the Fourth Friday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
The Cost of Jesus-Centered Peace
by Elle Pyke
I cannot remember a time in my life where I have heard the word peace more often than I have in the last few years. It seems everyone everywhere is longing and calling for peace.
I've heard the cry for peace in the voices of Canadian protestors who took to the streets over police brutality, racism, and the uncovering of the unmarked graves of Indigenous children. "No justice, no peace".
I've heard the cry for peace in the words of world leaders, urging citizens in a world of endless possibilities to "choose peace."
I've heard the call to peace from Canadian religious leaders, urging Christians to be people of peace amid our current political, social and familial polarities.
Hearing the calls for peace during this Advent season seems fitting as one of the Advent candles we light is the peace candle, set ablaze in the life of Jesus. In today's reading from Isaiah, we see that the prophesied Messiah would not only be called “Redeemer” but would also be called "Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end."
I don't know about you, but honestly, I wasn't ready for all this talk of peace. Whose peace? My peace? Or their peace? And what kind of peace? How peace? It has become increasingly difficult to navigate and lead well with so many competing ideas of peace in our churches, families and neighbourhoods.
But how benevolent is our God that in the gift and incarnation of Jesus, we don't have to wander looking for the path to peace as followers of the way. We don't have to languish in the questions of what peace looks like when the Prince of Peace has come and dwelt among us. The nature of the incarnation is a literal expression of peace, through the translation of Divine love as compassion and mercy.
For those who long for Jesus-centered peace, this saviour child offers to us the opportunity for active peacemaking in the here and now. Jesus not only describes what peace looks like, but he embodies it as a roadmap for us. Through his humanity, the incarnation challenges us to do away with every inhuman behaviour. Jesus offers us the conditions of peaceful coexistence through his acknowledgement that human beings made in the imago Dei need dignity, justice, and equity.
I love that the Hebrew scriptures describe this idea of peace or shalom in a way that challenges our Western sentimentalities of peace. At least to this non-Hebrew scholar, when I read scripture, Jesus' ancestors seemed to articulate that shalom wasn't merely the idea of inner tranquility or even the absence of conflict or disagreement. Rather, they paint a picture of shalom wed together with justice in social and personal relationships, enacted in its fullness grounded in God's covenantal love.
When I read these words from Isaiah today, I see a prophet who longed for a peace-bringing Messiah, void of empty sentimentality and full of actual deliverance from evil and oppression in a world ripe with false shepherds, greedy tyrants and evil empires. When Isaiah declared that the Messiah would bring salvation and shalom, he prophesied the wholeness that came with hands-on justice and righteousness. Active peacemaking on full display.
If you're like me, one who has been wondering what peace looks like - may I offer you the only thing that has healed and sustained my soul this year? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. With cruciform and co-suffering love and his Kingdom manifesto of The Sermon on the Mount, this baby lying in a manger came not just as the person of peace but offers us the way of peace. The Kingdom of this Prince of Peace is a polis of the oppressed, the marginalized, the powerless, the humble. True peace becomes crystal clear when we see through the lens of Jesus.
If you currently find yourself part of the centre of power in any earthly or religious institution during this Advent season, Isaiah's prophecy about the coming King Jesus should make you squirm in your seat. The kind of shalom Jesus embodies and calls you to comes at a cost. What can be shaken is being shaken and the Spirit is beckoning you to pay attention to what Jesus is doing in our midst. A cruciform way is possible, not only for those you serve but for your life as well.
And if you find yourself on the margins this Advent season, on the list of those the gatekeepers are worried about, know that the kind of shalom Jesus embodies and calls you toward comes at a cost for you too. The price tag is called prayer for those who persecute you and radical "enemy love,” not just towards the enemy who would take your life, but also towards those who seek to erase your history, refuse you the pulpit or even deny you the cup and the bread.
The self-giving love of a Messiah who has joined himself to humanity forever, to your suffering and to mine, whether we're in the centre or on the margins, calls us to this Jesus-centered, peace-filled way. Still redeeming, still restoring, still beautiful Jesus is still announcing peace on earth. So roll up your sleeves, Jesus follower! The ancient path of Jesus' way of peace costs us all. To those at the centre and those at the margins, the Prince of Peace is calling, right here, at this moment. Will you hear his voice this Advent season?
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