Advent 2 A Hope for Peace Romans 15:4-13
Someone asked some little children what love is and one said, "Love is what you hear in the house at Christmas time if you stop opening presents and listen for a while" y 15, 2002). That is really the way we want it to be.
Unfortunately, that is not always the way it is. There always seems to be a war going on somewhere in the world, and recently it seems that our country is always involved in it in one way or another. Not long ago, the Church of The Nativity, the place where tradition tells us Jesus was born, was occupied by one group of combatants and besieged by another group. We wish there really could be peace on earth and good will among all people. But that is more than just a Christmas wish. It is a part of the Christmas promise. It is a part of what we are invited actually to hope for, especially in this season of expectancy.
It was a part of Paul's vision of the saving work of God that God is working to overcome all of the divisions between the peoples of the earth and to gather them into one harmonious whole.
The letter to the Ephesians speaks of God's "plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10). Paul was especially concerned about the hostility that existed between Jews and Greeks in his society. It was a bitter division that could turn violent. It was probably that hostility that eventually caused Paul's death. He yearned for their reconciliation and he believed that it had been accomplished, or at least made a real possibility and as a part of God's promise, through Jesus.
Again in Ephesians, we read, "He is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us" (Ephesians 2:14). And in the letter to the Galatians, Paul shares his vision for something that God was causing to be true, first in the church and then in the world. "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
In our scripture lesson for today, we are coming near the end of Paul's greatest letter. As he approaches the end of that section, he quotes three lessons from the Hebrew Scriptures that point forward to a reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles. He makes this a part of the hope he is leaving with his readers. "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" (Romans 15:13).
Paul sees the reconciliation of humankind as a part of the vision of the good future toward which God is moving us and also a part of the hope that should already be shaping our lives. But what does that offer us in our real world today? What can it have to do with those real conflicts that are making our hearts hurt right now? And what can we do about it?
First, believe the promise and claim the hope that there can be peace. Paul believed that, in the church, all kinds of people could and should be reconciled and live together in mutual love. He spent a lot of time talking about that because he thought it was important. Paul believed that the church should live in the world in a way that would be both an example and an agent of the new possibility God offers to the whole world. Yes, there will be problems. But they can be worked out. It is important for us to take seriously the possibility of reconciliation and love in our own personal lives and relationships.
The place to start is with being reconciled to God. As we move into a trusting relationship with the living God, we will find God healing our hurts and taking away our bitterness, replacing our anxiety with the ability to trust, affirming our personhood with God's love, and, in more ways than we can list, moving us toward wholeness. The others to whom you reach out may not be ready for peace, but, as Paul said, "If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18).
The next step is actually to become a peacemaker. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Reach out to work for reconciliation every chance you get. Most of us think, "How could I be a peacemaker?" We could start by trying to be reconciled to those people with whom we are in conflict in our personal lives and relationships. You know who those people are. They are the people with whom you are in conflict over some significant issue whom you have allowed yourself to think of as enemies. We are tempted just to leave those relationships broken so that we won't risk being hurt again. But it is reconciliation at this level that brings the most immediate reward. And if we can't make peace in our own relationships, how can we hope to make peace in our world?
How would it be if we each made a list of the people with whom we need to be reconciled and made some effort to offer a hand of friendship to each of them during this happy season? How would it be if we each sent a Christmas card to each of the people on our lists with some message of genuine warm wishes written in it? Maybe nothing would come of it. Maybe it would get an unpleasant response. But maybe it would be the beginning of a reconciliation that could make both your life and theirs better.
Then we should look for ways to move out into the community in which we live and do the work of a peacemaker. Christian people and Christian churches ought to be actively involved in working for peace in communities and in the world. There are lots of things a church can do to help bring reconciliation between groups in a community, from helping to establish a climate of opinion that wants peace and justice, to facilitating conversations between conflicting groups and sometimes actually acting as mediator. If there is anything the church can do, we ought to do it. It is part of our mission.
Peace is a real possibility in our lives and in our world. God is working to accomplish it. And there are things that we can do to participate in what God is doing.
In a few weeks, when we again hear the scriptures read in which the angel spoke of peace on earth and good will among people, we may still experience sadness because we know that the peace we wish for has not yet come to our world or to our families or to our lives. But sadness will not have to lead to despair. God is at work in our lives and in our world, and that gives us reason for hope. "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" (Romans 15:13).