Advent 2009:: The Coming PEACE Monday and Tuesday

Monday Peace::

The following comes from a sermon by Tim Keller given on December 21, 2001 at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York.

At some point in all relationships, you get in a conversation that goes something like this:

“You’re to blame!”
“No, it’s your fault!”
“No, it’s you.”
“No it isn’t. It’s you.”

What’s happening? The relationship is falling apart because neither side will take the blame, budge an inch or make any concession. Neither side will admit wrong or drop defenses. And as long as defenses are up, the relationship is going awry.

But then something happens:

“You’re to blame!”
“No, it’s your fault!”
“No, it’s you.”
“No it isn’t. It’s you.”
“Okay, it’s me.”

One person drops defenses. The relationship starts to come back because one person is willing to say, “Yeah it’s me. I am to blame here.” One person makes himself/herself vulnerable, and the relationship is restored.

Why would a person do that? Because in midst of all the yelling and all the hostility, one person decides that, despite how distorted the other person has become because of anger, he/she wants the other person back. He/she wants the relationship to be restored.

The only way to do that is to take down the shield, become vulnerable, and let one of the verbal blows land. It hurts, but it’s the only way. It’s a costly act of redemption. And it works because we were created in the image of the One who gave the ultimate expression of this part of his own nature at Christmas.


Tuesday Peace::

In this passage we see interaction between Mary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Mary are related in some way. We are never told how exactly; they are probably close cousins of some sort. In these verses, Mary is pregnant with Jesus and Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist.

Read Luke 1:39-45

"Blessed (in Luke 1:39-45) is to be brought back to full shalom, full human functioning. It makes you everything that God meant for you to be. What Elizabeth is saying is that if Mary believes and owns this incarnation that the angel is speaking to her, she will be totally changed, transformed…blessed." -Tim Keller

This is peace that is offered. We were made to enjoy eternal peace with God. We were made to enjoy Him and His creation and be enjoyed by Him. But the fracture of self dependence and self provision has come. That fracture has taken away our peace, leaving us longing for something more and different.

Even the irreligious would admit that there is something within each of us that longs for something more. We are longing to get back this “full shalom,” this full peace that came in the form of a baby. Celebrate this baby today and the peace that He brings.

My prayer for you this week is that you will have a deeper knowledge and experience of the peace that Jesus came to bring to you and to the world.