The human race has a love/hate relationship with war. For those who have experienced it firsthand, war has left an indelible mark of brutality, agonizing suffering and death. For some, they are never able to return to the life they lived before going to war because of the horror they witnessed.
And yet, our television screens are filled with movies celebrating war. Societies which have lost millions of young men and women in a past conflict are ready to have blood spilled again just a few years later. War can be addictive if you are on the winning side. Even typically peaceful people accept war if it brings economic prosperity, national prestige and requires little sacrifice on their part.
Strangely, the same principles for fighting between nations holds true in our personal conflicts with the people with whom we live, work and play. No one likes to fight if we get the bad end of it all, but if we come out dominant, that’s another matter.
The truth is, if left to human beings, peace is only a pipe dream. We may have brief periods of international or personal peace, but fighting will continue to erupt on an ongoing basis. The reason is, in and of ourselves, the driving motive in our lives is to get what we want, what we have determined is best for our survival and personal happiness. If someone is a threat to that goal, the only logical human reaction is – fight, dominate, get what we want.
If a person is going to be serious about peace, then you have to get serious about Christmas. Left to ourselves, we will end humanity through our wars. Peace can only come from outside of us. And that is exactly the message of Christmas. God invades human history to bring the peace option we can only find in him. The one great question each one of us must ask this Christmas is: “Will we give peace a chance?”
Christmas Eve Sunday Morning Worship – 10:00 am
Christmas Eve Sunday Evening Worship – 7:30 pm
Christmas Day Monday Morning Worship – 11:00 am
