Peace on Earth for History Nerds

The following is a talk I will be giving at the end of a Christmas concert this Saturday Morning. There will probably be a fair amount of non-Christians present so I'm very excited to get to share! Anyway, I hope you are as blessed by this story as I am every time I tell it.

The First World War is arguably one of the most brutal wars in history. For the first time, armies used machine guns, armored tanks, and chemical warfare. Even though the weapons had become so powerful and lethal, both armies continued to use outdated tactics which resulted in enormous casualties.

When the war started in 1914, both the Germans and the Allied forces thought the war would be over by Christmas. Both sides thought that the other would easily give in. Both sides were wrong.

It was a cold and wet winter on the front lines in France. Because of the rain, the soldiers on both sides were standing in freezing cold mud up to their knees with no way to get warm. If they lit a fire or even smoked a cigarette, they would be easily seen and shot by the enemy. They also lived with the constant fear of the poisonous gas that could come at any time with no warning. Thousands of soldiers on both sides died every day. In the middle of all the death and fear, Christmas Eve came and silently settled on the battlefields of France. Germany and England were both Christian countries, both prayed to the same God, and both celebrated Christmas. And, according to journal entries, both dreamed of home that Christmas Eve.

That night something amazing happened. The British soldiers began noticing something strange as darkness fell. They saw lights in the German trenches. This, as you remember, was a sight out of place on the battlefield since it made an easy target of the soldier who held the light. Then they heard a sound that was, if possible, more out of place than light in the mud-filled trenches. It was a song. Though they didn’t know the language they recognized the melody. Many German soldiers were singing “Silent Night” and holding up lit candles on the end of their bayonets or on small Christmas trees. The English soldiers could have easily shot them, but they didn’t. Instead, many English soldiers began singing along. These soldiers, who only moments before had been mortal enemies, were now singing together from across the bloodstained fields.

Somewhere along the line a German soldier shouted, “You no shoot we no shoot!” The English soldiers, still fearful that it might be a trap, began walking out of the realative safety of their trenches and onto the fields. This time they didn’t meet with guns and knives but with outstretched hands and gifts. The commanders on both sides were frantic to stop this unexpected Christmas party; but it happened so fast and was so widespread that they could do little more than yell. The most amazing thing about it all is that though the truce happened in many places along the hundreds of miles of trenches, it was completly unplanned. Sadly, It did not happen everywhere. One place, the soldiers would be talking and eating together and over the next hill the armies would be shooting.

The German soldiers were eager to get the beef and cigarettes that the English soldiers posessed and the English soldiers, in turn, were eager to acquire the famous helmets, belt buckles and cigars from the German Soldiers. There are picture of English and German soldiers standing together with big smiles, holding the things they had just traded with each other. In some places the soldiers even played games of soccer. Though historians still argue about the validity of this, soldiers from both sides recorded the event in their journals. It is even recorded that the Germans won a particular match by a score of 3 to 2. The soldiers were happy to compete in a way that left no one dead.

Because soldiers wrote down conversations from that night we know some of what was said between them. One German shared that he had lived in London before the war and was engaged to a girl there. They were forced to wait for marriage because of the war. The English soldiers jokingly replied, “Well, we will have you beat soon. Then you can come back and marry your Girl.” Another German soldier pulled a family picture out of his dirty pocket. A British soldier exclaimed, “Your sister is beautiful!” The German soldier excitedly said that after the war the man should come to his home and meet his sister. He then proceeded to give the English soldier his address, in hope that he would survive the fighting and then come marry his sister.

The soldiers from both sides had dead friends in the fields whom they had not been able to bury because of the fighting. Hours earlier they would have died standing out in this field. Now, in many places, they gathered the dead together and buried them together.

The unplanned Christmas truce ended at various times in different places. In some areas it lasted close to a week. Other places it lasted only as long as Christmas day. However long it lasted, in many places, it ended the same: The solders from both sides intentionally shot high over the heads of the enemy that no longer seemed so evil. Because of this, any soldiers who had taken part in the Christmas truce were quickly replaced with soldiers from other places.

That night, because some nameless soldiers were willing to take a risk and walk onto the battlefield, peace broke out on the battlefields of France. Two Thousand years earlier God took a similar risk. He made Himself into two cells (during this time God had no brain-think about that for a while (thanks for that idea Seth!) that would grow into a baby named Jesus. God walked out onto this battlefield of earth, that had known only death and grief, for one reason only. He did it so that He could bring peace to this war-torn world. That’s what Christmas is all about: "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men"! If we are willing to take the risk and go out and meet Him, just like on the battlefields of France, peace will break out in our hearts. Peace that won’t last just one night, but for all eternity.

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

Luke 2.13-14