.

Tuning is really important.  The problem is that if an instrument is tuned a little higher (sharper) or lower (flatter) than the rest of the instruments around it, the end result will be discordant.  Beautiful sections of music with multiple sections of the orchestra playing in unison would sound off, without the clear, unified tone that is expected by the audience.

In relationships, tuning is important too.  So often, a husband and wife are tuned completely differently and as a result, the music that comes out of their marriage is discordant and full of tension. 

The couple can sense this, and they know it isn’t right.  The problem is that typically their solution is to believe that their spouse should simply tune their life to match up with their tone.  “If only you would focus yourself on me more and be more like me,” they say.  “Our lives would be great.”

So, who is the oboe in the relationship?  Who sets this master tone that everyone else needs to match themselves too?

The secret of the orchestra is that the oboes don’t set the master tone.  These days, oboes use an electronic device that lets them be certain that they have their “A” tone set exactly correctly.  It is only after they have tuned themselves to the master that others can then tune themselves to them.

The Apostle Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (I Corinthians 11:1)  Paul was a godly man – someone who had lived his life focused on his Master and yet, even he, wanted to be certain that those who came behind him focused not so much on him and his life, but on the one he was following.

In much the same way, relationships work best when each one of us tunes ourselves to the Master.  It is not that my wife needs to tune herself to me, but rather that both of us focus ourselves on Jesus, listen to his clear tone and follow that. 

The goal is that the music that comes forth from our lives and from our family, be music that flows with beautiful melody and harmony.  That can only happen when we center ourselves around the true master tone.