Pastors Anthony, Heather, and Judah
Luke 2:8-14
Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.
[Pastor Anthony]
Luke 2, 8-14 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you, you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
Welcome to the Bridgeway Christian Church Daily Advent Devotional for Sunday, December 8th. I’m Anthony Lipscomb, and I serve as the Pastor of Christian Development here at Bridgeway, and I’m joined by Pastor Heather and Pastor Judah for a brief conversation about peace. We define peace a number of different ways, and it’s important for us to note that when the Bible talks about peace, it’s, as the band Boston says, more than a feeling.
And it’s not simply the absence of conflict either. There’s more to it. So, Pastor Heather, what does the Bible mean about peace?
Can you unpack this for us?
[Pastor Heather]
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the power in kind of the biblical understanding of peace is that it’s not just a feeling, you know, kind of like you alluded to, but it’s a truth. It’s something that is available to us through Jesus, which ultimately shifts our focus away from it being something that we can conjure up or that we need to make happen for ourself. And instead, it puts us in this totally different posture to something that we receive as a gift.
Because, I mean, I love the scripture that says, you know, Jesus is the prince of peace, and we receive him, which is a different posture. So instead of striving after this feeling, we receive it. Instead of working towards peace, we relax into it.
And that imagery is really powerful for me.
[Pastor Anthony]
Yeah, absolutely. And I love how you talk about, you know, peace is embodied in the person of Jesus and that he comes to us as a gift. Pastor Judah, say more about that.
[Pastor Judah]
Yeah, I mean, I was thinking about how peace is a fruit of the Spirit, right? And so it being like, just as kind of what you were saying, it being just intrinsically tied to the relational component that we have with Jesus and with the Spirit, right? And it being super grounded, I think, and produced by God, like that it really is not something that we can produce, right?
And so when we think about, like, leaning into it, I think that the path is to lean into the relationship, right? Because I also think that there are, like, different types of peace. And I think when we just say peace as a blanket word, it’s kind of hard to figure out, well, what are we talking about?
Internal peace or external peace? And I think mostly what we’re talking about is internal peace, which means that everything outside can be chaotic, right? And that we should not have the expectation this peace that’s promised to us means that the world is going to feel good, right?
But that we are just very grounded in kind of this covenantal relationship that we have with Jesus. And we know that because of that covenant, like, ultimately, everything is going to be fine. Everything is fine.
Like, even right now, like, everything actually is fine. But that comes through that relationship. And so when I think about peace, I really think about, like, you cannot have a fruit of the Spirit without the Spirit.
[Pastor Anthony]
Exactly.
[Pastor Judah]
So, like, let me get closer to the Spirit. Let me continue to engage and to lean into that relationship. And I think in that journey, you find peace.
And I don’t think that peace means you always feel good. Yeah. But that you always know that God is good.
[Pastor Anthony]
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And one of the things that I’m hearing you say that’s provoking a lot of food for thought for me is that since peace is a relational component and it’s birthed through the Spirit’s work in our lives, right, through the soil of our hearts, it produces something in us that is tangible, right? More than a feeling.
It’s tangible. And I can’t help but go back to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 8. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be children of God.
And so when God produces that peace in us, it’s not something that we hoard into our own stables and barns, but we give it out, right?
[Pastor Judah]
It’s a testimony.
[Pastor Anthony]
Exactly. It’s bringing peace to others in the world where we see lack, but we have abundance so we can provide and be peacemakers in that way, where we see conflict and justice. We can be a hand of God in a situation to bring peace about that way.
[Pastor Heather]
Yeah. And I think it’s felt by other people, too. I mean, I think when we walk into the room as a Spirit-filled person, I think we have the ability to change the atmosphere, not based on our own work, but we are coming in as, you know, kind of recipients of peace, but givers of peace.
[Pastor Judah]
As you were talking, I was just thinking about that, blessed are the peacemakers, and how I’ve never until right this second thought about peace as an identity marker, right? And like wearing it almost like a name, right? That’s kind of interesting.
I’m just thinking about that. I think that’s powerful. And it makes a lot of sense because it’s an identity marker for God, right?
Jehovah Shalom, right?
[Pastor Anthony]
That’s right. Exactly. It’s kind of interesting.
So as we talk about peace in general, let’s now bring this into the Christmas story. So how does the Christmas story invite us to receive God’s peace?
[Pastor Heather]
I think first and foremost, I always think about the environment of the Christmas story. It’s like Jesus was not born into a stress-free environment. You know, there was political chaos, oppression, injustice.
He lived a regular life, grew up, was raised, and had quite a bit of strife in his three years of ministry. And so I think that there is a lot in the Christmas story just in looking at Jesus’s birth that reminds us, kind of going back to the very first thing we started with, that peace is not dependent on our circumstances.
[Pastor Judah]
Yeah, I think that the Christmas story speaks to several really specific types of peace, but one that I’m thinking about is kind of an eschatological peace, right? Because of this, you absolutely know that there is going to be a heaven, right? You absolutely know that you can lean into this relationship with Jesus and guarantee your standing eternally.
And I think that that’s the really important thing to remember. Again, piggybacking off of what Pastor Heather said about Jesus not being born in a peaceful environment and still bringing peace. It’s kind of powerful to me.
And the universal nature, I think, also of Jesus’s birth and the peace that it brings, right? When you think about all these different characters that are kind of brought into that. And at no point do any of those other characters just do the stresses of their lives go away, right?
The shepherds are still the shepherds. The animals still got to be good. The wise men are still the wise men.
They have to take the back roads to go back home because Herod is trying to kill them. And so I think that there’s something important about that kind of eternal scope of peace in the context of the Christmas story. That’s really what that means for me.
It’s just like there’s really now this option for an eternal peace.
[Pastor Anthony]
Yes, we look back at the Christmas story and see the peace that has come, that first arrival. But it’s also a way to point us forward to the peace that will come, this ultimate peace in the second coming. And I love how the imagery of the Prince of Peace coming as a baby of humble means, right?
That the advent of peace is birthed in a place of humility rather than extravagance. And I think for a lot of us, we can relate to that so easily. We might look at ourselves and assess that we may not have the extravagance that may define someone’s place as maybe stress-free or above the fray.
But Jesus came into the fray and brought peace in the midst of that situation. And really, he made himself home here, right? And so there’s, I think, also a strong notion of hospitality that comes with peace.
And that’s as God made himself part of our home here, he makes us home in him as well. And so we are at peace within his household. So I think there’s a lot for us to unpack here.
And I can’t wait to hear what our contributors are going to say this week. I’m so excited. So this week, we do reflect on peace in the season of Advent.
And I want to leave you with a scripture from Ephesians 2, verses 17 and 18. In one spirit, to the Father.
Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.