Peace on Earth

I’ve always been fond of peace. When I was 11, one of my favourite songs was Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) by George Harrison. And ten years’ later, there was Pipes of Peace by Paul McCartney, which must be one of the best pop videos ever. It portrays that incident in World War 1, where the rival soldiers had a game of football on Christmas day after some were heard singing Silent Night.

And, of course you have John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance. I don’t know if Ringo ever wrote a song about peace, but he has made “Peace and Love” his personal mantra. Every year on July 7th, he invites fans worldwide to join him in a moment of peace at noon local time — a tradition that’s grown into a global celebration. He’s also supported peace initiatives through the Ringo Starr Peace & Love Fund, which provides meditation programs to youth and veterans.

When I was a teenager, I used to hear Christians from the Upper Room Fellowship preaching across the road from Woolworths in Patrick Street Cork. It was outside Murrays shop, which is still there today. They sell guns. I never bought a gun, but I remember buying a dart board there once 😀.

In April 1979, I walked up and had a chat with one of the guys. He told me that it wasn’t enough to be born in a “Christian” country. You need to personally repent and trust in Jesus. The most memorable part of the conversation was him saying that the biggest thing that his conversion brought him here and now was peace, as he put his hand on his chest. I went along to the Upper Room the next night, but I put off my own personal conversion until August 1980. Then, I learned that Christ gives us three types of peace.

Peace Between Us and God

Instead of being enemies of God, we are reconciled with him, and we can look forward to spending eternity in heaven with him. We have this now, if we repent and believe, but it’s only in heaven that we’ll feel the full extent of it. The first verse listed here often features in Christmas hymns about the angels appearing to the shepherds on the night in which Jesus was born.

Luke 2:13-14
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Romans 5:1
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Peace Between Humans

Isaiah 2:4
“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

This is more problematic, because some might have thought that we’d have all this as soon as Jesus came, but he warned his disciples about troubled times ahead, so perhaps we’ll only see it when he comes again. But in the meantime, as we implement his teaching, we can be peacemakers. It’s appalling to think of soldiers celebrating Christmas in World War 1 and then going back to shooting at each other. We might dismiss them as mere “nominal” Christians, but I’m sure many who fought in that war were true believers too. And I doubt that very many were happy to be there to start with. I could understand fighting in World War 2 a bit more, when you consider the holocaust, but it’s still hard to figure out what the point of World War 1 was. But now we’re all friends again, and I hope the same thing for Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, and so many other regions around the world that don’t hit the headlines.

Peace Within

We find peace when we trust in Jesus, but the level of it depends on how much we rely on him at a day-to-day level. And we need to be honest here. Many of us might be prone to worry because of our genetic makeup, background, circumstances etc. I would never promise perfect peace to someone who is considering becoming a Christian. Some Bible verses might appear to promise this, but I think we’ll get it in heaven, and we’ll get it to a certain degree down here. And I don’t see meditation as some sort of a sinister thing just because it’s associated with other religions. Why shouldn’t people of other faiths or civilizations make useful discoveries? And I suspect that many Buddhists wouldn’t see meditation as some magical religious thing that solves all your problems. It can help you, as can many other relaxation techniques.

Anyway, here are a few Bible verses about that inner peace:

Isaiah 26:3
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Philippians 4:6–7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

And we’ll close with two lovely hymns about peace: