The Prince of Peace - He has come. He is coming. He will come. by Bob Melone, Pastor - Stone House Presbyterian Church

by Bob Melone, Pastor – Stone House Presbyterian Church

Unfortunately, we don’t really want peace!

We SAY we do. But we don’t. At least that’s the way it appears!

We buy our children violent video games, with people running around shooting up towns and cities, and call the victors “heros.” We send our teens to Hollywood’s money-making glamorizations of murder and killing, and then wonder why there’s bullying in our schools. And worst of all, in the name of freedom and the second amendment, we claim that it’s every person’s right to own weapons of mass destruction, and make little attempt to enforce laws that keep them out of the hands of those who are in no position to excercise such rights.

We all SAY that we want peace; but such sentiments are not often enough reflected in the way we live our lives.

And please, let’s not naively say that it’s because we ‘took prayer out of schools.’ My kids prayed their way through high school, and no one can ever keep a heart from living in communion with their creator. Praying without ceasing is a way of life, and it is not something that can be forbidden or outlawed. And we certainly can’t blame violence on a lack of Bible Study; because frankly, the Bible is full of more senseless and unGodly violence than all of the Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwartznegger movies put together! The violent state of our world cannnot be simplistically blamed upon a theology that contradicts our own, or on the view of an opposing political party.

Our world is violent because we have become lazy people. Following the pattern of the Christ-child is hard, and living the ‘way of the Jesus’ often means putting others before ourselves. Our walks with God, revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of the one whose birth we are preparing to celebrate, are not easy ones; and faithfulness is often about resisting the selfish, moneydriven trends of our culture. It means making sacrafices for the good and well-being of others, and asking not just what is good for ‘me’, but what is good for ‘us’! And this is not true just for those of us who claim to be Christ-followers. It is also true for those of us who claim to be Viriginians, residents of a “commonwealth” that is commited to the life and liberty of ALL people.

Friends, Jesus came to show us the way to peace. He came and is still here to reveal ways of living that promote “shalom” in our hearts and homes, churches and communitites. And although we often fall short, the Holy Spirit contines to work and move in all of our lives in ways that will promote this peace, IF we have the courage to follow. If God is indeed love, peace is the heart that holds it!

God’s is a peace truly does pass understanding: meaning that like so much of our discipleship, it will challenge long-held assumptions and ideas about what it means to follow in the footsteps of our Savior. And such a realization should impact each and every aspect of our lives. God’s peace mandates that we

become more patient with our children and families. It demands that we become more fogiving of others and less angry toward those who challenge us. It forces us to consider the radical dispensation of grace when we’re prone to want to seek revenge.

This is the peace that we celebrate this time of year. And this is the peace into which we all much learn to live. It is not just the absence of war. It is the wholeness that comes when we are intimately walking with the one who fashioned and made us.

So indeed . . . let there be peace on earth. And let it begin with me.

Pastor Bob Melone has been married 25 years to Jeanne (“Shan”) Hartzner Melone, and they have four children – Stefan, and his wife Leah, Jacob, who is a junior at Christopher Newport University, and Kirsten, who is a senior at Lafayette High School. Bob is the organizing pastor of Stone House Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, VA, and has been serving in that capacity for the past 10 years.He was ordained in 1986, and has served in two additional churches. Bob was the Associate Pastor for Youth and Families at First Presbyterian Church in York, PA from 1986-1992, and the Senior Pastor/Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Erie, PA from 1992-2000. He has a BA in International Relations from The American University; a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary; and a Doctorate of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bob loves the beach, Italian food, and living in Williamsburg.