The Christmas Truce

Christmas

Mass at Night

For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice,
both now and forever.

Night is upon us, the stores are closed, the shopping is over. The crowds have gone home, and we are at peace.

It was the same for Mary and Joseph. They had endured the long, several days journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, struggled through the crowds looking for shelter, then finally settled down in the stable. For that short span of time, they had some peace. Now for a short span of time, we can have some peace. Silent night, holy night.

We have been given a great gift.

The gift Jesus brings is always peace. On the night of his birth the angels proclaimed peace to people upon whom God’s favor rests. Jesus’ career here on earth began with peace. It also ended with peace. His first words to his disciples in the upper room that Easter evening were “Peace be with you”.

What happened in between wasn’t so peaceful, was it?

It reminds me of the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas day in 1914, the first world war had been raging for several months, and the combatants had settled into a terrible trench warfare, with thousands dying daily under tremendous bombardment and withering machine gun fire. Their trenches were barely yards apart from one another, so close they could hear each other’s conversations. They would even call out to one another across no man’s land.

The story goes that sometime during the night on Christmas Eve men in trenches all along the front line began singing carols. The Germans even put up Christmas trees in their trenches and hung lanterns on them. Since they were so close to one another both sides could hear each other singing, and they could see the trees lit up. It would have been so easy to fire upon the voices and the lights, but that didn’t happen. In fact, the following day men from both sides spontaneously climbed up out of their trenches and met each other in no man’s land. They chatted, exchanged gifts of food and cigarettes, and even played a bit of soccer. None of this had been authorized by the high command, and the officers in the trenches turned a blind eye to what was happening. The unofficial truce lasted all that day and in some places along the line there was a cease fire for a couple of weeks. For a span of time, there was peace.

A great analogy for life, isn’t it? In the midst of all our squabbling and fighting and hatred and murder and injustice, there are moments that arise in which we put it all aside and reach out to those we hurt and hate and realize the peace of Jesus. And it is no accident that this sort of thing usually happens around the feasts of Jesus.

The message of Christianity has always been one of peace. If you delve into the true history of the Church and actually understand our doctrines and our teachings, it is always a spirit of peace that emerges. As human beings, we haven’t always lived that spirit, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there and isn’t true and valuable.

And perhaps that is why we are usually at odds with the world, because the world is not about peace. The message of Jesus has always been met with violence. The small innocent child that was born in Bethlehem became the greatest threat ever to the status quo. So much so that he was eventually tortured and killed. But his message endures just as he endures. It is telling that the first thing he assures his disciples of after his resurrection is that nothing has changed. He is still all about peace. Yes he has suffered. Yes they killed him. But he still brings peace. And he wishes to bestow that peace upon all mankind.

Life here on earth is not peaceful. Like Jesus, we suffer, we are attacked, we are misunderstood and maligned, and we die. But God is still all about peace. We wander far from our intended path but God is always calling us back. We have holidays, holy days, that remind us of that call from time to time, and for a time we experience a taste of His peace, until we go back to our old ways. Just like during the Christmas Truce of 1914.

Just because we know we’ll fall back doesn’t mean we should stop our celebrations. It’s good that we have these few short periods of peace amidst the chaos of our lives. We need these touch points to keep us on track. Could you imagine the world without the promise of Christmas? Even the watered down, commercialized Christmas message of the secular world is based upon peace on earth, good will towards all. Christmas fills a basic human need.You can take the God label off it, but it is still God behind it. Because that need is for our salvation.

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” The two things go together. If you give glory to God you will have peace. If you have peace you will be giving glory to God.

Tonight we do both.