Peace On Earth - Part One

Luke 2:7-14 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Do you recognize the scripture from above? It’s the shout of the angels on the night of Jesus’ birth. “Peace, goodwill toward men!”- a glorious promise. With Christmas right around the corner I thought we’d spend a little time talking about the peace of Christmas.

Ever hear the song “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”? Me too… Did you know there was a story behind it? Me neither… Gather round children and let me tell you a tale…

The song that we are all familiar with is based on a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. As the story goes he wrote it on Christmas Day in 1863 after hearing the church bells ring out. Does that date buzz in your head at all? That puts the penning of this poem right smack dab in the middle of the Civil War, one of the bloodiest times in our nation’s history. As if the war wasn’t enough, Mr. Longfellow also had recent personal tragedies to cope with. His wife had died in a fire in 1861 and he was left with scars on his hands and face from trying to put the fire out. He also had the stress of two sons in the war – one of which had been injured.

Put yourself in his shoes as you read the words he has penned. Look for a moment at the sixth stanza “And in despair I bowed my head”. He was going through a time of darkness in his own life and the joyous sound of the bells on Christmas day seemed to be mocked by the world that he was living in. He was living through a time of personal and national turmoil. From his vantage point he saw only hate.

But take a look at the last stanza of the poem - you can almost see the poet lifting his eyes to Heaven as the bells rang. No matter how bad the circumstances of his life were he had the hope of Christmas to cut through the blackness of the day with the cry of “PEACE!” “PEACE!” “PEACE!”.

Would that we would catch that same message today… No matter how bleak things are God has not forgotten us! Our hope is not in Presidents, the banks, the auto makers, or our military strength. Our hope is in Christ! Let us remember that the things that we endure in this life are only for a short time. Let us listen for His cry of “PEACE!” in our lives and hold onto that during the darkness…

We’ll close for today with Mr. Longfellow’s poem. Let the cry of the angels and the thought behind the poem digest overnight and we’ll come back tomorrow to continue our discussion about the peace of Christmas.

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Christmas Bells
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said:
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"


Check out www.hwlongfellow.org for more information on the poet.