The message of Christmas is: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” The opening of a Christmas sermon by Martin Luther King from 1967 sounds surprisingly relevant today.
This Christmas season, we as humanity find ourselves quite at a loss. “We have neither peace within us nor peace around us.” Our world is sick with war […] Wherever we turn, we see its disastrous potential. And yet, my friends, the Christmas hope for peace and goodwill among all people can no longer be dismissed as nothing more than a pious dream held by a few idealists. If we do not act in good faith toward others in this world, we will destroy ourselves by misusing our own tools and our own power. Wisdom gained from experience should tell us that war is a thing of the past. […] So if we assume that life is worth living, if we assume that humanity has a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war—so let us explore the conditions for peace this morning. Let us take this morning to reflect once again on the meaning of that Christmas hope: “Peace on earth to people of good will.”
If you’d like to read the entire sermon, you can do so here.
We wish you all a peaceful Christmas and hope, courage, and God’s blessings for the new year 2026!
With warm Christmas greetings
the team of the Wings of Hope Foundation
