At 12, he makes his first public appearance. He gives a speech at his grandmother's funeral. People talk about his extraordinary talent. To be sure, this young man has a future to be watched . . .

Later he will be designated Son of God. After preaching peace around the countryside for several years, at age 33 he will rule the world in peace. An altar will be built, inscribed Pax Augusta -- the Peace of Caesar Augustus is declared!

His name was Gaius Octavius! Oh, did you think I was describing someone else? Maybe we better consider the rest of the story . . .

At 18, Gaius Octavius had gone off to battle in Spain. Julius Caesar was so impressed by him that he named the young man to be his successor.

Now let's backtrack a bit. Julius Caesar had built an empire which he compared to that of Alexander the Great. He had conquered Gaul, the British Isles, the Germanic tribes. They all bowed to the Roman eagle. He had put down civil rebellions, and was about to take control away from the Roman Senate.

Spurinna, the soothsayer, wagged her finger at him one day and warned, "Beware the ides of March." The Ides of March, remember, is March 15.

On the night of March 14, 44 BC, Caesar threw a party. For the evening entertainment, he instigated a discussion: "What is the best death?" Caesar claimed the best death would be sudden death.

That night, Caesar's wife had a dream. She saw him bathed in blood. In the morning she begged him not to go to the senate, but Brutus urged him to go . . . and he did. On the way they saw Spurinna. Caesar chided her, "Look, the ides of March have come." Once again the mystic wagged her finger and said, "Yes, they have come, but they have not gone!"

Moments later, Caesar lay dying, stabbed by his friends, including Brutus. As he died, Caesar looked up at Brutus and said, "Even you, lad?"

The Ides of March had come. Spurinna's prophecy had been fulfilled.

Since Julius Caesar had been declared a god, and his will named Gaius Octavius his successor, Gaius Octavius was designated Caesar Augustus, Son of God!

Peace would not come easy . . . The Mediterranean world had been plunged into an era of violence and malevolence. For some two decades, war raged. Cities were sacked and wasted; the spoils were carried off by desperados. Streets were unsafe. Trade diminished, investments stood still, interest rates soared, property values fell. Could that describe any era, any country you know about?

Highwaymen roamed the country, kidnaping travelers and selling them off as slaves.

The doors to the Temple of Janus, the god of war, were opened in Rome. Of that era, historian Will Durant wrote: "Rome was full of men who had lost their economic footing and then their moral stability; soldiers tasted adventure and learned to kill; citizens saw their savings consumed in taxes and the inflation of war . . . women were dizzy with freedom, multiplying divorces, abortions and adulteries . . ."

Again, does that sound at all familiar? Durant was describing Rome in the years just before Jesus was born!

It was 29 BC before the doors of the Temple of Janus were officially closed, and the world was at peace. It was then that the Senate ordered the building of the altar inscribed Pax Augusta. The Peace of Caesar Augustus was declared! His birthday became a holiday. Shrines were built in his honor, and banners proclaimed Caesar Augustus The Savior of the World!

Now our story changes. It was "in the days of Caesar Augustus . . ." another God, our God, sent a Son, and declared that he would be the Savior of the world!

No wonder Herod was annoyed at the idea of a baby who should be a King of Peace! Rome didn't need another ruler, and didn't need anyone to come along with a message of peace. They were already in an era of peace -- Roman style.

Slave-philosopher Epictetus lived in the days of Caesar Augustus. He wrote that "while the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief and envy. He cannot give peace of heart, for which humanity yearns."

Pax Augusta was not the answer. The Peace of Caesar Augustus was only a pseudo-peace. Only pseudo-peace can be forced. True peace is won, not by war, but by love and justice.

America is now at war -- again. Or still! We are trying to force peace! Will we succeed? Only temporarily, if at all, unless there is a profound change in attitudes. Consider the disaster of Hitler's reign in Germany, and our too-long indifference. We may be right to thwart the obscene Taliban, but I wish our motivation were to restore justice to women and minorities in Afghanistan.

Albert Einstein said the atom has transformed everything about modern life except our thinking. The rhetoric of peace is good politics, and even good policy, but as Einstein said, "peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."

We saw what happened in Germany. Hitler began by forcing "peace" by eliminating "trouble-makers" and those he believed could not contribute to the welfare of the country, and to a better humanity. He made the streets safe!

That is the problem of forcing values on others. Values are important. We desperately need to build values in our land, in our society. They need to be values of democracy, of respect for others. We preach the Golden Rule. Do we believe it?

By the way, The Golden Rule is not peculiar to Christianity, even tho Jesus did teach us that, and we proclaim "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

The New York City disaster was not the work of any government, but of men who believed in certain values, believed in those values so passionately they were willing to die for them. They wanted to force their values on us.

When values are forced -- any values -- they cause divisiveness, hatred, paranoia and violence. It was true in the days of Caesar Augustus, it was true in the days of Hitler, and it is true today. That is why I am pessimistic about the war we are now waging, with the avowed goal of eliminating terrorists, forcing peace.

Pax Augusta was only a lull. It was a celluloid peace, an artificial peace, even tho it is said to have lasted some 400 years.

The Jews wanted a Messiah who could overthrow Rome and conquer the world. They wanted a Savior with power and authority, someone to lead a "desert storm."

And that is precisely what they got -- a Messiah who was stronger than Rome, who did in fact conquer the world -- not by might, but in peace: Pax Christi -- the Peace of Christ has far outlasted Pax Augusta -- the Peace of Caesar Augustus.

Pax Christi, the peace Jesus lived and taught, is based not on force but on love, unconditional love.

Enter a baby, the wrong kind of gift in the wrong kind of package at the wrong time in history to the wrong kind of people! Wrong? Well, that baby came as a surprise, to his parents and to the world!

That God, our God, is a God of surprises. The God of surprises sent a tiny little baby, in a tiny little stable, an omen of a different kind of peace. And it was "in the fullness of time," at just the right time in history! He was so helpless he needed the tenderness of a loving mother and the protection of a caring daddy. Just like our babies.

Wouldn't you say that was the right kind of gift? God sent his gift in style, sent his best choir to sing the Hallelujah Chorus to those smelly shepherds, who couldn't read music and had never heard a choir before.

Wrong kind of package? Well, our God, a God of surprises, sent the baby into a stinking stable with manure all over the floor and dirty straw for a birthing blanket.

To the wrong kind of people? Well, our God, a God of surprises, revealed himself in inauspicious circumstances in a provincial backwater of the Roman Empire, among a beleaguered people.

Our God, a God of surprises, would hobnob with the homeless, eat with sinners, enjoy the company of society's dropouts.

Our God, a God of surprises, would send this world an Easter Kingdom, with a new approach. Rome had all the cruise missiles. The world cowered before them. Then those Christians came along with a new kind of society. They proclaimed that love makes the world go Ôround. The Romans had pity on the poor naive nobodies. The world agreed with Rome. What could Christians possibly offer?

Ceisus, a second-century critic of Christianity, wrote: "All other religions invite those who have clean hands and a clear conscience. But whom do these Christians invite? Everyone who is sinful, weak and wretched, as if they were assembling a gang of thieves."

Do you suppose we should feel a little uneasy today? Perhaps God is somewhere else -- like maybe in Cass Corridor, where prostitutes roam the streets, where homeless people sleep in vacant buildings, where someone might steal your briefcase if you forget to lock your car?

We are at the threshold of a new year, a year in which we anticipate more hate and more greed and more violence. What encouragement can I offer you as we begin 2002? Can Pax Christi, the peace of Christ, make 2002 a better year for us? Is there really "good news" in the Jesus life-style?

What about those who have given up on the church? What about those who find religion boring, irrelevant, even repugnant? Why should they consider the Christian gospel, The Way? What does Pax Christi have to offer them? Or does it have anything to offer?

A friend recently told me she no longer finds the church meaningful. She has become completely disillusioned, and no longer attends church. Another friend has indicated she is very bitter about the church. Still another friend finds the whole concept of a God of compassion inconsistent with life as we must live it. Religion is to him a cop-out, a myth for simplistic, unintelligent minds. Pax Christi is an absurd notion.

What can I say? We live in a country influenced more by "Judeo-Christian" morality than any other nation. And what have we to show for it? What has "Christian witness" done for our country?

First, remember that religion is responsible for the best and the worst things in this world. The World Trade Center disaster was among the worst, and it devastated America, which is among the best.

TV commercials used to compare products to "Brand X" but now they openly name and condemn competitors' products. Some greeting card companies have added "Drop Dead" to their line. You can send bouquets of dead flowers today. You can send "revenge-o-grams" of rotting fish. Many high schools have banned post-game handshakes to avoid fistfights. People kill each other over parking spaces and card games and lanes on the hiway!

Nations seem to think they can force peace by more weapons, bigger armies, more powerful bombs. Of the 82 conflicts which emerged during a 3 year period, 79 were within -- not between -- nations, most often out of poverty and sheer desperation.

Consider India: they chose to buy 20 advanced MIG-29 fighter planes at a cost which could otherwise have provided basic education for 15 million girls now out of school. What do you think the priorities of Jesus are?

Nigeria bought 80 battle tanks for an amount sufficient to immunize 2 million children and provide family planning for 17 million couples.

It's almost supercilious to ask what priorities you think Jesus would choose!

United States spends 10 times more for "defense" than the combined expenditures of all the nations the Pentagon considers potential threats, and more than is spent on defense by all our allies combined! Did it "defend" us against the enemies who destroyed the World Trade Center? Did it protect the Pentagon, where they do the strategic planning and spending of all those billions?

So we live in a violent, malevolent world, a competitive, dog-eat-dog society. What does Pax Christi, the Peace of Christ have to offer? What does The Way (the first-century term for Christianity) have to offer?

Jesus said his followers must be willing to carry a cross, and to be hated and persecuted, maybe even to cause family disruption. They must forgive their enemies -- in fact, pray for them and do good deeds to them. His followers must not plan for the future, but trust God to care for their needs. They must give way to a "second-mile" way of life, do twice what they are required to do! Their "capitalist" competitive mentality must be replaced by a "do for your competitor what you would like him to do for you" way of life.

Sound appealing? Exciting? "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus made clear in Gethsemane that he did not mean a literal sword.

Is this the same Jesus who said "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you"? Yes, it is the same Jesus. But note that he immediately adds, "I do not give to you as the world gives."

That, dear saints, is exactly the point. Pax Christi, the peace of Christ, comes on completely different terms. There is no way to correlate his peace, his way of life, his modus operandi, with that of the world. The principles of his Kingdom are so different from the principles of the world that you simply cannot be at peace with both!

When Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again" he was articulating a truism, a practical, theological truism.

I would like to prove to you that it is legitimate. I would like to give you indisputable evidence that the life-style of Jesus can bring you peace of mind, an exciting adventure for 2002 . . . But that is not possible. No one can prove the worth of his lover. No one can prove the excitement of classical music, great art. No one can prove the beauty of Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Cavern or Mt. Rainier.

The peace Christ offers you is more than a mechanical "I'm saved, praise the Lord" formula. Pax Christi is more than bumper-sticker exuberance. The more abundant life is a reality to millions, but we can not prove it except by our witness.

Pax Augusta, peace by power, will never give you peace of mind. Pax Christi is based on love for others, commitment to making a better world thru the principles of the Kingdom. You will find absolute peace of mind and contentment of heart. Guaranteed -- but not provable except by experience.

In April of 1961, Martin Luther King, Jr. sat in a Birmingham jail. He had disrupted the peace. He got a letter signed by 20 sincere, dedicated pastors and other church leaders. They urged him, in the name of Christ, to drop his cause, to change his ways. They said he was wrong and unkind. He was even unchristian. He had apostatized!

He laid the letter on a table and prayed about it all night. The next day he wrote his reply. We know it as the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It is a masterpiece of Christian literature. In part, it reads: "You want me to be quiet, and in that way bring peace. But in the Bible, peace is not the absence of warfare. Peace is, instead, the presence of justice."

But Brother King, justice is relative! There is no real justice. We have seen what passes for justice in the news. One celebrated case was the O. J. Simpson case -- part media circus, part tabloid sleaze, part prime-time soap. Justice goes to the highest bidder! Our "criminal justice system" is more criminal than just, and our "correction facilities" do little to correct. Anyone who believes the jury system is reliable as a provider of justice has never served on a jury! It is probably the best we can do under the circumstances, but it is a long way from justice.

We must do our best to promote justice and to correct injustice as God grants us wisdom to know the difference. And we must do so in the paradigm of Jesus, by nonviolent, peaceful means. "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Pax Christi -- the Peace of Christ -- is the presence of justice. The Peace of Christ opens hearts and doors for the lost, the last, the least, the lowest, the lonely, those who are overburdened, overworked, overlooked and oppressed.

Pax Christi -- the Peace of Christ -- is demanding and uncompromising. As "the salt of the earth" a Christian adds flavor to society, but often irritates the bland world about him. As "the light of the world" a Christian challenges inequities in the greedy world about her. It is not easy. It is not convenient. It is not popular. Pax Christi -- the Peace of Christ -- is the call of God at this season, and always.

So how do we do it? How can we make a difference? What can you and I do to become purveyors of the peace of Christ?

First, we must experience it for ourselves. By study, prayer and disciplined discipleship we must put into practice the principles of Christ's Kingdom. Warmth. Compassion. Unconditional love.

Then we must extend to others the urgent invitation to share in our "peace" experience, our community of love and faith and hope and joy. It is evangelism, sharing the good news.

To those for whom religion is a just a habit, or maybe a social activity, we will ask, Do you want more excitement, more adventure, something worth living for? Then try the Jesus way. Accept the challenge. Be willing to change your ideas, your lifestyle. Try new experiences.

God did not send his Christmas greetings to middle-class people, in a middle-class neighborhood, but to shepherds. Shepherds were nice, gentle, simple country folks, right? Well . . . Jews were warned by their rabbis against entering any of 6 professions, and one of the forbidden occupations was that of shepherding! Pharisees would buy wool, of course, but would never consider being shepherds. Shepherds were not allowed to give testimony in court. They couldn't even go to the Temple!

Shepherds constantly walked among the sheep droppings, making them ritually and practically unclean. They ranged their sheep in the country, without regard for property lines, so they were trespassers. They were considered thieves.

Willie Nelson might have sung, "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be shepherds"!

Ah! But they were the first to be invited to the maternity ward, the first to be offered Pax Christi. They followed the star. We don't know the rest of the story. Did it change their lives? Did they then live and work for peace? We don't know. We don't even know why God chose to send them the first "animated" Christmas card. Maybe just because he is a God of surprises!

Pax Augusta is not an answer. Pax Christi is the answer. If you choose to dedicate your life to the peace of Christ, you will not find an easy, convenient life-style. In fact, Jesus promised quite the opposite.

Remember how Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten, then thrown into prison? During the night they sang. I don't know whether their singing was so good or so bad, but there was an earthquake! Suddenly all the doors flew open and their chains fell off.

Paul wrote:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice . . . Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Remember, the peace of Christ is not determined by circumstances, but by our attitude toward circumstances. We can't control circumstances, but we can and must control our attitudes.

Pax Christi, the peace of Christ, by the way, is not limited to Christ-followers. Just as Jesus did not limit his ministry to his own people, we must not limit ours. Gandhi was not a Christian. Nor Frankl.

Gandhi personified the lifestyle of Jesus as closely as any Christian. He even died like Jesus, forgiving the killer. Doesn't that describe Pax Christi?

When the Nazis were torturing the Jews, and humiliating them, famous psychiatrist Victor Frankl stood naked in a Nazi court. His family had been been killed, his possessions had been taken. He determined that they could humiliate him, but they could not determine how he would react. He survived that ordeal because he maintained peace of mind in an environment completely devoid of any kind of peace or justice. Doesn't that sound "Christian" to you? Doesn't that describe Pax Christi? He came to this country and became world-famous as a psychiatrist and author.

Ultimate peace, real Pax Christi, awaits a new heaven and a new earth. Yet we are challenged to be light and salt right here, right now. We are challenged to reflect the peace of Christ in our lives. That, dear saints, is evangelism, genuine evangelism.

As we go into the world and into a new year, remember that he who spoke still speaks, and he who came still comes.

Let us pray . . .

Lord, we have celebrated your coming into this world. We have remembered your unique ministry which blessed so many in your day, and which blesses so many today.

Teach us, we ask, to incorporate the peace of Christ in our lives, that we might truly be shining lights in this world. Teach us to be courageous in the face of evil, faithful in the face of temptation, bold in the face of indifference.

Lord Jesus Christ, light of the world, fill our souls with your peace, fill our minds with your truth; fill our hearts with your love.