Come Jesus, Prince of Peace | Advent Anthem | Hannibal/Nix | Sunday 7pm Choir
The season of goodwill to all peoples is upon us: the message of Peace which the angels announced at the birth of the Saviour of the World is wrapped up in the Christ-Child - God incarnate whose Holy Spirit later equipped the disciples to share the Good News.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
Reconciliation is part of any peace-process as peace is not merely the absence of war but is when there is an assurance of an improvement in a situation that true reconciliation brings. As God has made peace possible with us in Christ so we are to be peace-negotiators in our own families, our own churches, our local communities and, as far as we are able, in our world. Left to its own devices, humankind has not got a great track record on making lasting peace. We need something rather more than human good will to achieve that and the Christmas message is that the Prince of Peace offers a route to true Peace.
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
The work of Christ for our redemption is finished but the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to grasp what that means in our lives and for those whose lives we touch, is still ongoing. The quelling of the egotistical nature of humankind is not something that is done once and for all. Rather it takes a continual alertness to its insidious ways and the need to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to seek peace and pursue it with whomever and wherever that may be. As we prayerfully reflect on situations of conflict within our own lives, may God’s Spirit ‘work in us what is pleasing to him’. God who reconciled us to himself has also given us the ministry of reconciliation in Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit our characters are being shaped so we can be Ambassadors for Peace .
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Benediction
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Thou Prince of Peace. Amen.
Elisabeth Sweeney-Smith
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