Advent Week 2 - Peace
What does peace look like in a time where so much feels unsettled?
Peace is not really a feeling I would personally associate with this year, this month, this week...(anyone else singing the Friends theme song?). Yet, even in the midst of so many feelings of chaos, unsettledness, and unknowns, there are moments of peace to be found and to be made.
This second week of Advent calls our attention to peace. Christ is a bringer of peace, and in this time of Advent we reflect on the ways God through Christ has already brought peace, will continue to bring peace, and will bring even more peace in the future. You know, a part of that whole "was, and is, and is yet to come" thing.
In Christ we find peace in the midst of chaos,
and we look forward to the day that Christ comes and brings a fuller peace among us.
In Christ we find peace in the midst of violence and hostility,
and we look forward to the day that Christ comes and breaks downs the barriers that divide us - bringing peace among us.
In Christ we find peace in the midst of the busyness we get caught up in,
and we look forward to the day that Christ will bring about such peace that we can't help but pause and rest in it - bringing true peace among us.
It's nice to talk about the ways we look forward to the peace of Christ becoming fully present, but it can get tiring to only think about this peace as something that is yet to come; something that we desperately hope for. But here is the thing about the presence of Christ, while it is something we wait for in Advent, it is something that we also already experience through each other and through the Holy Spirit as a result of Christ being present with us in the waiting. We have been given a gift of peace that we can accept and pass on to others - not as peacekeepers, but as peacemakers.
As we wait for Christ's birth (with hope) we can live into the peace we have received by making peace where there is chaos. We can live into the peace we have received by making peace where there is hostility. We can live into the peace we have received by resting in the peace of Christ now as we wait for the deep and loving peace of Christ we will receive in the future. The ways we live into this peacemaking does not have to be extreme - it can be subtle and simple, or it can be big and momentous. But either way, it is active and embodied as we live out the peace of Christ in our waiting.
Maybe being a peacemaker looks like...calling out injustices and shaking up systems of oppression.
Maybe being a peacemaker looks like... having a hard conversation with a family member or friend.
Maybe being a peacemaker looks like... being a calm presence in the midst of whatever chaos you find yourself in.
Maybe being a peacemaker looks like... intentionally spending some time resting and finding a peaceful moment in the midst of a busy or chaotic day.
There are a number of ways we can find and make peace.
Being a peacemaker doesn't mean maintaining the status quo or keeping things the way they are. It means living into the peace of Christ within us in a way that brings peace to others, now, even as we wait.
One of my favorite songs is Your Peace Will Make Us One by Audrey Assad and I think it perfectly portrays the peace of Christ we long for, hope for, and strive to embody. I hope it blesses you as it does me.
The peace of Christ be with you.
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