December 5, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6[1]
In the story of Jonathan Toomey,[2]
he needed peace. He needed to make peace with his past, the loss of his wife
and child. He needed to let go of his anger, accept that they were gone, and
allow himself to say goodbye and move on. He found peace within himself with
the help of others who were able to give him love, patience, and purpose.
Let peace begin with me. That’s how the song goes. That is
where peace must begin. It must begin with you and me. Peace is more than the
absence of war, the absence of conflict and violence. Peace is a presence, the
presence of connection.
Inner peace begins with a connection to our true and natural
selves, that part of our being that is most in tune with God’s will for us. So,
in a sense, inner peace is connection with the Spirit of God who dwells within
each of us. It can be difficult to recognize that there is some part of God
that lives and breathes within us, especially when we are not feeling all that
great about ourselves and the world around us; but I assure you, it is there.
And making or restoring that connection gives rise to serenity, the feeling of
balance, and a sense of well-being.
Peace with others begins with recognizing the connection
between two human beings. When we are open to seeing the shared humanity in
another, when we open our hearts to feel the joy and suffering of another, it
is then, and only then, that we are able to resolve our conflicts, to forgive
one another, and to make peace in our relationships.
Peace in our world, and even peace in our community,
requires us to connect across our many differences and learn respect and
appreciation for those differences. It requires an understanding that all
people have the right to justice, freedom, and dignity. And, I dare to say,
peace in our world requires changing much of what we take for granted.
The way that we view the world, the assumptions that we make
about “the way things are,” are often anti-peace. We think of adversarial
relationships, “us” versus “them,” as normal. We view competition – I win and
you lose – as a good thing. We believe in right versus wrong, good against
evil, and we often enforce our views with violence.
But would it be so hard to change that way of thinking? What
if we assumed that we are all in this together, that what affects you also
affects me? What if we worked for win-win solutions to our problems? What if we
made a commitment not to harm others, to avoid violence, force, and coercion in
our relationships? What if we looked for the seeds of peace in every situation?
Wouldn’t that be a miracle?
This is the time to prepare for Christmas. This is the time
to prepare the way of the Lord. So when we see a path made crooked by conflict,
let’s make it straight with compassion and understanding. When we see a valley
dividing one person from another, let’s fill it in or build a bridge with love
for one another. When we see a mountain of injustice, let’s bring it low by
working for justice, freedom, and dignity for people everywhere. Let the Lord
refine us, like gold and silver, until we are pleasing to the Lord.
We will not be alone as we labor for peace. The Lord God of
Israel has remembered the covenant sworn to our ancestors Abraham and David. We
will be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. We will
serve God without fear. We have been given the knowledge of salvation by the
forgiveness of our sins. God is with us, and will guide our feet into the way
of peace. Blessed be the Lord our God.
Amen.
_____
Some material adapted from Louise Diamond, The Peace Book: 108 Simple Ways to Create a
More Peaceful World (Berkeley: Conari Press, 2001), Introduction.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Susan
Wojciechowski, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, illustrations
by P.J. Lynch (Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1995).
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