Things That Matter Most . . . No. 5

THE PRINCE OF PEACE

We wish you could see a larger reproduction of Harry Anderson’s Prince of Peace in full color, which we have so inadequately reproduced on our front page. It is indeed a moving piece of art. Picturing the Christ standing before the busy United Nations building beckoning for admittance, it depicts the relevance of Christianity to our time. As the nations of earth gather in New York to confer on humanity’s most imperative need, peace, Mr. Anderson sees the Prince of Peace standing without and asking for a place at the conference table.

Perhaps this is idealistic. It may be argued that such dreams do not face up to political realities. What new thing could Christ say about the Arab-Israeli dispute? How would he fare in the fierce debates of the Security Council? What difference could His presence make on such issues as hunger in India and war in Vietnam? And besides, how is the Christ of the first century to speak to the United Nations of the twentieth century? Who represents His voice?

Such questions must humble the believer. He cannot answer them, not really. But he believes nonetheless that there is something important in what Mr. Anderson is saying through his painting. It is the voice of Isaiah transcribed on canvass:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The government will be upon his shoulder! The Prince of Peace should indeed be present at the UN conference tables.

To a world that is aflame with war, race riots, poverty, hunger, disease, and fear the Prince of Peace surely has something to say, some way and somehow. Isaiah sees Him at such places as the UN when he says:

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

The church must concern itself with the problems facing the UN if it is to communicate with our generation. It is a tragic fallacy for us to conclude that the church’s task is to deal only with men’s souls. The mission of Jesus was in behalf of the whole man, and He was concerned with “the human predicament.” He healed the sick and fed the hungry, and He assured His disciples that when they “clothed the naked” it was just as if they were doing it to Him. To Jesus salvation meant wholeness, which had to do with man’s mind and body as well as his soul. He came to make men whole—not to get them baptized and into the right church.

In 1948 when the General Assembly of the UN issued as a proclamation the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” it appealed to those human rights and fundamental freedoms that should be vital to every Christian. Can Christianity survive in a world where such rights and freedoms are despised? Indeed, are these blessings of liberty and justice, to the extent that they do exist, not the fruit of Christianity? And is it not our responsibility as Christians to extend and enrich these liberties for all?

A listing of some of these rights may serve to remind us of our Christian duty to help build a better world. The UN’s Declaration includes:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Every one has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought conscience and religion; this right includes the freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.

One only needs to read these universal rights to realize how much work there is yet to do. Even in the so-called “peaceful countries” like our own the abundant life is alluding us. The Christian insists that this is the difference that Christ makes. It is in order that He stand at the door of the UN, that His Spirit inspire those who sit in conference there.

The message of Jesus as the Prince of Peace concerns itself with the true nature of peace. An amplification of the original term in both Hebrew and Greek might be “life at its best.” In the Old Testament scriptures shalom is translated soundness of body (Ps. 38:3), prosperity (Job 15:21) and welfare (Gen. 43:27). It refers to the summum bonum of life: everything that makes for man’s highest good. When Jesus referred to His mission as “that they may have life and have it abundantly,” he was voicing the Hebrew idea of peace.

In the New Testament scriptures it is emphasized that peace comes only from God, which means it is by His creation in man’s heart rather than something that man contrives through his own wisdom. In Phil. 4:7 where Paul writes of “the peace of God, which passes all understanding,” he is referring to man’s inability to produce peace rather than to man’s inability to understand God’s peace.

Again and again, at least six times, the New Testament scriptures refer to the Father as “the God of peace,” This must be central in our message to the world. Peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22), not the work of councils and committees. Peace comes as men turn to God, the only source of peace.

Basic to the understanding of eirene is the idea of relationship. In Rom. 5:1 Paul sees peace as resulting from the new relationship that the disciple has with the Christ: “Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is our relationship as brothers that motivates us to maintain “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). And it is the relationship of common humanity that makes us pursue peace with all men, as we are urged in Heb. 12:14.

The Prince of Peace as the risen Christ greeted his disciples with “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

Peace is, therefore, right relationships in every sphere of life. It is Christ’s peace that makes men whole by perfecting all their relationships with God, with their fellows and with themselves. This is why God gave us the Christ.

It is not the peace that the world gives: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27)

This is what the Christ has to say to the nations of earth. There is a heavenly peace, which is the fruit of God’s Spirit; and this peace, unlike the artificial bonds created by men, starts within the contrite heart. It is inward, springing from a transformed life. In pursuing this peace man will find the life that is life indeed-the abundant life.—the Editor