Making Peace (Advent 2) Dec 8

Readings, Mal 3:1-4 and Luke 3:1-6
Image, Pablo Gargallo, The Prophet (St. John the Baptist) (detail), 1933.​
 
Luke precedes his introduction of John the Baptist with a list of the main political players of the time. At one level we could attribute this to Luke’s desire to produce an orderly account that establishes the historical context of his gospel. But even if that is one of his primary motivators, this list of rulers also helps establish a fundamental Advent confession: the Prince of Peace is born into a time of violence.
 
Although, that is not how Tiberious, Pilate, Herod, and Phillip would have seen it. We are right on the cusp of the beginnings of Pax Romana, the celebrated time of peace and economic growth in the Roman Empire which allowed its borders and population to swell. Empires tend to view themselves as the great securers of peace, defenders of freedom, and champions of order, and Rome was no outlier. However, as historians point out, the exalted Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence.[1] It relied on rigid social hierarchies, on coercing marginal and diverse communities to conform to hegemonic values and practices, and continued subjugation of those communities’ denied citizenship and status… communities such as the one into which John and Jesus were born.
 
Luke makes clear, John is preparing a way for Jesus (the Prince of Peace) to enter into this very specific, highly flammable time of contested visions of “peace.”
 
Many of us are likely starting to think about how to keep the peace at Christmas. Whether that be at big family gatherings where you can foresee unhelpful comments or outright conflict, or perhaps preparing to regulate the big, swinging emotions of overwhelmed and out of routine children, or perhaps you’re planning how to get through all the additional errands, tasks, and expectations that pile up in the coming month.
 
In many such cases, peace can be quickly reduced to avoiding conflict, letting sleeping dogs lie, and papering over. Peace can be conflated with serenity, where we trade off inner turmoil for external acquiescence. Perhaps you’ve considered letting go of a tradition, or expectation, but are worried it might produce disappointment. We can all be tempted to decide that the thing that will make for peace this Christmas, is the status quo – even if that’s not really working for us, even if we dread it – we so want to keep the peace.
 
Now this isn’t a sermon about how to manage any of that. You know the specifics of your situation and how you wish to navigate the dynamics that lie ahead. What I am drawing attention to is the varying ways peace can be conceived. That it is easy to reduce peace to not making waves, not upsetting the status quo, of going along to get along. And while I drew these examples from the intimate and domestic, it applies also to the political and social. For how often are protests labelled disruptions of the peace? How often are those who advocate for freedom cast as risks to order and security? How often are those who stand up in the face of indignities decried for their violence?
 
And yet, when we consider Jesus, the one for whom the paths are made straight, the one born of Mary into the domain of these Roman rulers, what kind of peace does he bring? Jesus says it best himself, I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. The peace that Jesus provides is not one satisfied with smoothing over the status quo, is not ready to acquiesce to social, political, and religious norms of power and service, is not occupied with being a model second-class citizen, happy with the security of subordination.
 
No, the peace of Jesus, like the peace of his kingdom, is one that takes umbrage with the false peace of empire, with the spotless veneers placed over so much fear and exploitation. Like Jeremiah before, Jesus is a prophet who denounces those who say peace, peace, when there is no peace. Peace comes through confrontation of the powers that be. Peace comes only through the establishment of a new kingdom, a new reign, a new creation in which the old ways will be judged and we shall all be refined and reformed to live together in ways freed from fear, exploitation, injustice, and indignity.
 
Jesus is the Prince of Peace who sees the unacknowledged firmament of conflict and violence that supports Rome’s imperial splendour, and if we wish to take our place as John did, as Advent voices crying out prepare the way, then we need to be ready to do the same. Ready to recognise when we enjoy peace at the expense of others. Perhaps that’s the political peace and economic prosperity that comes through the abandonment of global neighbours suffering under the yoke of tyranny or the ravages of climate change. Perhaps that’s a plausible family peace that comes through the subtle silencing of those family members whose grievances and experiences are consigned to baskets labelled ‘better left unsaid’ or ‘not the time or place.’ To be followers of the Prince of Peace asks us to name a false peace, to confess the false benefits we have reaped, dismantle old orders and build something new. A something (we hope and pray) that reflects the kingdom Jesus came to announce and promises to again to bring in its fullness. Because this work of seeking an honest and liberative peace is one of those places we see the salvation of God. For it is this, in its perfection and completion, which Advent teaches us to hasten and wait.
 
At Advent we celebrate, that some 2000 years ago, the word of God came to John and he announced the coming of the Prince of Peace into the midst of Roman rule. And the reason we celebrate it, is that despite that Prince’s death at the hands of those charged to keep the peace, that Prince and his kingdom could not be contained by death, nor by imperial norms and purposes (however much, sadly, they have been tragically intertwined and enmeshed since then). The Prince of Peace could not be contained by death, nor silenced by empire, and in this we take courage to follow in his way, risking confrontation and truth, in pursuit of the peace which surpasses all understanding but brings with it justice, joy, and love.   


[1] https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/tom-holland-roman-empire-pax-romana-military-violence/102960376