Search
December 4, 2022: The Prince of Peace is Coming
-
It's an issue that has affected every generation of Christians since Jesus walked out of the tomb. There were probably some pre-Christian generations before the Word was made flesh, making his dwelling among us, who were supremely cognizant of this issue in their own way. It’s an issue that is not owned by one generation over against another generation. At times, the issue cries out from the depths of human hearts more than it will at other times, for sure. And such times may be within the span of one average human lifetime. It may even happen twice in a lifetime if a person lives long enough, or, at certain times when this issue will cross
paths with its opposite. The issue I refer to is peace. The opposite is war.
There’s the personal peace within we seek in our daily living. The better – if not the best - way of trying to capture a semblance of personal peace is through personal prayer. Personal prayer will allow a person’s heart to experience a touch of peace with God, through the Spirit, that at least allows us to know that some degree of peace is possible here. Without daily, personal prayer, I personally lack an understanding of how authentic peace would be possible. I consider my own prayer life and where my personal thoughts would lie on the issues of internal peace and war, how I would relate to the world we live in, and shudder to think how little peace would be captured without inviting the Lord Jesus into my daily life. Without Christ, I know for certain I would be at war with this world and many of its people. Heck, it’s hard enough to avoid not being at war with others with Jesus as the cornerstone and capstone of my life. But I know beyond any doubt how difficult it would be to avoid internal war without communicating with the Lord Jesus through daily personal prayer, reminding myself to lighten up at times, and that God remains in control of the messy mess.
I’ve known at least two people whom I’ve heard mention peace through dreams they’ve had in their lives. Both made the same basic comment about it - the level of peace they experienced was far beyond anything they could know in their lives outside their dream. One does well not to dismiss such talk. When a person speaks about peace in this way, the last thing I would consider about them is how odd the dream may be. I’m far from an expert on dreams and how they work. In fact, I’m quite the amateur on this subject. But I do trust that God will send his grace through dreams to people who, for one reason or another, are greatly bothered by the events of a violent world, or, they simply seek the presence of God in a way that reminds them there is something better to come. God bless them, I say. May they never forget such a blessing and grace until they see the Lord face-to-face.
At this present point in history, we address the same issues on peace and war previous generations knew. Both internal and external. The devil is at the heart of both brands of war. The fallen angel who wanted to be God seeks to destroy our relationship with Christ in any way possible. Whatever it takes, only the result matters to Satan. And he will try his efforts of separating us from our Creator and Savior until the last breath we take in this world. I reflect on two Saints in our faith who personally addressed such attempted separation. First, St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, writes how there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord. This, my brothers and sisters, is our strength and surety. If anyone understood the potential separation that could happen between Jesus and us, it was St. Paul. He not only witnessed such separation from God in the pagan world and culture of his time, but also lived the threat of separation from Christ firsthand. The great Apostle knew every angle of the Pitchfork One, but he was so steeped in his love for Christ that Satan had little, or no chance, of separating Paul from his Apostolic duties performed through his love for Christ Jesus. We do well to remember Paul’s example, or that of someone faithful we may know, if we have a present struggle with what some Saints have known as “the dark night of the soul.” We are to trust always in the truth of what St. Paul wrote to the Romans in the first century. There is nothing, not even death, that can separate us from the love of God won for us in the victory of Christ on the Cross. His supreme act of love has created for us, and given to us, an eternal binding that connects us forever to God. There are moments even in priesthood when I need to recall these non-separation loving words of Paul, and live by them.
The second example is that of St. Martin of Tours, a Bishop from the fourth century. On his deathbed, as is read in the Office of Readings every November 11, St. Martin saw the devil standing by him in that moment. He didn’t stop by to say hello and ask, “How you doing?” (And we wonder why we ask Mary to pray for us now and at the hour of our death??). In the last hours of our lives, the lead demon makes one more attempt to separate souls from the Savior of the world. St. Martin had the best line, if you will, directed at Satan in that moment when he told the source of evil to “get away from me you bloodthirsty brute. You will not have my soul.” I hold those words closely even now, well before the hour of my death, giving me peace and closeness with Christ rather than internal war with my loving, saving God. May you four or five readers do the same.
On the other hand, external war is all around us in our world and society. There are times when external war between nations, groups, neighborhoods, families, or any large-scale destruction that is not caused by Mother Nature will be greater than at other times. Living during World War II, for example, which many folks alive can still attest, was a time of violence and horror this world had never seen previously. World War II made the Roman Empire and its peacekeeping efforts through violence look rather minute. I suppose if Caesar had the weapons science has presently created, his violence and death rate would been much, much more destructive and widespread. It would be rather nice to live in a world where such destructive weapons were not present or potentially in use. But if the Roman Empire and leaders had today’s weapons, they would have used them. How so? The use of such warring weapons is not first dependent on the pushing of a button. The use of such weapons has all to do with what’s happening in human hearts. As weapons have become insanely destructive, increasing in destructive force over time, what hasn’t changed is fallen human nature. Adam and Eve have not yet moved out of the neighborhood. But thank God our Lord Jesus has moved in. He is where peace is established, found, realized, and lived. A peace we Christians and all people of goodwill are called to live.
Each year on the second Sunday of Advent, I’m always captured by this first reading from Isaiah. Of how “the cow and the bear shall be neighbors” who will love one another, how “the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb,” inviting the lamb over for dinner without the lamb being the dinner. And, how “the baby shall play by the cobra’s den.” Do not try this at any time, until after Jesus returns in his Second Coming. I love everything about this reading. It portrays the universe at peace. Perfect peace. A level of peace at least two people I know have dreamt. The sort of lasting peace that God alone can bring about. Yes, God alone. Not humans who wrongly think they can create peace absent Divine presence. This is a serious threat today. Where peace is had, or where peace is desired, the Spirit of God must be moving hearts and souls for said peace to last. One need not be a Christian for this wanted result. I think of the great level of peace created between Israel and Egypt by Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat in 1979, a Jew and a Muslim. Here we are, 43 years later, and what they established has held thus far. It’s not a perfect peace by any means. But, they established a level of peace that has undoubtedly saved the lives of countless people residing in those two nations because of their peace treaty. Otherwise, Moses and Pharoah would still be going at it. Rather, God was in their midst, and the wolf is now the guest of the lamb. Take your pick on which is which.
Again, our world has known varying degrees of peace and war in every generation. Even when peace has had the upper hand, war is lurking in the background, the thief looking to break into our home to disrupt it. Even though every generation has not known perfect peace, which will come when Jesus returns, and has known war to some level, our determined search for Christians – and all other religions – is to accept and establish God’s peace in this created order. We know the baby will never play by the cobra’s den, unless the child gets away from their parents unsuspectingly. The result would not be good. However, we hold the solemn responsibility of creating an internal (personal) and external (societal) world that resembles as much as possible Isaiah’s reading of perfect peace. Such peace, and the avoidance of war, begins within our hearts. Do we make the world a better place in this matter, or do we throw warring fuel onto the fire?
Preparing for Christmas and all it means is to create peace around us. And do so as an individual, a nation, a neighborhood, a company, a family, and wherever else it can be spread like mayonnaise. The Prince of Peace is coming. Amen.