Sleep In Heavenly Peace
by Paul Zukunft, Elder for Impact Ministries
Ephesians 2:14 NIV: For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
The title of this devotional conjures warm and comforting thoughts in a sanctuary lit by candles as the congregation sings Silent Night. Our Prince of Peace prevails over hostility, and I will first share a real-life story from World War II that exemplifies how great is our God.
It was Christmas Eve 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge when three American soldiers, including one badly wounded, knocked on the door of Fritz Vincken and his German family in the heart of the Ardennes forest. The three soldiers had been separated from their battalion. Fritz described them as looking more like big boys than battle-hardened soldiers. Fritz’s mother attended to their injuries and provided a hot meal when there was another knock at the door. There stood four German soldiers, the elite Wehrmacht. The corporal leading the patrol told Fritz’s mother that they had become lost and requested food and shelter until daylight.
In response, Fritz’s mother said that she had three other guests who these Wehrmacht may not consider friends. To which the corporal responded, “Amerikaner?” Fritz’s mother de-escalated any hostility and observed that any of these soldiers could be her son, including the American boy with a gunshot wound fighting for his life. And finally, she stated, “This is one night, this Christmas night, let us forget about killing.”
The Germans and Americans stacked their weapons outside, and eventually, a sense of calm and relaxation overtook each of the soldiers as they shared food and wine together with tears streaking their battle-weary faces. There was peace through Christmas morning when the two groups of soldiers shook hands and departed to rejoin their battalions.
For our Prince of Peace to prevail, Fritz’s mother had to step out and way out of her comfort zone since she could have been executed for harboring enemy soldiers. And so it is on a more personal level in our everyday lives. We just may have to step out of our comfort zones to welcome the Prince of Peace.
I cannot count the number of times I’ve faced hostility, from running down drug smugglers, to encountering civil disturbances in the midst of a natural disaster, and yes, dealing with conflict within my household. And when such hostility occurs under one’s roof, the dividing wall must be broken down just as it was in the Ardennes forest. There cannot be a win-lose outcome, and God does not gloat over the vanquished. And I say that as a hyper-competitive, Type A creation of God.
So in order for me to enable the Prince of Peace to vanquish such hostility, I turn to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 37-39:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Though shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
This Advent season and always, please join me in not becoming embroiled in the many facets of hostility that divide our world today. And just think, if there was a universal commitment to “love thy neighbor as thyself,” what a better world it would be so that all may sleep in heavenly peace.
Reflection:
When you hear the words ”heavenly peace” in the Christmas carol Silent Night, what thoughts fill your mind and heart?
How might you be an instrument of heavenly peace, following the lead (but not as life-threatening) of Fritz Vincken’s mother?