The Word has for centuries provided true unity to the most hostile, divided peoples on earth. I want you to think about two things as you read. One, God is our rally point. He made us in His image and gave us all the singular purpose of knowing Him and making Him known. Remove Him from the equation and you will never have unity; you’ll never know peace. Two, unity can only exist between two individuals when love is present. You can never be unified with someone you hate. Jesus said the most important thing is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. In other words, give Him everything. The second most important thing is to love your neighbor as yourself. One important thing we must do is to define the word “neighbor.” But even before that conversation happens, we can say without a doubt that Jesus meant for love to be what defines our relationships. Why do we have peace? Because when we were still dead in our sins and trespasses, God, out of his great love for us, made us alive together with Christ. Love over beauty, skill, creativity and power. Love unifies, so God loved us, therefore we ought to love one another.
Detrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words about his position as a Christian pastor in Nazi Germany, “If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” If we see unity being overrun by division and hatred in our culture, we have two choices. We can turn our eyes and hope for the best; bury the dead and die after all is said and done. Or we can grab the wheel from the culture that is driving it. How precious is unity to you? How willing are you to fight for the peace we’ve been offered and instructed to share?
I don’t suggest for a minute that blood spilled and guns shot will bring about unity. Shouting for your position or best argument to be heard will not help. Unity is found at the point of peace. In order for peace to be real, a confrontation must happen. For believers that looks like speaking truth in love, loving your neighbor even when your neighbor hates you and praying for those who persecute you. These things are absolutely contrary to the way the world fights and what the world fights for. That’s why the world is divided and the church is united.
Like the story of the Good Samaritan, loving your neighbor involves touching the hurting, caring for the dying and giving your own funds so they can heal. But that is not all it involves. The bigger part of that story, the part that would not have been missed by those listening to Jesus, is loving your neighbor means doing all of these things for the people you hate; doing them for the people who hate you.
Hear me say this clearly, you will never, ever be able to do this on your own. If this is what it takes to bring true unity about, we are doomed. Everything in us resists loving those who hate us and praying for those who hurt us. Listen, this is exactly what we have done to God. When we were dead in our sin and rejection of Him, He came near and made us alive in Christ. The message of the cross is that God saw us on the side of the road and paid our debts. He made it possible for us to heal. AND the message is also that He gives us the supernatural ability—ability that crosses our natural tendencies to slip away and hide from hard things—to show love to those who are most unlike us. Because this is what He does. It’s what God has always done and it’s what He will always do.
The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus makes peace, like He offers us a cease-fire war treaty to sign, promising the semblance of peace for an agreed upon period of time. The Bible says that JESUS IS PEACE! And as our peace He has broken down the wall of hostility that once existed between us and God AND has broken down the wall of hostility that existed between us and humanity. How did He do it? By His miraculous work on the cross. What did He do? He created ONE man where there was once two. Regardless of color, culture, past or present Jesus makes us, each of us who seek Him, ONE.
Christmas is a celebration of the peace that is offered the world in Christ. Will you be a part of His peace this year?