Peace - Part 2: the 2nd Sunday of Advent

The Advent message of peace centers on the Messianic King, the Prince of Peace. One of the primary Advent texts about peace and this Prince of Peace is Isaiah 9:2-7. 

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this (Isaiah 9:2-7, NRSV).

It seems to me that - in our focus on "a child has been born for us" - we a prone to overlook the context and the thrust of this great text.

"The people who walked in darkness" were the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. These two tribes, located in the far north regions of the land of Israel, were the first to experience the invading armies from the north. In the historical context of this passage, the invading armies were the armies of Assyria. The darkness in which these tribes lived was the darkness of foreign domination. They had been overrun by the armies of Assyria, falling under Assyria's control, in 733 B.C.E. before the rest of the nation fell to Assyria in 722 B.C.E. 

The joy the nation experienced (verse 3) was the end of their domination at the hands of their enemies. "The yoke of their burden, and the rod of their oppressor" had been broken (verse 4). They had been set free. War had ended. "All the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire" (verse 5). 

The backdrop of this text is war, specifically the war between Assyria and Israel.

When we overlook this context, we miss the thrust of the text. 

The "child born for us" is a new king - the messianic king, the descendant of David (verses 6-7). This king's reign would usher in "endless peace," that is, an end to war. The key to this peace was what shaped the king's rule: "He will establish and uphold (the throne of David) with justice and righteousness" (verse 7). 

Justice and righteousness were covenant terms frequently used by the Hebrew prophets. They were terms used in reference to the ways of God. Justice was not a legal term as we commonly think of justice. Rather, justice referred to power and how power was used. It spoke of power used on behalf of the powerless and most vulnerable - the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the oppressed. See Isaiah 1:17. Rather than using power against the powerless, exploiting them for personal advantage (the way we humans commonly use power), power was used to advocate for and empower the powerless. Righteousness was always linked with justice. Righteousness grows out of and is the expression of justice - using power on behalf of the powerless. Righteousness was the term used to describe living in right relationship within the covenant community, helping and supporting one another. 

The thrust of the text is that peace, specifically the end of war, comes as we embrace the ways of God as our own. Rather than waiting for someone from the outside to deliver us, we use our power to serve, particularly the most powerless and vulnerable. 

Jesus was clear that he and those who were his followers used power to serve. In Mark 10:41-45, Jesus drew a contrast between how power is used in the world and how he and his followers used power. 

You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:41-45). 

Jesus used two phrases to describe the world’s way of using power: lord it over, tyrants. The way we humans commonly use power follows the pattern of power over, down against, for personal gain, at the other’s expense. We commonly use power for our own benefit. And we commonly use power against others. This is how Assyria used its power against the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali and, ultimately, against the nation of Israel. It used its power to conquer and destroy them. It used power violently. In contrast to the way the world uses power, Jesus and his followers follow a different pattern of using power. They (we) use power the way a servant uses power: alongside of, on behalf of, for the good of, at personal expense. 

During the Advent and Christmas seasons, we remember and long for the time of endless peace when "the wolf shall live with the lamb, the calf and the lion and the fatling together" (Isaiah 11:6). But these holy seasons are designed to do more than stir such longings. They are a call to embrace the ways of the Messiah - the ways of God. They are a call to live the ways of justice and righteousness. They are a call to abandon the violent use of power down against others for our own personal advantage. They are a call to use power to serve. Or, to use different language, they are a call to love as Jesus loved.  

Until we heed this call, we reduce the Advent and Christmas seasons into mere sentimentality. We remain unchanged, living like everyone else, using our many forms of power for our own advantage, unknowingly using our power violently against others. 

The theme of this second Sunday of Advent is peace. It calls us to embrace the ways of God which lead to peace. It calls us to wage peace instead of war.