The Light of Peace

Introduction

[SLIDE 1]

When someone wrongs you, how do you make it right? Let’s make an example...

- Go and take something from someone in the congregation

I just stole [Name]’s [thing]. I think i'll keep it. Oh, did that hurt you? I’m so sorry, would you forgive me for wronging you? Ok, phew. I’m glad we’re good and this didn;t ruin our friendship. I feel so much more peace about it now, thank you. Do you feel peace about it too? Oh you still want it back? but that’s in the past now and I thought you were a good Christian? Don’t you forgive me? I thought you said you forgave me. Fine I’ll give it back (humpf).

- Give the item back

Ok, you see the lesson here? My wrongdoing created a rift that simply fixing the problem wouldn’t solve. The relationship is now damaged and trust has been lost. We see this same scene play out in our families, with our friends, at work. Think of it like this...

Joe comes into work on Saturday for the third week in a row. His boss said that there was no one else to cover that shift, so Joe had to do it. Joe was going to spend that day with his daughter who he only gets to see twice a month, but he had to cancel and inconvenience his whole family to go in and cover the shift. He feels taken advantage of, so on Monday he goes into his bosses office o set a boundary. Boss, I can’t keep working these weekends, it’s cutting into my family time. His boss looks at him and says, sorry man, there’s nothing I can do about it, we just don;t have the staff to cover it. And why are you upset about it. I’m paying you time and a half for overtime, you should be more grateful. The phone rings and his boss shoo’s him out of the office.

Joe’s gotta face a decision,right? Do I get my boss upset and risk losing my job over this, or do I suck it up and keep saying yes? There is no option that actually creates peace because the wrong has already been done. You ever been in Joe’s shoes? I have. You feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, and whether your boss is mad or your family is mad you end up feeling all sorts of anxiety.

Or how about at Christmas when someone got you a shirt that doesn;t fit and you would feel really uncomfortable wearing. Even their well-intended gift leave you in a state of unrest because now you either accept a gift you will never use, which feels wasteful, or your say, hey, thanks but no thanks and hurt their feelings and sound unappreciative.

Gosh, these are uncomfortable stories aren’t they? Well they are just a few small examples of what the absence of peace feels like. It’s unresolved tension, it’s complicated feelings, it's discontent that saps away at our rest. At the core of it all is fear. Fear is what we feel when we sense the possibility of risk. It’s an anticipation feeling. Fear is neither good nor bad, instead it’s a signal to us to be alert, but it is also a critical element on the pathway to peace. Which is our topic this week, the light of peace

[SLIDE 2]

Body

Peace, particularly the way it’s talked about in the Christmas story is about an absence of hostility. Think of all the stories of angels coming to speak with people, the people are afraid, yet the Angels offer peace, meaning, they say “I’m not here to harm you.” Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of harm. There are times where conflict is exactly what needs to happen in order to have true peace. When I stole [name]’s [thing], they needed to face conflict in order to seek peace.

This is what’s so beautiful about the light of peace. It does not dismiss injustice, but instead faces it, deals with it so that noone is harmed and wounds are healed. That’s why as Free Methodists we value love driven justice, because it's only in the pursuit of love-driven justice that peace can be experienced in the world. But what does this all have to do with Christmas and our scripture this morning? Wonderful question, I’m so glad you asked.

The scripture we heard read was a prophesy. IN it, the prophet Micah tells Israel that out of the small clan in Bethlehem, a ruler will come who has existed since before existence itself, and that ruler will be like a peaceful shepherd who feeds his flock gently, yet with the full strength of God and as a result the whole world will live at peace, safe and secure, because he will be the source of peace.

And Jesus, whose birth we celebrate on Saturday morning, is that ruler from Bethlehem, and by observing the way he lived we can see how following in his way brings peace into our world.

But the challenge we face today is that the Jesus who rules with peace has been usurped in our minds by a warrior Jesus who is going to flip tables and punch bad guys. When Israel listened to the prophets, many expected someone to come with a sword that would cut down all their enemies, yet God came as a baby, the ultimate symbol of being vulnerable, and started a kingdom not by being the most decisively aggressive, but by taking punches and not returning them yet somehow making the world a better place.

Jesus had plenty of bad guys to face too. When he was born, king Herod literally called for a genocide of every baby of the same age, yet Jesus, as an adult said nothing about killing him. Why? because the biggest lie our world has to offer is that the only path to peace is through domination. It’s Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy of “speak softly and carry a big stick”. The idea is that if we ever want peace, we need to be capable of enough violence to enforce it. But that is not how Jesus did it.

Instead Jesus achieved peace as a shepherd that fed his flock. Instead of seeing us, with all our fear and worry, and saying “I’ll beat up the bad guy for you”, Jesus came and said, I’ll take the beating for you, and it will change the bad guys heart so you can live in peace. Jesus’ pathway to peace was through his own vulnerability.

How can we carry the light of peace?

So, Jesus makes peace through himself, yet we still live in this world with all this hostility. What can we do about it? I would like to suggest 3 ways that we can carry the light of peace this Christmas and beyond.

First, we carry the light of peace by...

[SLIDE 3]

turning the other cheek

When Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek he was not instructing us to be passive. Instead he was instructing us to not retaliate, to not return harm in exchange for harm. It’s a lesson about leading through vulnerability. It reminds me of proverbs 25:21-22

[SLIDE 4]

The New Revised Standard Version Further Wise Sayings of Solomon

21 If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;

and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;

22 for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,

and the LORD will reward you.

People who you consider your enemy are people who have either harmed you or threatened to harm you. They are the people you currently do not have peace with and whether intended or not, their words or actions have left you feeling vulnerable to attack. They are threatening and feeling threatened is essentially feeling fear. So, you could read this proverb as “if the people you are threatened by are hungry, give them bread...” I visualize being cornered by a wolf and rather than trying to wrestle it into submission, feeding it something. Heck, that’s actually why we have dogs in our homes now, because people chose to respond to the threat of the wolf with kindness rather than violence.

[SLIDE 5]

You can carry the light of peace into your marriage this Christmas by choosing not to win the argument, but to see your spouses need and help them. You can carry the light of peace in your workplace by standing up to your boss who schedules too much overtime and saying “how can I help you find someone to cover the time I’m not available?” You can carry that same light into your friend circle by saying something kind to the person who belittled you. Don't ignore the wrong done, but in responding be sure to cause no more harm.

Second, we carry the light of peace by...

[SLIDE 6]

Cultivating Trust

This is one of our 7 habits from our last series. To cultivate trust is to assume the best intentions in others, speak honestly about the problems we see, and actually make changes to improve the relationship and earn the trust of others. It requires a posture of non-defensiveness, which is much easier said than done. The best starting place here is to simply work on self-awareness. Ask yourself this question, do I actually know when I’m feeling defensive? Are we aware of it, or does it just happen to us?

For me, defensiveness feels like I’m rushed to explain myself. I can see it when I catch myself explaining something louder and faster. My heart-rate tends to go up and I become less patient with what someone else is saying. When I feel that, I can cultivate trust with that person by first noticing my own emotional state and choosing to listen to what they have to say, even if it hurts me. Then, I may choose to move on from the conversation until I calm down, or if noticing my defensiveness helped it to settle I will explain myself and seek understanding.

This is the foundational work of cultivating trust and trust is required to experience peace. So take some time this Christmas in self-reflection for the purpose of carrying peace to our enemies.

Third, we carry the light of peace by...

[SLIDE 7]

pursuing love-driven justice

Peace is never accomplished through retribution, but just like when I stole from [name] it is also not accomplished by pretending that wrongs have no need to be corrected. Listen to what the scriptures say about the pursuit of justice...

[SLIDE 8] - Jesus’ Nazareth Manifesto

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18–19 (emphasis added))

[SLIDE 9]

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33–34)

[SLIDE 10]

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:9)

[SLIDE 11]

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)

[SLIDE 12]

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

[SLIDE 13]

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

We share the light of peace when we do everything in our power to lift up those who society takes advantage of. Our call is to follow Christ and become vulnerable ourselves for the sake of those who have no choice but to be vulnerable.

Conclusion

[SLIDE 14]

Which is what all of this peace talk is really about. It’s about being imitators of the prince of peace, the one who saved the world from itself by dying. We are lookig forward to the birth, not of our big strong savior, but of our vulnerable baby savior who is more powerful than any violent hero ever could be. I pray we might light the way to Christmas this year with a spirit of peace that shines so bright in this violent world that it cannot be missed. Amen? Let’s pray.

Prayer

Call to Action

Join us for Christmas Eve candlelight at 6pm

Online on the 26th reflect on the year

Sabbath on the 2nd start with rest