The Path to Peace on Earth - the 2nd Sunday of Advent, 2023

The prophet Isaiah envisioned a world filled with peace—endless peace (Isaiah 9:7)—a world free from the ravages of war (Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:2-7; 11:1-9; 65:17-25). His vision sets the traditional theme for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent.

In a world that has never been free from the ravages of war, the vision of peace seems unrealistic. It is easy to dismiss the vision as hopeless wishing for the impossible. Yet, surrendering the vision leads to resignation to the way things are—and sometimes to despair. It allows us as the followers of Jesus to ignore the factors that produce war, leaving them unaddressed.

The prophet not only spoke of peace, he also identified those things that would produce peace. He outlined the path to peace. His proclamations spoke of (1) a Spirit-anointed and Spirit-guided king—the Messiah—who would (2) follow the ways of God—righteousness, justice, equity, faithfulness. A third factor he identified is often overlooked: under the leadership of the messianic king, (3) the people of God (the nation of Judah)—following and embodying the ways of God—would “stand as a signal to the peoples” (Isaiah 11:10). The other nations of the world would turn to Israel to learn from them the ways of God (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10). The knowledge of the LORD and of the ways of God would spread—from the messiah to the people of God to the nations of the world—until “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). As a result, “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:9).

We as the followers of Jesus identify Jesus as the messianic king of whom Isaiah spoke. Each Christmas, we celebrate his birth. Our celebration raises yet again the promise of peace tied to his messianic reign. We are reminded that he is the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). We join together in singing the song the heavenly host sang at his birth, “Peace on earth” (Luke 2:14).

Sadly, it seems to me, our celebration falls short. It fails to recognize the path to peace that Isaiah identified and which Jesus followed. In addition, we fail to recognize our role in that path.

Jesus was the messianic king of whom Isaiah spoke—the foundation of his vision, the essential key to the path to peace. In addition, he lived and taught the ways of God Isaiah identified—the ways of righteousness, justice, equity, and faithfulness.

Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. He was the in-the-flesh embodiment of who God is. In him, we catch a glimpse of the heart of God. He proclaimed the kingdom of God—a world shaped by the character of God and the ways of God. He lived and taught the ways of God that lead to peace—the ways of grace and forgiveness that views and values, accepts and embraces every person as a beloved child of God. He proclaimed and embodied the servant spirit that lies at the heart of God—what the Johannine community called love. Jesus interpreted and expanded Isaiah’s path that leads to peace.

The third dimension of Isaiah’s path to peace is what, it seems to me, is lacking—the people of God (i.e., those of us who are the followers of Jesus) following and embodying the ways of God, offering to the world an alternative to war.

As a Spirit-shaped and Spirit-guided spiritual community, the church is to be a working model of what God’s ways look like and how they work.

Living out of a Spirit-engrained servant spirit, we challenge the world’s way of using power—over, down against, for personal benefit, at the other’s expense. Following this way of using power is the path that leads to war. Guided by the Spirit to view and value, accept and embrace every person as a beloved child of God, we challenge the us-them mentality the world taught us to use to establish our identity and reinforce our sense of superiority over others. (“I’m not like them; I’m better than them.”) As a result, our spiritual communities transcend the cultural and social distinctions around which we commonly segregate ourselves (Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 3:11). Following the ways of grace and forgiveness, we embody a workable alternative to the world’s spirit of harbored hurt, anger, resentment, and retaliation. Living out of the peace of Christ (John 14:27), we move beyond the innately human inclination of projecting our unaddressed and unresolved inner pain and turmoil onto others. We move beyond judging and condemning, rejecting and excluding. We offer a place of unconditional acceptance and forgiveness in which individuals can address their unresolved issues and pain. We build a community that fosters healing and growth, leading to emotional-relational-spiritual maturity. In additional to addressing personal issues, we address the societal hurts of our local community—the pain of the situation along with the factors that create the situation.

As a spiritual community living the ways of God that Jesus taught, we fill our role in the path that leads to peace. We provide a foretaste of peace on earth.

The path to peace on earth is shaped by the servant ways of God. God does not come down to impose God’s ways on us. (Some theologies about the second coming of Christ follow this power-over way of thinking.) Rather, God comes to us, living among us as Immanuel, God with us. As Immanuel, Jesus teaches us the grace-based, servant ways of God, inviting us to embrace them for ourselves. As we open our lives to God and God’s grace, the Spirit—God with us today—transforms our hearts and minds, healing the pain of unrecognized, unaddressed, and unresolved issues from our past. The Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God so that we love as Jesus loved. We love those Jesus loved. We become God’s partners in creating a God-shaped world patterned after the ways of God. We contribute to God’s work of bring peace on earth.

This second Sunday of Advent reminds us of God’s promise of peace—peace on earth. It invites us to once again embrace the vision of peace on earth. It calls us to fill our role in the path that leads to peace on earth by living in Spirit-guided, Spirit-empowered spiritual community, learning and living the ways of God Jesus taught.