Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:7 ESV)

At the beginning of this month, I ventured to eastern Tennessee with my senior class for a week-long service trip. On one of our first days there, we went to a local church and helped them hand out free coats, hats, gloves, and other clothes. About 170+ people walked through the doors of that church to receive free clothes, each person carrying invisible baggage, and partially lacking the peace of Christ.

Most people did not open up and tell us about their lives, but I remember one woman who spoke with me about her life and her struggles. I was handing out little girls’ gloves, and this woman came up and told me about her daughter who needed gloves. Her young girl only had one hand, and it was tough to get gloves for her because they come in pairs, and are pretty expensive. Together, we picked out a pair of free gloves, knowing that she could hide the “extra” one from her daughter. The woman’s smile and the way she visibly relaxed reminded me of one of the greatest things about Christmas: peace.

We hear this passage in Isaiah a lot around Christmas… peace, peace, peace! Have we ever paused to think about what this passage is saying about the nature of peace and how it comes about? 

This peace isn’t necessarily the emotional one that we commonly think of. Rather, it seems to be a state of allegiance between opposing things (For example, in the woman I met in TN, there was a moment where money and caring for her daughter ceased to fight, giving this woman peace). That doesn’t mean that wars will stop or that people will all live in perfect harmony with each other. But it does mean that we get moments of comfort, tranquility, and relaxation, both emotionally and physically. 

Isaiah says that this peace is constantly increasing (by the will of the Lord), not that it will ever be perfect in this world, but that it will perpetually continue to grow. The coming of Christ to this world was the kickstart to this increasing peace because ultimately, all opposing things will come to rest when Christ sits on the throne. The celebration of Christmas is an annual reminder of what we as Christians are supposed to grow: moments of peace.

The woman I met in Tennessee was yearning for peace when she walked in those church doors, but I was able to help her find a touch of peace before she walked back out of there. How can you help spread some comfort (and therefore peace) to those around you this holiday season? Is there somewhere in your community that you can volunteer your time, labor, and love to help make people’s lives just a little bit better?