A couple had two mischievous boys, ages 8 and 10, who were constantly in trouble. You name it. They did it: Egging the neighbors’ houses, they did it. Putting soap in the public fountain, they did it. Stealing the wheels off the trash cans, they did it. There was no peace at home or the neighborhood. Needless to say, there was no need for them to make a list to be checked twice. They weren’t going to make anyone’s list except maybe the “FBI’s Most Wanted.” But their parents weren’t ready to give up on their sons.
So, they sought the help of a local pastor who had a reputation for successfully straightening out hell-raising kids. The minister agreed to speak with the boys but insisted on seeing them separately. The younger one went first. The preacher sat the boy down and asked him sternly, “Where is God?” The boy made no response, so the clergyman asked him again even sterner, “Where is God?” Again, the boy made said nothing. So, the preacher raised his fire-and-brimstone-voice to a fever pitch, shook his finger in the boy's face, and asked him a third time, “WHERE IS GOD?” With that, the boy bolted for the door, ran home, and hid in the closet. His older brother followed him and asked what had happened. The younger brother replied, 'We are in BIG trouble this time. “God is missing and they think we did it.”
You laugh, but the notion that God is missing is more prevalent than you think right now. Peace is missing in many lives. School shootings, killer tornados, another variant of COVID-19 is enough to darken the spirit of anyone. You might be wallowing in your own personal loss right now that has you asking, “Where is God? Is peace possible?"
Israel was in such a dark place 2000 years ago. God placed them in exile at the hands of Assyria as judgment for their disobedience, idolatry, and injustices. They were asking, “Where is God? Is peace possible?”
As the fourth Sunday Advent candle—the Angel candle of Peace—is lit today, the Prophet Isaiah offers some light, then and now, for dark times and down spirits. He prophesied peace through a baby in Isaiah 9:6:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
These words were made memorable in Handel’s Messiah, but they are forever etched in God’s program and promise of peace. We will see in this one verse and these four names of this child, who has come and is coming again, that peace is possible because God is not missing, for Immanuel, the God-child—is with us.
First, peace is possible because of the One named Wonderful Counselor—Pele Yoes—an extraordinary strategist. Isaiah forecasted that the answer to Israel’s dark times is the One with God’s Spirit of wisdom. He has a plan for peace. This is just what Israel needed. Because the lack of wisdom got them into the mess they were in—their decisions to abandon God, and pursue idols—it stands to reason, divine wisdom will be the strategy to lead out of darkness into a marvelous light. But warning: God’s strategy and strategist is and has always been unconventional.
A child born to a young woman first spoke of in Isaiah 7:14 as Israel’s deliverer did not make sense. But need I remind you: God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His plans are not our plans, but they work. Just look at His track record. He paved a dry path by parting a red sea. He led lost Israel by a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night. He poured water from rocks and conquered a giant with a boy with a sling shot and five smooth stones. So, God is eminently qualified to bring peace by a baby who will be a Wonderful Strategist.
You may be in a dark place right now because of your own doing, your unwise choices. And now your money is funny; your marriage, a mirage; your church, a hurt. Maybe—just maybe—you need better counseling from an unconventional counselor whose strategy is to give you a new mind—the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:4-5 gives us a glimpse into that new mind:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which is also in Jesus Christ.Philippians 2:4-5
What a strategy! Put the interest of others ahead of yourself. It works. It worked for three wise—an Arizona homeless man, a millionaire Secret Sant and a desperate father—unfamiliar to the tradition Christmas men of the Orient, but wise just the same. These three wise men put the interest of others ahead of these selves and found peace. It’s one of my favorite Christmas stories. Perhaps you remember it from the news.
Homeless man Moses Elders was in a dark place, but he found the light by giving away $100 bills. You see, he was recruited by a millionaire Secret Santa to give away $3,000 to anyone, any way he chose. Elders chose to reward people who showed him the least bit of respect—a smile, a hello, an act of compassion—on the streets of Phoenix. Danny McCoy did. He put his last bit of change in Moses’ cup, even though McCoy had seven kids, and until that moment, had no idea how he was going to buy them Christmas gifts. The $100 Moses gave McCoy took care of that. All three men found the peace they were looking for.
Church, get your eyes off self and putt it on the interest of others like the victims of the Kentucky tornadoes. God is not missing, neither is peace. Take heed from Pele Yoes—the Wonderful Counselor—and find your possible peace by putting the interest of others ahead of yourself.
Second, peace is possible because of the One named Mighty God—El Gibbor—whose power is love. Isaiah prophesized that the “child that is to be born and the Son that is to be given” is not just a baby in a manger, but a powerful, conquering warrior who is a force to be reckoned with. That force is proclaimed in Romans 1:16 as the good news of the “Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation,” rooted in the Gospel of John 3:16, “that God so loved the world he gave this Son”, the same Son Isaiah proclaims this morning, this “Mighty God”. Love is his power.
If there ever was a time for a peace keeping force armed with the love of El-Gibbor to keep watch over our kids in school, it is now. With the Oxford, Michigan school shooting last month, there have been 1,300 school shootings since 1970. Texas is one of the top three states for such shootings. Some believe the answer is more force. I agree, but not fighting fire with fire, by arming teachers with guns to fight guns, but arming students with love like Mr. James Anthony did. Maybe you know his story.
Most of Mr. James Anthony’s sixty years has been lived in two worlds: the hearing impaired and the academic world, not as a professor, but as a janitor. But he made the most of his lot in life by being the best janitor he could be for the kids at Hickerson Elementary School in Tullahoma, Tennessee. “He is a good role model for the students, teaching the kids good manners and how to treat others, along with teaching them sign language,” said the principal.
It appears he taught them the language of love as well. Recently, he was called to the kindergarten classroom, not to clean up a spill, but to open a present. He opened the door to twenty kids signing and singing “Happy Birthday”. Overwhelmed, he grabbed his face to hide tears of joy.
Be a soldier in the peace corps of El Gibbor like James Anthony. God is not missing, neither is peace when you enlist in the army of love of the Mighty God whose power is love.
Third, peace is possible because of the One named Eternal Father—Abi-ad—a present protector. Isaiah forecasted that the answer to Israel’s dark times is the One who gives protection like an ever-present father. This father does not rival God, the Father of the Trinity, but as one who has the qualities of a good daddy who is present to protect his children. No absentee daddy here. He is a promise-keeper of Hebrew 13:5 to:
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
We know the life changing consequences for the 20 million children of America whose daddies are absent:
71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes.
85 % of youth in prison come from homes where there is no father present.
But these numbers aren’t the whole story. There’s the One—"born unto us a son”—called Abi-dad, born to be a father to the fatherless. That should give us peace and purpose, to be present for someone who needs some fatherly protection like the group of 40 fathers who did just that for the students of a Shreveport, Louisiana high school. Perhaps, you saw their story in the news. They called themselves “Dads on Duty.”
After a violent week of fighting in school that saw 23 students arrested in three days, Southwood High School parents knew something had to change. Some dads decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed Dads on Duty to take shifts spending time at the high school, greeting students in the morning and helping maintain a positive environment for learning throughout, rather than fighting. The students say it's working — and the numbers prove it. There hasn't been a single incident on campus since the dads showed up. That’s what happens—peace—when the disciples of Abi-ad walk the halls.
You can either curse the darkness of absent fatherhood or light a candle like the “Dads on Duty” who were present with lamps lit. You’ve got the light as well, church. Be present for those who need protection. God is not missing, neither is peace when agents of an Everlasting Father are present.
Fourth and finally, peace is possible because of the One named Prince of Peace—Shar-Shalom—who can bring a whole peace. Isaiah forecasted that the answer to Israel’s darkness was a leader whose administration will seek the welfare of the whole person: body, mind and soul—a whole peace.
This kind of peace is possible even in war. For a moment in history, a group of WWI soldiers let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts, according to Colossian 3:15. They were led to defy walls and trenches one silent night, Dec. 25, 1914. Perhaps you’ve heard one of this night, one of my favorite Christmas stories—Silent Night, Peaceful Night of Flanders Field.
It all began on Christmas Eve. Across hundreds of miles of barbed-wired trenches that crisscrossed Flanders Field—a war-torn stretch of Belgian countryside—German troops were lined up within shouting distance of French, Belgian, British and Canadian troops.
A million men had already been slaughtered and frozen bodies lay strewn between the barbed-wired lines. As Christmas approached, the Germans were much better supplied than the allies, with Christmas trees, candles, and gifts delivered to their trenches. Some of the Germans placed their lighted trees on the trench walls. This action soon spread along the line. Many of the Germans spoke English began to sing. Soon, song broke out both sides.
Next, newspapers and food canisters were tossed across the line instead of hand grenades. Eventually, the shooting stopped and unarmed men spontaneously popped out of their trenches. Handshakes, salutes, and gifts were exchanged. Officers on both sides panicked to see this unauthorized truce and tried to stop it with threats of court martial and treason, but to no avail. Peace had broken out.
On Christmas Day, guns were silent as more sounds of the same comradeship filled the air. Barrels of German beer were exchanged for quantities of English plum pudding. Several stray cattle were slaughtered for a feast. Makeshift soccer balls sailed like missiles. Cheers ricocheted like bullets. As the day darkened, the men slowly drifted back into their trenches. By then, the officers were implementing orders from higher up, and shooting began again—usually over the heads of the enemy.
Eventually, the carnage resumed. But for one single, solitary day and night, the Shar Shalom—the Prince of Peace—ruled the hearts of men at war.
As you interact with sisters and brothers, uncles, aunts and friends in the trenches of old hurts and new wounds of disagreements, believe in the possibility of peace. If it can happen on a WWI frozen Belgium battlefield, it can happen at the Christmas dinner table. All you need is a leader—a Shar—whose administration’s agenda is to transcend walls of division and scale the trenches of distrust to find the common ground of our humanity.
As the fourth candle of Advent—the Angel candle of peace is lit, Isaiah offers light to dark times and down spirits this Christmas through a baby boy.
Unlike the two mischievous boys who thought they were being blamed for a missing God, we are responsible for the absence of peace in our lives when we only celebrate Christ this Christmas as a babe in a manger. He is so much more. He is a soon returning King with many names:
Pele Yoes—Wonderful Counselor. Follow his strategy of putting others first.
El Gibbor—Mighty God. Be a soldier of his peace force of love.
Abi-ad—Everlasting Father. Be present for those who need protection.
Shar Shalom—Prince of Peace. Let the peace of Christ rule.
God is not missing. Peace is possible. And Peace shall reign for ever and ever.
To that, we can only sing: Hallelujah. Who knows, maybe even Hallelujahs will break out at a mall nearest you: Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE.
Merry Christmas
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