We lit a candle for peace. Yay! So, what? What does that word even mean today – peace? I don’t mean to be rude or dark or cynical, but I feel like it’s one of those words we throw around a bit too easily sometimes...or maybe not enough.
Sometimes we say it in parting, “Peace!” [flashes sideways peace sign] but what do we mean? Do we really want the other person to have peace? Do we want peace between us? Do we just want to be left alone and no longer bothered by the responsibility of interaction?
Of course, some of us never say it at all – except maybe in church. That doesn’t mean that we don’t want peace between us. Maybe it’s just that some of us think that peace is a given as long as no one rocks the boat. Maybe some of us think that talking about peace – wishing each other peace – suggests that we don’t have it, and the idea of needing peace is threatening. Maybe some of us even think that peace is an outdated notion, or that it’s something personal and private, like inner peace.
Merriam-Webster defines “peace” as a state of tranquility or quiet: such as freedom from civil disturbance or a state of security provided for by law; or it could be internal, such as freedom from oppressive thoughts or emotions; or it might be harmony in personal relations; or it could be a time of agreement between governments, particularly to end hostilities; and finally it might be used as a way to ask for silence or calm, like when Jesus looked at the raging storm and said, “Peace.”
OK, Merriam-Webster doesn’t talk about Jesus, but we do. Still, I think it’s really helpful – as we talk about the peace Jesus offers us – to think about the way that this word, peace, impacts so much of our lives – socially, interpersonally, and internally. All these are connected.
With that in mind, it is no wonder that voices that have called out from the founding of our nation to the civil rights movement to those that march in the streets today to say that there can be no peace without justice. If peace is not just a state of tranquility but instead a way of being that creates tranquility between us, within us, and throughout the systems and structures in which we express unity and shared values, then the biggest threat to peace is imbalance, inequality, and unfairness (aka, injustice).
Peace, then, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., is not simply the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice. Justice – or righteousness as the NRSV translates it – is actually what our text calls to wrestle with today!
Last Sunday we talked about hope, and we talked about the way that Mark’s gospel skips right over the manger and into the Jordan river because the hope that we have in Jesus is not found in the manger. It’s found in the empty cross. I still believe that is true, and I think it’s important to remember that our hope comes from the empty cross as we light candles for hope and peace.
Now, in Matthew’s Gospel, we find out what makes for peace for those who follow the way of the cross; and it’s baked into the story of the line and house of David; and it’s baked into the experience of Joseph, even though all we know from Matthew’s gospel is that he’s a righteous man.
We didn’t read about the line of David today, but I encourage you to go back and read it on your own. One of the things that stands out is that there are three women listed. At first, you may think, “Why only three?” but then you might wonder, “Why these three?” Women weren’t normally considered at all, so the author had to have something in mind here. Two of them aren’t even Jewish, and all three of them are people who were considered to have done bad things. Rather, they did the right thing, even if it was technically or legally the wrong thing.
That’s a bit of a set up for Joseph, who was all but ready to “dismiss Mary quietly” because “he didn’t want to expose her to disgrace.” Hold up. What did he think was going to happen when her pregnancy became obvious? Sure, it would have been legally reasonable for him to divorce her, but the reality is that Joseph is one decision away from being a villain – regardless of the law.
Isn’t that the way it is with all of us when we allow legislation to take the place of empathy and compassion? Isn’t that the way it is with all of us when we expect empathy and compassion to be a given, and we neglect the legislation that our empathy and compassion demand?
Thanks be to God that Joseph wasn’t left to his own devices. Just like another Joseph in our Biblical story, he was warned in a dream and he did the right thing – even though it was not the seemingly correct thing. Just like the three women who came before him, Joseph did the thing that made way for justice. It wasn’t the easy thing – and it demanded everything of him to do it – but it was the right thing.
Later in our story, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus will cry out, “How blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God!” Those who heard him and those who read about it in the early church would have known that Jesus was talking about God’s shalom – the peace that passes understanding; the peace that is too big for any of us to contain; the peace that dwells within and spills out into every place and space, drawing us all in the loving embrace of God!
That loving embrace, that peace, that shalom is why we light a candle for peace, and when we light that candle it's not just a ritual. No, it’s a command to all the earth, “Peace! Be still. Know that God is good.” Not only that, but it is also a proclamation about our expectation that justice will roll down like waters if we can just get past our own preconceived notions about what is good and right and become open to the people and places whose experience is anything but good and right.
That all sounds very theoretical and kind of “virtue signally,” so I want to tell you where I saw people breaking through these expectations this week. Really there were tons, but one stands out. A member of our worshiping community came by and asked to use the copier to scan some documents to a jump drive. She was working on an immigration case for a man from Cameroon. She showed me a picture of his burned-out shell of a house where ICE is trying to send him.
Then she informed me that J. Herbert Nelson, the Stated Clerk of the PC(USA), has issued a call for prayer for Cameroon (you’d think I would’ve known). At the time I remember thinking, ‘I wonder how come I never hear anyone talking about the faith of all these immigrants from these war-torn countries, some of which we’ve helped destabilize?” Well, lo and behold, she called me a few hours later and said, “This guy’s a Presbyterian! He’s got family in Ohio. Are there any congregations up there we can connect him to?”
I checked in with a few colleagues and I posted something on a PC(USA) leadership forum and within 24 hours we had an avalanche of love pouring out from Pastors and Ruling Elders trying to get this brother in Christ connected to a congregation in a town where he has family and other systems of support! I don’t know if his case has been cleared yet, but I can tell you that the Body of Christ that is the church is working on it.
That, my friends, is what makes for peace for those who follow the way of the cross. You might not be called on to tackle something as big as an asylum-seeking immigrant case, or you might just be a drop of water in the flood of justice and righteousness. Maybe God will call you to some other task. Maybe God is calling you right now to make it known that peace is in our midst as long as we can do the right thing even when it may not be the correct thing.
Regardless of all that, here’s the beautiful thing: when we remain complete in our union with God, especially when in conflict, we can’t help but offer God’s peace to others. It’s like when a child carries a bucket that is too full of water and it just sloshes all over the place! The waters of justice and righteousness are like that – they can’t be contained, but they always lead to peace. May that peace, the peace that sometimes disturbs but always moves us toward greater unity with God and one another be with you. Now and always. Amen!
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