Where can I find peace?

Advent IV - Peace

Advent is a season of preparation in the church. There are four Sundays of Advent. This year because of the way the calendar is laid out, we only get 24 hours to prepare on this “week” of advent.

The fourth candle of the Advent wreath represents peace and recalls the words of the angel to the shepherds on the Bethlehem hills:

“Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

Perhaps you are like me – I have heard these words spoken at Christmas for many decades and I see very little peace around me. In fact, I see more broken relationships, more conflict, more animosity between groups of people, more incivility, and more saber rattling by world leaders. There is nothing that gives me any thought that the words of the angel are being fulfilled or have been fulfilled.

I feel like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow looked on the carnage of the Civil War at Christmas1863:

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!" (I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day)

So what did the angel mean?

It is a common approach to interpret the angel’s words on a personal level. That is, Jesus came to the world to restore humanity to peace with God. As a human race we are disconnected from God through our sinful humanity. Jesus, through his death on the cross, has healed the breach between God and man. This interpretation is upheld by St. Paul in Ephesians 2:13-17.

But I want peace on earth!

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. Shalom is more than personal salvation or a personal relationship with God. Shalom is wholeness; it is all of creation reconciled. It is the lamb sleeping with the lion. It is what the creation is groaning for (Romans 8:19-25). The prophetic meaning of shalom is justice. It is living justly – being a shalom people. Seeking the justice of all peoples. Shalom may begin with a personal relationship with God but it does not end there. Any conversation of peace that ends with only a personal salvation is not embracing God’s message of shalom; it is not the message of the angel to the shepherds.

Ronald Friesen © 2017