Advent 2A; Isa. 11:1-10; Rom.
15:4-13; Matt. 3:1-12; St. Paul’s – 12/8/2019
Jim Melnyk “A
Profundity of Peace”
This Sunday we light both the first and second candles of
our Advent Wreath, and we give voice to our prayers for peace in the world. We
remember how “Jesus blessed his followers with the words, ‘Peace be with you.’”
And we pray, “Help us to remember that only in God can we find true peace.”
Our theme
of peace begins with the words of the prophet Isaiah who “speaks again of
peace, a peace so profound that not only nations but all creation ceases to
engage in war.”[1] “The wolf and the lamb will live together. The cow
and the bear will graze together, and the lion eat straw like an ox.”[2] This
is the prophet’s imagining of a return to the Garden in the earliest stories of
Israel’s faith – creation as God originally intended prior to humanity’s
disobedience.
And so, when we
tie together the words of Isaiah, the liturgical poetry of the Psalmist, the
hope of Paul for the fulfillment of God’s promise, and the challenge of the Baptist
from today’s gospel lesson we begin to see that peace is much more than an
absence of conflict. Rather, Peace, or shalom,
is meant to imply health, wholeness, integrity and holiness. Peace is about
finding confidence and comfort in the midst of conflict. Peace is about the wholeness
we experience when we take on the challenge to repair the world as we see it
around us – to repair the many breaches we find in our families, our
friendships, our communities, and this world. The peace of God proclaimed by
the prophets and our Lord is indeed the work of tikkun olam.
There’s
that Hebrew phrase again – and why not? According to the tradition we profess,
the God we worship chose to take on human flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth
– a Galilean Jew. No wonder the concept sounds so much like what Jesus came
preaching and teaching.
According to
Rabbi Elliott Dorff, the “ultimate goal in tikkun
olam is…a world at peace. That…[doesn’t] mean just a cessation of
hostilities. It also means a world in which we have the blessings
of…prosperity, health, procedural and substantive justice, recognition of
Israel’s God and of Torah values as authoritative, and peace.”[3]
One only need
look at Jesus’ blueprint for the kingdom of heaven as put forward in both Matthew’s
Sermon on the Mount (considering especially the Beatitudes), and Luke’s Sermon
on the Plain (considering especially the Blessings and the Woes), to see how
his kingdom imagery and the long unfolding concept of tikkun
olam relate. One can certainly find both calls to action and promises of
peace and wholeness throughout the life and ministry of Jesus.
Over the past
year we’ve talked a lot about how the
concept of tikkun olam, when practiced as Christians, is inextricably bound to our
baptismal covenant. Our baptismal covenant, which we renewed on the first Sunday
in November, reminds us about our call to respect and care for one another as
fellow human beings, as well as our need to have respect for, and care for, the
whole world. These understandings are obvious to our calling as followers of
Jesus. So we could also say that our hopes for peace in the world are inextricably
bound to how willingly we acknowledge and live out our baptismal covenant.
When we know
and practice justice in our lives and in our communities we will know peace. When
we know what it means to respect the dignity of every human being – and then
practice that respect – we will know peace. When we are willing to welcome
those with whom we disagree most to join us at the holy table to receive the body
and blood of our Lord Jesus, we will know peace. When we acknowledge and
respect another person’s different pathway to the Holy, we will find peace.
And all of that
is challenging. We are told by so many in this day and age to revile those who
disagree with us. We are taught through all too many venues to taunt one
another and to belittle one another rather than listen to one another. We are
being taught that listening and compromising with one another are four-letter
words.
And we wonder
why there’s so much anxiety churning just below the surface of our lives – and
let’s face it – one look at the news shows us that these days much of our
anxiety is being lived right out in the open.
As Christmas
approaches our lives will continue to get busier and more hectic. The anxiety
of holiday preparations – finding the right gifts, making and accepting the
proper invitations, cleaning and cooking for family and friends – all this will
merge with our general anxieties about the world around us.
This Second Sunday
of Advent challenges us to practice peace in a restless world – a spiritual practice
which can free us from anxiety. When we practice peace in our own lives it
becomes easier to share the gift of peace with others – offering a sense of
wholeness and balance to those around us. This brings us back to our baptismal
covenant and the work of tikkun olam.
The spiritual gift of peace shared with others around us begins the work of
repairing the world – and if we’re each faithful in practicing and sharing that
spiritual gift of peace it has the ability to grow exponentially, thus changing
the world.
And so I offer
us each some homework to practice in the final weeks of Advent – with the hope
that this interior work becomes second nature to us throughout the year, and
throughout our lives. At the end of each day there are questions to be asked:
How have I
honored my baptismal covenant today? When and where have I looked to see the
face of God in another – especially another who is markedly different from
myself? How and where have I treated others with the same dignity and respect I
long to experience for myself? “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to
someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and
resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions.”[4]
We light two
candles on our Advent Wreath this day. The first for Hope. The second for Peace.
We long for the Prince of Peace to come among us and set creation right.
And in our best moments we
remember that the Spirit of the Living God dwells within us, reminding us that our
peace is in God, whose light shines among us….
“May the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[5]
