Peace on Earth

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. Perhaps you have witnessed the progressive lighting of candles either at your current place of worship or at some point in your spiritual past. I first encountered the Advent wreath as a child. Our family was asked to light the candles and do the readings a couple of times. I remember trying to figure out all those weeks and themes. Even as a pastor, I often have to check back to make sure that I have it right. After briefly consulting the sources out there, it appears that the prevailing order of the themes are: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. While each of these are worthy postures and celebrations, today I want to say a word or two about the second. I am probably doing this as much for confession as anything else.

When I began my ministry some twenty-plus years ago, peace was a central theme not merely of Advent but of my deepest understanding of Christianity. Three wars and twenty years later, I am not even sure I deserve to say the word anymore. Our world, and the Church as well, have gone in for a way of life that is decidedly not peaceful. Whether or not this is acceptable in God's sight remains to be seen. But for someone who's call to the ministry was closely tied to the coming and reign of the Prince of Peace, our contemporary comfort with war, violence and discord is a quieting reality. I live in this world and I accept that I am certainly contributing to the horrors but if the truth be told, I am far from comfortable with this.

Last week they gave the Nobel Prize for peace to the commander in chief. This has happened before. So what I say here is not so much about the chief as it is about us and about the world in which we live. What does it mean that the most peaceful person we can find is a war-time leader of the most powerful empire in the world? And did you read some of the comments from that speech? It takes rhetorical skill (and sizable kahunas) to thank the world for a Peace Prize while simultaneously laying out an argument for war. I was also a little concerned about his reference to "rules of conduct." Of course, this was an entirely political statement and perhaps understandable given the recent past. But it is still tragic, especially given the context. When we're listening to a man of peace suggest that there are rules to war, we can probably trust that we are listening to the voice of the empire.

I hope that this is not offensive to anyone. It has frankly been a long time since I have said something worthy of offending the powers of this world. But that is really the point of the blog here. It is a confessional. Where is the Church of Peace? Where are the peacemakers of our time? Where are the followers of Christ who believe that the path of discipleship is greater than the path of might?