Our Peace

Micah 5:2-5a

 “Our Peace”

20 December 2015 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            (Play Imagine)

For many of us this is what we have come to associate with peace. John Lennon wrote this song at the height of the Vietnam War and was working to help people reimagine a different world. One that was free of conflict, where there weren’t borders to define who we are, one where peace has broken out. It was needed in 1971 and was the song that defined his solo career. Imagine has gone on to be considered by many people as one of the top songs of all time. Jimmy Carter has even remarked that he hears that song during his travels around the globe as frequently as the national anthems of the countries he visits. There is a reason this song continues to resonate with us today.

It’s not just John Lennon; we all strive to see a world of peace. We see refugees sacrificing their lives to escape Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Burma, and countless other war torn areas. We see our own tax dollars funding more weapons than homeless shelters. We see people thinking violence is how to get the most attention to their cause, so for some odd reason, people decide to convince us of their religious convictions through horrible methods. We even have episodes in our own lives where we don’t think we’re ever able to be a broker of peace, especially if, like me, driving in places like Los Angeles brings out your best. So we begin to doubt God’s plan.

We tell ourselves that Christ is an unreachable example, an ideal that we just will never measure up to. We say the bar is too high and just give up trying to clear the hurdle. We think to ourselves we aren’t good enough to be the one who brings about peace in our time; we aren’t Christian enough of an example for people to listen to what we have to say through word and deed. We think we’ll let other more capable people take care of ending violence. Maybe we even point to the cross and say if Christ died a violent death, what can we even do to bring about the Peaceable Kingdom Christ described?

But, Micah won’t let us go down that road. Micah says that even Bethlehem, little old Bethlehem will be the place from which the ruler of Israel will arrive. Not only will this King rule Israel, but “he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.” Micah tells us that peace will arise in the most unexpected of places. Just wait, peace will overcome. So, we wait and pay attention. And if we’re open to looking, we will see peace in unexpected places.

We see a Hindu stand up to the British Empire and topple their rule in what many thought the crown of the empire. We see Black man in America in the 1960s unite people of all races and faith groups, inspiring thousands to stand up and risk life and limb to extend basic civil rights to a long oppressed minority. We see a young Pakistani girl of only 16 stand up to an oppressive religious regime and say I, and every other girl, deserve an education. Despite the real threat of death she doesn’t quit and doesn’t back down. We see an economist from Bangladesh realize that peace comes from personal economic security and the sense of purpose from work who begins a movement of micro-financing empowering people and transforming communities.

Not all of these individuals are Christian you may say. I never said God worked in ways I would expect. Micah says peace is coming from the most insignificant place in Israel and Christ was born without any earthly fanfare in a manger in Bethlehem. Because he came from humble beginnings, from a one-stoplight town, many failed to see the fulfillment of God’s plan right there before them. Unlike John Lennon, we don’t need to imagine the world he describes. It’s already here. Christ has already come and will come again. Let us strive to see God working right in front of us.

But, to open eyes to see Christ, we must first accept the inner peace that Christ brings. Without this inner peace, we’ll never be able to fully surrender to Christ and thus bring about his Peaceable Kingdom. Christ’s birth shows us that there is a plan of which God is in control. This plan understands our humanity because God came down and became human. Not only did he become human, he also overcame death and the power of sin in this world. He could have kept that to himself, but he chose to tell us that the battle is over, good wins. Light overcomes the dark. Where O Death is thy sting?

When we accept Christ victorious, peace washes over us like a river and all is well with our soul. Fully believing that Christ has one gives us the confidence to be at peace in our own lives so that we can radiate that peace to the rest of the world. For when we are at peace, we are better able to see peace breaking through all around us and to join in and support those places where we see Christ at work. It won’t make much sense, but neither did an independent India, or Civil rights, or micro loans for budding entrepreneurs in developing countries. Following Christ truly brings about a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Advent has taught us to wait, not just on Christ’s birth, but also his second coming. In Advent we celebrate the already but not yet of Christ. He has come but not yet again. His Kingdom has already won the battle, but it doesn’t yet look that way. Because of that, we don’t have to imagine Christ’s reign, we have to accept his rule in our lives so we can see the incarnation of Christ and his Kingdom all around us.