Come Peasant, King: Peace

Second Sunday of Advent: Peace Luke 3:1-6

Luke 3:1–6 NLT

It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’ ”

Political unrest

economic tension bordering on instability

divisions & factions

racism, sexism, chauvinism

general sense of chaos & disunity

Sound familiar? This describes the time into which Jesus was born.

Luke sets the stage by describing the political powers of the day...

He names the religious leaders of the day...

Then John the Baptist cries out, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”

John the baptizer...

…converts to Judaism were baptized

…various religious ceremonies involved cleansing with water

John called for repentance - which would lead to significant change in the ways people lived.

“Peace” was going to come - but not the way people thought or expected. Peace was coming at a cost:

The valleys will be filled...

the mountains and hills made level...

curves will be made straight...

rough places will be made smooth...

When the ground isn’t level, that means injustice is happening, and where there is injustice, there cannot be peace.

Crooked roads might not be a risk for us today, but fear that a bandit (or a Roman soldier) was hiding around the next corner in the road made for risky travel in those days.

Rough places being made smooth - - - the smoothing out process isn’t always easy or comfortable.

A kingdom of peace is one that moves in action toward others, looking our for the interests of others, instead of solely for ourselves.

This type of peace is a painful process that takes sacrifice, repentance, and a complete reorientation of life.

God’s Kingdom - not always what we are expecting...

…John the baptist was not a ruler, but a wild-man in the wilderness preaching repentance and preparing a path for Christ

…the crowds that sought John were ordinary people looking for something more

…the tax collector were viewed as some of the worst sinners - yet they were called to a new way

…the soldiers were caught up in the Roman Empire - yet they were seeking something new

…even Messiah entered this world in an ordinary and unspectacular way (well, other than the angelic choir)

…we too are are called to this work - repent and be transformed, that we might participate in the kingdom of God (the kingdom of peace) and in the world around us.

Peacemaking is not an easy task. It is not an image of babies who do not cry, or sheep resting quietly in the field.

No, it is the image of a parent who breaks a cycle of abuse by doing the hard, smoothing work of therapy so their children grow up in a better home.

It’s normal people standing up for what is right even when society says that murdering unborn children is acceptable.

It’s serving those less fortunate than you without the need (or desire) for recognition.

It’s church members living and serving with one another and discipling one another as we seek to be more and more like Jesus.

It’s the hard, everyday moments of denying ourselves and taking up our cross.

“The path toward peace isn’t easy. The path toward peace isn’t smooth. The path toward peace is risky, takes courage, and challenges the broken realities of the world. For peace to come, we must get to the hard work of aligning a world made crooked by sin with the straight paths of the kingdom of God. For peace to come, there is creative work that makes valleys of despair into mountaintops of hope. For peace to come, there is repetitive work that sands away injustice to bring about the smoothness of equity. Without the work, without the challenge, and without upsetting the status quo, peace will not come.” Rev. Olivia Metcalf

And so, God calls you and I to work. To work to see the kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. We work so that the world might know the ultimate peace the comes not from the kingdoms, powers, and systems of this world - but from the very heart of God!