Isaiah 9:4-7      Christmas Truce

Rev. David Holwick  ZN

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

December 6, 2015

Isaiah 9:4-7


CHRISTMAS TRUCE



  I. We live in a time of violence.

      A. We have one mass shooting a day in America.

          1) If you characterize a mass shooting as 4+ people, the San

                Bernardino atrocity was the 355th in 336 days.      [1]

          2) This one was different.

              a) 98% are carried out by a man, and usually one shooter.

                  1> This one involved a married couple.

              b) Becoming more common - a terrorist motivation.

                  1> The woman gave allegiance to ISIS on Facebook.

                  2> The attack was not impulsive but required much

                        planning.


      B. Nations take violence to a higher level.

          1) A century ago we saw one of the most brutal wars in history.


             World War I shattered tens of millions of lives.

             It was known for miles of trenches, blasted no-mans-lands,

                thunderous bombardments - war on an industrial scale.


             The new movie "Testament of Youth" is the true story of a

                young English woman named Vera Brittain.

             In the space of two years she lost her brother, her fiancé

                (on the day she was to be married) and two close friends.

             Her desire to be involved in the war resulted in her

                volunteering to be a nurse near the front lines.


             In a poignant scene, she is told her brother was at their

                field hospital but had already died.

             She frantically searches through the bodies, finds him, and

                discovers he is still breathing.

             Over time she nurses him back to health.

                He is sent back to the front and is killed soon after.

             Just before his death, he sends her a letter that describes

                the quiet peacefulness of a battlefield at twilight.


             But Vera also saw that war has several sides.

             Her first assignment was in a hospital that treated wounded

                German prisoners.


             She discovered that they were just like her fiancé and

                brother, with the same loves and fears.

             They were human.

             As a result, she became a life-long pacifist and noted

                writer of the anti-war novel "Testament of Youth."

             She continued to oppose war even after Hitler came to power.

                                                                   #65003


      C. How do you respond to violence?

          1) Most people shrink from it.

              a) We want to live peaceful lives, with no fear or danger.

              b) Violence may be necessary, on occasion, when our lives

                    or the lives of our loved ones have been threatened.

              c) Even then, we want someone else to take the

                    responsibility - the police, or an army.

          2) God's response is found in Christmas.

              a) Our heavenly Father sent a little baby to earth.

              b) His mission was to bring peace to all of us.

              c) Do you think he succeeded in any sense?


II. With Jesus, you can experience personal peace.

      A. Are you at peace right now?

          1) The busyness of this holiday can unhinge anyone.

              a) There are so many events you want to take part in,

                    so many people to buy gifts for.

              b) But most of us are unsettled by the deeper things

                    like news coverage of terrorist attacks or mass

                       killings.

                  1> Will it ever touch us?

                  2> Will they get their hands on nuclear weapons?

          2) Often the inner turmoil is more intimate.

              a) Your marriage may not be what it appears to the world.

              b) Money problems may keep you up at night.

              c) You may be struggling with secret demons.


      B. God wants you to feel contented and secure.

          1) You won't get this feeling from finding the perfect gift

                or listening to an All-Christmas radio station.

          2) True peace can only come when you discover the secret

                of faith.

              a) The book of Romans has several helpful verses on God's

                    peace.

              b) Romans 8:6 says,


                 "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind

                     governed by the Spirit is life and peace."


          3) Only faith can get us right with God.

              a) Romans 5:1 ties our salvation with God's peace:


                 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

                    we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."


              b) Notice that we are justified through faith, not through

                    good works.

                  1> It is not that we churn up some faith within us, but

                        the object of our faith - Jesus - who saves us.


      C. Peace comes through a daily trust in God.

          1) We can depend upon him to work things out, eventually.

          2) Our future is in God's hands.


             Notice how Paul puts it in Romans 15:13 --


             "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you

                trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the

                   power of the Holy Spirit."


III. You can extend that peace to others.

      A. If you have it, you should share it.

          1) When you come across someone who is anxious and dispirited,

                encourage them to find peace by putting their hope in God.

          2) Is it just wishful thinking?

              a) Newspaper headline: "God Isn't Fixing This."


                 There has been a heated discussion following the

                    San Bernardino attack on whether politicians should

                       ask us to pray for the victims.

                 Some say it is just pious gobbledygook that accomplishes

                    nothing of value.

                 What we really need, they say, is to control guns.

                    We need solutions instead of more piety.

                                                                   #65001

              b) I disagree.  I think we need prayer AND solutions.

                  1> When it comes to peace, we can do more than pray.

                  2> We can try to reconcile people who are at odds

                        with each other.

                  3> If friends or family are fighting, your own peace

                        will be diminished.


      B. Peaceable relationships should be the goal of every Christian.

          1) Romans 12:18 says,


             "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at

                peace with everyone."


          2) It doesn't say "live at peace with every Christian who

                agrees with you," but "live at peace with everyone."

              a) As Paul suggests, it is not always possible.

              b) Just make sure YOU are not the one making it impossible.

              c) If you are able to pull it off, Jesus says you will be

                    blessed as a peacemaker.

          3) Peace is something that needs to be worked at.

              a) Romans 14:19 says,


                 "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads

                    to peace and to mutual edification."


              b) Edification is building people up - peacemaking is

                    always positive in its nature.

              c) Keep in mind how your actions affects your relationship

                    to others.


IV. Someday the whole world will have peace.

      A. Isaiah's prophecy looks to what we call the Millennium.

          1) It is a time when God sends a special king to rule the earth.

          2) All wars will stop.

              a) Verse 5 mentions that weapons will be burned up.

              b) The United States is doing that right now, by converting

                    weapon-grade Plutonium into fuel for nuclear power

                       plants instead of bombs.

              c) Of course, we still keep plenty of Plutonium to make

                    bombs, we are just converting the excess.

                  1> The Messiah will burn it all.

          3) Besides success at peace, the Messiah has a special trait.

              a) He is a baby.

              b) And he will rule so effectively, peace will never

                    cease.

              c) Christians know that that baby is Jesus.


      B. Why is there still war?

          1) It is obvious the world has not burned all its weapons,

                or established a lasting peace.

          2) Hatred and violence still roam the earth, even though

                Jesus has been born.

          3) Peace between all nations has to wait for his second

                coming.

              a) His first coming did not focus on nations, but

                    individuals like you and me.

              b) People must be changed before nations can.


  V. The world has had glimpses.

      A. In Flanders' fields, 1914.


         During World War I the battles were fought from trenches that

            were only a few hundred feet apart.

         To gain territory a side would cram hundreds of thousands of

            men in their trenches, then have them climb over the top

               and charge headlong over to the enemy's side.


         The invention of the machine gun made these tactics suicidal.


         As soon as they climbed out of their trenches they were cut

            down, Vera Brittain's brother and fiancé among them.

         In battles like Verdun and the Somme, literally millions of

            young men lost their lives and the battle lines hardly

               moved at all.


         The bloodshed only stopped once, on Christmas Day in 1914.

         German troops began to put small Christmas trees, lit with

            candles, outside of their trenches.

         Then, they began to sing carols.

         Across the way, in the "no man's land" between them, came

            carols from the British and French troops.

         Many of the Germans were able to speak good enough English

            to propose a "Christmas" truce.

         They held up hand-lettered signs that said, "You no fight,

            we no fight".


         The British and French troops, all along the miles of

            trenches, accepted.

         In a few places, allied troops fired at the Germans as they

            climbed out of their trenches.

         But the Germans were persistent and Christmas would be

            celebrated even under the threat of impending death.


         A spontaneous truce resulted.

         Soldiers left their trenches, meeting in the middle to shake

            hands.

         They exchanged gifts.


         It didn't last forever.

         In fact, some of the generals didn't like it at all and

            ordered their troops to resume shooting at each other.

         After all, they were in a war.


         Soldiers eventually did resume shooting at each other.

         But some of them spent a few days wasting rounds of ammunition

            by shooting at stars in the sky instead of soldiers in the

               opposing army across the field.

                                                                   #28691


      B. There's something about Christmas that changes people.

          1) Has it changed you?



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


1. The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the

      355th this year, Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, December 2,

      2015; <link>.


#28691  The Christmas Truce, (original writer unknown, but checked by

           Snopes and found to be accurate), most recent update

           December 11, 2013; <link>.


#65001  God Can Fix This! Illustration Exchange Staff, Illustration

           Exchange, December 4, 2015; <link>.


#65003  A Young Woman's Anti-War Experience, Rev. David Holwick, based

           on the movie Testament of Youth, BBC Films, 2014. The movie

           may have taken some dramatic license with the facts: other

           resources mention Edward being wounded but not declared dead

           at her hospital (see link).

           Also, while I think the battlefield letter was from her brother,

           my memory of the movie could be faulty and in that case it

           would have been from her fiancé, Roland Leighton.


These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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