Seeking Peace Amidst a Broken World

As we progress through Advent, it is hard to ignore all the problems raging in the world.  ISIS is still on the move, torturing and killing Christians and Moslems who fall under their control; Boko Haram is running rampant in Nigeria, killing 320 people in the last few days, including the bombing of two Christian churches; protesters disrupt traffic and commerce over their outrage at the decision of the grand juries in Ferguson and New York.  Our president in the meanwhile does scant little to address these atrocities.  Sadly, the news of the world is shaped by political interests, and is often less than truthful for having been spun to favor one point of view or another.  We have a president who took an oath of office to uphold the constitution and the laws of the United States, but repeatedly violates his oath by refusing to enforce the laws he doesn’t like, or changing laws without bothering to consult Congress.  He fuels the fires of racial hatred and indignation by weighing in on racially charged incidents before the facts are revealed, and he questions the judicial system when he dislikes their decisions, without benefit of hearing the testimony or facts they considered, further emboldening racial agitators.  Let’s face it, the world is a mess and trending even worse. 

In the midst of all this, Christians are trying to prepare themselves spiritually for the coming of the Lord, but peace on earth seems to be retreating further and further away.  It is increasingly difficult to be at peace with so much bad news bombarding us day in and day out.  One option is to shut out the world, ignore the news, cloister ourselves, and simply pray for peace.  Certainly there is nothing wrong with this and of course prayer is more powerful than simply trying to shout down those who disagree with you.  The opposite response might be to combat the bad news with criticism and harsh condemnation, but that only seems to deepen the chasm of angst between opposing factions already polarized against each other.  A third option would be to find a balance between these two approaches, one that is well-informed and seeks to find solutions to the problems rather than simply condemning the action or inaction of others. 

I wonder if our current day predicament isn’t much different from what the Jews faced at the time of Jesus birth?  Romans had conquered most of the Western world and the Caesars declared themselves gods, running roughshod over the peoples they had defeated.  Even the Jewish leaders, operating under the auspices of Rome’s approval, brutalized the Jews.  High priests extorted tributes from their own people who at times were forced to borrow money they could not repay, in order to make the required temple offerings, then sent to debtors’ prison when they defaulted.  Herod mercilessly killed his own sons to retain power, then slaughtered innocent children in an attempt to root out a potential Messiah.  In the midst of this hostile environment, God sent a prophet in the form of John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus.  Then of course Jesus entered the world as a helpless child.  But what John and Jesus both had on their side was the Truth.  They unwaveringly spoke the Truth, even though it landed John in prison and cost him his head.  Jesus revealed His mission to Pontius Pilot when He said, “The reason I was born, the reason why I came into the world, is to testify to the Truth.  Anyone committed to the Truth hears my voice.”  (John 18:37)

Despite His short life and ignominious death, Jesus succeeded in changing the world.  He conquered sin, not with words or with might, but with love.  So great is His love that He conquers the very worst thing that can happen to anyone: death itself.  Jesus gave His followers, and gives us even now, hope when everything seems hopeless.  The good proclaimed by Jesus is that love conquers even the worst evil, and the kingdom of God is a kingdom of Love that supersedes even the worst things happening in the world.   We know this because the world is transitory, and Love is eternal.  We now know we are destined for eternal life, and we know this because Jesus Himself rose from the dead and promises us eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

When the angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus, they sang: “Glory to God in high heaven, peace on earth to men on whom His favor rests,” sometimes translated as “Peace on earth to men of good will.” (Luke 2:14)  If we are seeking peace in our lives and in the world, we must begin by becoming people of good will, people on whom God’s favor rests.  If we are committed to the Truth, we must listen for the voice of Jesus, as He explained to Pilot.  Rather than merely wishing all the bad things happening in the world would simply go away, and instead of reducing ourselves to tactics that server to polarize people, we might instead seek the Truth by listening to the voice of Jesus.  There is plenty to hear from Him in scripture: parables about Our Father’s love, the beatitudes, and His calling out the money changers and hypocrites among the Pharisees and Scribes for example.  But perhaps the most telling of all is His forgiveness of the sins of tax collectors, adulterers, all manner of sinners, and His acceptance of God’s will, even though it meant His torture and death for the salvation of mankind.  In short, Jesus’ voice and His life teach us to love one another because when we do so, we are as close as we can be to God Himself whose spirit resides in every human being.

The Second Letter of Peter, read today, reminds us that the earth is passing away and a new heaven and a new earth awaits us, one in which Love is King:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar
and the elements will be dissolved by fire,
and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way,
what sort of persons ought you to be,
conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.
But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. (2 Peter 3: 11-14)

This is the good news we’re waiting for in Advent, the coming of God’s Kingdom where Truth reigns and Love conquers all evil and including death.  Let’s not be afraid to witness to this in the face of a broken and hurting world.  This is after all, a recipe for hope and for peace.