So I should probably start out by talking about my love of
the revised common lectionary, the thing that tells us what texts we are
reading each week. I mean, the way that
the texts speak to the events of our world on a regular basis just keeps
confirming for me that God was truly at work in the creation of this
thing. Not to mention that there is
something insanely beautiful about the fact that so many Lutherans, roman
catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and many more are reading the same texts
together each and every week. It’s one
of those things that I think really unites Christendom together.
That said, this is the second week of Advent, it is,
according to tradition, the week of peace.
Last week was the week of hope and this was one of peace. And I think that fact alone is worth
meditating upon some with regard to the gospel reading this week. But additionally, I think that we should
focus on the last verse of the reading and the idea that the salvation that is
being given through Christ is for all of humanity, for all flesh, for all
creation.
There is a relationship between the weeks of advent, I
think. I mean, peace is only truly
possible if we believe in the hope that was proclaimed last week. The hope that is given through Christ allows
to both seek and find peace. Hope
dispels fear and means that we are not driven to conflict, but we are driven to
seek reconciliation and to seek peace.
Peace is not possible without hope.
But I don’t think we always get that. I mean, look at this past week and we see so
many examples of fear leading people to reject peace and embrace conflict. First, I want to point you to the comments of
the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr, who suggested that it
was the duty of Christians to arm themselves and murder our muslim brothers and
sisters. And then, we hear a candidate
for president suggest that people be denied entry into this country because of
their faith. Aside from that fact that I
think this individual has failed at basics civics, the notion that we would
deny refuge, that we would deny shelter to a person flies in the face of the
commandments of God who instructs us to love the stranger among us, to care for
those who are different from us just like they were one of us.
But what we are hearing is rejection of peace because it is a
rejection of hope. It fails to recognize
the beauty of what Christ is doing to reconcile all of creation to God, to
bring salvation to all people. What we
are hearing from all parts of the political spectrum today is fear. And the fear leads us to embrace conflict and
war. It leads us to reject our brothers
and sisters. Peace can never come from
fear. Peace can only come from
hope.
And it’s important to remember as we seek to deal with this
violence that seems so pervasive in the world that more violence is not the
answer. More violence is simply us
putting more sin into the world. And what do we know about sin? We know that God defeats sin through love,
through the love that Christ showed to us through the cross. And that means that as part of God’s work in
this world, we defeat terror through love.
You may have heard the saying that bullets defeat terrorists, but love
defeats terrorism. Showing our enemies a
different way of life is what will change their hearts. Feeding into their own fearful beliefs will
only exacerbate the problem and lead to more death and destruction.
And showing people a different way is not just the work of
the leaders of nations, its something that we all can practice. And I have to give credit to a pastor out in
Denver named Jerry Herships for this concept, but basically we can do one of
two things in our daily lives. We can
either put more love into the world with our actions or we can take love
away. In each of our daily interactions
we can put more love into the world or we can take love away.
And I got to tell you that when you read the bible, when you
see what Jesus does, you quickly realize that Jesus calls us to choose to put
more love into the world. More love
brings more peace, more people embracing the teaches of Christ, brings more
peace. This is how we prepare the way of
the Lord. This is how the hills are made
flat and the rough spots made smooth.
Love prepares the way of the Lord.
And that love brings peace.
That peace that we talk about speaks, ultimately, to the massiveness of
God’s love. Like John the Baptist says
in the text today, quoting Isaiah, all humanity will see God’s salvation.
So if peace was the first big thing about this week, that
peace of God that is proclaimed this second week of Advent is shown through the
knowledge of God’s abounding love as displayed through God’s intent to save all
of humanity and in fact all of creation.
God’s love is big. It
is all encompassing. God’s love is not
tribal or territorial. God’s love is not
bound by any differences which we create.
God’s love is, in fact for all.
We are all God’s children, regardless of race, gender, sex, professed
faith or sexuality. We are all chosen by
God. We are all called by name to be
part of the greatness of God’s love.
That’s what John the Baptist is proclaiming today. That recognition of God’s abounding love for
all of us can help lead us to peace because it can tear down the walls between
us.
A few years back I was in Nigeria for work. As I and the two cowrokers I was with were
trying to depart the county we realized that one of the folks I was with had
not had her passport stamped upon entry into the country. Things were not looking good for us. We were detained by security, I mean men with
scary uniforms, sub machine guns, the works, were deciding our future. And then here comes the boss. And this man is big, I mean big, taller than
me and at least a hundred pounds heavier.
He was intimidating. And he was
dressed in traditional muslim garb. And
he did not want to be friends.
So the situation is explained to him, he is trying to figure
things out and then he glares at me. So
I offer to him the traditional Islamic greeting, “a salaam alaikum’, which is
basically like sharing the peace. And
suddenly all of the walls which had been present were torn down and this giant
of a man is literally embracing me like we were long lost brothers and
proclaiming how despite our difference we are all believers in the one
God. That man chose peace and love in
that moment. That man recognized that
God is bigger than the boxes we draw, that God’s love transcends this
muslim/Christian/jewish divide and what we all experienced is the peace that
God desires. Now personally is meant
that I got to go home with my friends, but in the larger context it
demonstrated what the great expanse of God’s love is supposed to look like in
this world.
I think that if we all start to realize that we are all, and
I truly mean all, are beloved children of God, we might start to reject the
fear and hate of this world and we might start to live into the love of God
that brings peace. If we realize that those who we think of as
others are really our brothers and sisters, then we can have peace. If we don’t recognize that, we risk sinking
back into a time when we felt it was ok to send all people who were
Japanese-Americans into concentration camps, we risk descending into a time
when it was ok to discriminate against people based on the colour of their
skin. We are in a place where we can
choose to act with love and to act towards peace or we can react with fear and
we can reject peace. And I think we all
know what God’s calling is. God calls us
to peace. God calls us to be
together.
And if we ever forget we only need to think about the
table. Many of you have heard me declare
each week how God invites us all to this table and I truly believe that. God’s table is a big table. It can accommodate differences of opinion,
differences in matters of faith, whether small or large, and any other
differences that we can create between us.
The act of communion of sharing the same bread and wine with all of
those assembled around us demonstrates to us how can be come together in
peace. The experience of the Eucharist
is the experience of the same type of peace which John the Baptist
proclaimed. And it is because of that
peace, it is because of that love of God which is given to us that we can truly
say, thanks be to God. Amen.
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