For most of us, December 25th is the day we think of as Christmas. But in my home city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with a large population of Ukrainians and Russians, many people mark January 7th as their day of celebration. Sadly, this year, people who call themselves Christians in their part of the world are in combat rather than celebration. The poet Longfellow in the midst of the American Civil wrote of times like these when he penned these words, “And in despair I bowed my head; There is no peace on earth, I said” * But things were not really all that different 2,000 years ago when the wise men saw the star, while Herod plotted murder. And when shepherds were hearing angels sing, the Romans were still busy crushing any resistance to their rule in Israel and finding new ways to tax its inhabitants to maintain their empire.

Yet in the middle of suffering, just as Longfellow wrote, we can find hope, because “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.” Because of God’s bells that ring from Heaven, we have reasons to smile and can still celebrate, as we turn our hearts towards the Prince of Peace and remember his birth. Only He will give us real joy and a reason to worship, in this world filled with anger, war and hatred. If we set aside the tinsel and notions of Santa and turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, we will begin to experience a peace that goes far beyond a ceasefire or peace agreement. On Christmas, God sent Jesus as the light in our dark world. When He grew to be a man, Jesus died to set us free from our sins and give us His peace. Jesus is our hope, no matter our situation and Jesus can be our salvation, no matter our battle. Jesus is the one before whom shepherds and wise men bowed and God invites us to come to Him, not only at Christmas, but also on every one of our sunniest mornings and in each of our darkest nights. We can come with hope because Jesus came as the friend of sinners and as Immanuel – God with us. We have hope because we remember that He loved us enough to come as an innocent child and then surrendered His life to show us the depth of His love and bring eternal peace on the terrible Cross of Calvary.

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.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow