Peace I leave with you... My peace I give to you

This Christmas season marks the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Christmas Truce.  When the war began military strategists thought the conflict would be over quickly, but  World War I amassed 37 million casualties: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded.  

The truce enjoyed by British and German soldiers that Christmas day is one of the best stories to come out of that brutal, senseless war.  

According to one account the truce began when German soldiers began singing "Silent Night" (Stille Nacht in German).  And then British soldiers responded by singing the song in English.  As the singing continued soldiers from both sides cautiously climbed out of their trenches and came together to shake hands and exchange simple gifts on the no-man's land in between the trenches.  As the photo suggests, some may have even played a game of soccer.

The family of one soldier recently gave permission to publish the letter he wrote to his mother describing what took place that day. He wrote, "I think I have seen today one of the most extraordinary sights that anyone has ever seen... about 10 o'clock this morning I was peeping over the parapet when I saw a German, waving his arms, and presently two of them got out of their trench and came toward ours... We were just going to fire on them when we saw they had no rifles, so one of our men went to meet them and in about two minutes the ground between the two lines of trenches was swarming with men and officers of both sides, shaking hands and wishing each other a happy Christmas."

Peace in any time or place is an extraordinary sight.  Unfortunately, we live in a time of great conflict here in America and in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and all around the world 

As Jesus prepared to bring his earthly work to a close, he sent his followers out into the world with this promise: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."  

If Jesus is present wherever 2 or 3 gather in his name, then the peace of Jesus should be visible wherever we gather.  The world is waiting for those who have the courage to climb out of their trenches and bring the peace of Jesus into no-man's land.   What an extraordinary sight that will be!