What if Peace is a verb and not a noun?

One of the wonderful things about the season of  Advent is its rich symbolism— there are so many themes that we are invited to reflect on during this time of year.  Last week,  we were invited through the Gospel to stay alert, to  open our eyes wide—to see what God is up to.

This week and next week get Mr. Camel’s Hair --John the Baptist  eating locusts and wild honey –with repentance on his lips—the invitation to turn away from our own devices and to turn back toward God and God’s way of living.  

The Advent wreath is also symbolic—a circle representing the eternal love of God.

Each candle is symbolic and has different meaning.   One of the candles represents God’s love for us , another  the hope we find in only Christ,  the pink one reminds us of Mary and her joy when she found out that the child of God was within her womb and finally a candle representing peace. 

And it is on this theme of peace that I would like to reflect today.   The Psalm today speaks of a God who speaks peace to his people and a God who’s pathway IS peace.  Isaiah the prophet speaks of the messiah being the prince of peace and the angels announce to the shepherds in the field  a messiah who brings peace to his people on earth.   The word of Peace will be on Christmas cards and adorn  holiday decorations.  

It seems to be everywhere this time of year, except perhaps where it really needs to be.   

Now from what I can surmise there are two kinds of peace that God  brings, that God offers. 

The first is a peace we find personally— a peace given to each of us individually by God it’s the peace that is found in the upper room after the crucifixion—when the disciples are  a huddled mess and scared that they might be next, that there is a cross in their future.  The story goes that all of a sudden the resurrected  Jesus is there and his first words to them is “peace be with you.”  But these are more than words -the words  have power as Jesus  breathes out the spirit of God into their lives and into this mass of fear and they become transformed.  They are are strengthened for their journey. 

This personal peace is the peace God offers us when we rest quietly in prayer.   This personal peace is the peace we find when we say we are sorry—please forgive me.   Or the peace we find when we finally let go of that grudge, when we  let go of that hurt that someone has inflicted upon us and we say we forgive you.  It’s the peace of a thousand pound gorilla being lifted off our backs. It’s a peace of having incredible calm in the midst of swirling chaos. It’s a peace that we see God giving  to his people again and again throughout Holy Scripture.

But there is another peace that God has for the world—a future peace when there will be no more violence and conflict—a time when the Prophet Micah say swords will be beat into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.  A time when nation will not rise again nation.  A time when all people have all that they need to live full happy lives. 

This is the peace I found myself reflecting on this week as the news of more saber rattling was going on between our country and North Korea. This is the peace I hope for when I see  on the news ballistic missiles flying or mass shootings or violence  .  This was the peace I found hoping for as news of the embassy being moved to Jerusalem and the real possibility of more violence and division in a land that is already rife with it. 

This is the peace that I pray for that it is not far off, but that God might have it for us in our world now. 

As I was working on this sermon—I came across this quote about peace by Martin Luther King Jr.-- “One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.” 

When I was a kid—you’re not going to believe me but I was in a children’s choir at my Roman Catholic church.   One of the hymns I remember was a hymn about Peace—it began like this-- “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” 

Does anybody know it?

What if Peace is a verb and not a noun?

What if the peace that God promises begins and starts with us, perhaps it is given to us by God and meant to be shared in and through us and our actions. Maybe our peaceful actions help to usher in the peace that the prophets speak about.

In our Psalm today, we are told that peace and righteousness kiss—that they are related and in some way, I think that peace flows from our righteous actions.

James Howell defines righteousness as the disposition and lifestyle of the holy people of God or said another way more simple--- righteousness means Living in accordance with God’s ways—maybe that is where peace flows from our righteousness, from our goodness.

Maybe peace isn’t all that far off--some distant pie in the sky vision, but maybe it is nearby—maybe it is so close we can touch it—maybe it’s within us and we simply need to release it through our actions toward each other. 

AMEN