If you want to know how competitive you are, just play a round of white elephant at the next Christmas party.
You know the game. Everyone brings a wrapped gift. Numbers are drawn, and the first player selects a gift and opens it. The next player can either steal that gift or open a new one. This continues down the line of players. In a polite game, most people choose to open a new gift. But if there's a competitive spirit, gifts are stolen and re-stolen!
In theory, I love this game. And I always have visions of being a ruthless player. Nothing is going to stand in my way of getting the gift I want! But as the game starts, I grow more timid. I don't want to ruffle any feathers. So when my turn comes around, I inevitably choose a wrapped gift, no matter how much I secretly want to steal that giant Hershey bar...
In the end, I want to keep the peace.
But is this the kind of peace Isaiah had in mind with his final title of the coming Messiah?
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies
will make this happen! (9:6-7)
Christmas is nearly here, and we've reached the fourth title of Isaiah's prophesy: Prince of Peace. But what kind of peace is Jesus ushering in?
If I'm being honest, I don't think it's the same kind of peace I am seeking at a white elephant gift exchange. I merely want to avoid conflict. I don't want anyone to view me as selfish. In the end, I just want everyone to get along. And that is fine, I guess. But it's a far cry from the kind of peace Jesus brings us.
The Hebrew word for peace is one of my favorite words in the Bible—"shalom." It expresses a deep kind of peace. The peace that gives you wholeness in every area of life.
If you've been a long-time reader of my work, you may remember my favorite definition of sin. Sin is anything we do that breaks the peace we have with God, others, or ourselves. Broken shalom leads to broken relationships and feelings of restlessness.
I can only imagine the true shalom Adam and Eve felt in the Garden of Eden. They were at total peace with God and each other.
This is the kind of peace I long for, especially right now.
I want to be vulnerable for a moment. I haven't commented too much on the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. Partly because (I'm embarrassed to admit) there was a lot I did not know about the history of the situation. I knew there was conflict between Israel and Palestine, but I was ignorant about many of the details. So I've spent the past two months reading, listening, and learning about it, all while feeling heavyhearted about the current situation.
I'm still no expert on the situation. But I know what Hamas terrorists did to innocent Israelis was evil and horrific. There is no way to justify what happened on October 7th. The accounts of what Hamas did are stomach-churning, but I made myself read them. More often than not, I found myself shaking with rage. I was relieved when some of the hostages were released, but I mourn for those still captured. I mourn for the terror they are still experiencing.
I also mourn for the innocent Palestinians who have had their lives upended as a result of the war. I mourn for the loss of life. I mourn for the constant fear they live in. I mourn for moms and dads who have lost their children. And I mourn for children who have experienced the kind of violence I've only watched on TV from the comfort of my couch. When the Israeli hostages were released, my relief extended to the Palestinian people. For a brief moment, they got a break from the violence.
Like most of us, I want peace in the Middle East.
But even as I type those words, I know how cliche they sound. I know how empty they ring.
Am I really that naive?
Peace sounds like a nice idea, but this is the real world. And in the real world, violence calls for violence, right?
A couple of weeks ago, the pastor at my church talked about how God is both imminent and transcendent.
God is near to us. He walks with us in our trials and suffering. The same God who appeared to Moses in a burning bush is with us at this very moment.
But this God who is near also transcends our understanding. His ways are higher than our ways. When Moses asked God who he was, God said, "I Am." This name was God's way of saying that he defines himself. He's in a category of his own.
When I think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace, it is this transcendent quality that gives me hope. I can't imagine a world free of violence. But he can. I don't have the creativity to know how to love my enemies. But he does. He is full of ideas!
Throughout this series, I've been contrasting the titles Isaiah gives to Jesus with the titles I would prefer. So far, we have...
Problem-Solver instead of Wonderful Counselor.
Personal Genie instead of Mighty God.
Vacationing Uncle instead of Everlasting Father.
So what about Prince of Peace? On the surface, I love that Jesus came as the Prince of Peace. But when I think back to the white elephant gift exchange, I realize it's not really what I want. No, what I want is Jesus the Conflict Eraser.
I want Jesus to snap his fingers and erase all the conflicts in this world. My personal conflicts. The global conflicts. I want him to make it all go away.
But that is not the true shalom the Prince of Peace offers. The peace he brings is an active one. It's the difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking.
Peacekeeping means keeping quiet during a conflict while secretly stewing in anger.
Peacemaking means getting involved and actively working towards peace, even when it costs us something.
This is why Jesus calls us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. At first glance, these seem like weak, passive actions. But they are not. They are creative ways to show love to our enemies while at the same time affirming our own dignity.
And when it came to our greatest enemy—sin and death—the Prince of Peace defeated it in the most unimaginable way possible. As Isaiah also prophesied:
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus was willingly crushed by sin. But in doing so, he crushed sin and brought us peace.
So, as we move into Christmas Eve this weekend, I want you to do something you might find odd. But please hear me out.
I want you to despair.
Yes, I want you to despair about all the ways broken shalom has disrupted this world. Feel the weight of it.
I want you to feel the way Henry Wadsworth Longfellow felt when he wrote the poem "Christmas Bells." He heard church bells on Christmas morning, but it left him feeling hollow:
And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on Earth," I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
Bow your head in despair this Christmas.
But only for a moment.
And then listen for the bells again.
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men
Listen for the bells, and remember that the Prince of Peace was born.
Let's remember and then follow the example of our Prince the best we can, however imperfectly it may be.
Let's think of the last argument we had and go make it right.
Let's bake our crotchety neighbor Christmas cookies.
Let's pray for Israelis, and Palestinians, and all people affected by war across the globe.
Let's forgive that person. You know who I'm talking about. I do, too.
Let's work to be active peacemakers even when it costs us something.
Because that is what the Prince of Peace did for all of us messy, broken people.
Questions of Ponder:
What does Jesus the Prince of Peace mean to you? How have you seen his peace in your life?
How does Jesus the Prince of Peace differ from Jesus the Conflict Eraser?
As Christmas approaches, how can you actively seek to be a peacemaker in your relationships, community, and world?
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