Advent 2 C + Messengers of peace and resistance + 12.8.24

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Baruch 5:1-9; Canticle 16; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6)


The current show “The Chosen” focuses on an imagined version of how Jesus gathered disciples from many Jewish groups that were feeling the weight of Roman imperial rule in first century Palestine. One such group was the zealots of whom Simon was one. In the show Jesus shows Simon a way of being and of helping change the world that is not focused on violent engagement.

Our Living Compass Advent devotional this year is focused on peace. Peace that goes beyond the absence of conflict and can actually, like a river, be disruptive in remaking our lives anew. This is the peace of Jesus.

And this is the peace to which John the Baptist points in today's passage from the gospel of Luke. As Troy Troftgruben says, ancient historian “Josephus reports there were many leaders at this time who gathered people in wilderness areas, mostly for militaristic causes. But John’s ministry of social renewal and transformation was not militant—and his legacy was more historically enduring.”[1]

John was out in the wilderness space amongst many who were trying to remake society, but he showed a way to do so that was peaceful. For Christians, there is often a tension between peace and engagement- between action and contemplation. We must act, but also seek the way of peace internally and externally.

So often we fall prey to the temptation to fix that which is wrong with force. But the most powerful thing we can do in a world that has gone mad with violence is to cultivate peace. And this must begin within.

Just as we venture into wilderness spaces during Lent, we can do something similar for Advent, finding small moments in the busy - ness of life to seek time to be with God - reading our devotional booklet, our Bible, praying a rosary Anglican or Roman Catholic style, walking meditatively, coloring or journaling. Some of this may seem small and even self-indulgent in this busy time, but take the time. It is worth it. You are worth it! Your relationship with God is worth it.

And trust that even now God is working with us to make the ways smooth that will need to be made smooth.

A colleague told me this week that the reason for the smoothing of the roads in our reading today came from a tradition in the ancient Near East. When a king was coming to town, folks would literally carve a new road as a sort of red carpet for the king to travel on. In the same way God is making a way in the wilderness, but we must also give the welcome and carve the way in our hearts. This time spent with God helps us be more open to God's will.

Speaking of wrestling with creating peace in our hearts in turbulent times, we see the struggle with the tension between action and contemplation in the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a Lutheran pastor who came from a family of varied religious background.  In part through his experience of learning about racism in the USA and his religious experience in the Black Baptist church, he was able to see through the lie of Nazi Germany. He confronted the church not to embrace the Third Reich. He also took a small part in a plot to assassinate Hitler but a few different people have told me this week that he focused on living a life of peace.

I heard from Fr. Ron Dybvig this week that Bonhoeffer felt torn. He was a person of peace, and he wanted to do something to combat Hitler. This internal struggle makes a lot of sense to me and I feel that those of us who seek peace must find a way to wrestle with these questions. Are we as Christians always called to nonviolence, a path I have always admired? What about the proponents of Just War Theory? We follow the Prince of Peace. We must be willing to risk the cross to follow him, but is the cross ever a way of violence?
Regardless of where you land in this age-old debate, both contemplation and action are key to living the Christian life. We are entering a season in our world in which we may need to also know when to take a stand for what is right and when our main focus should be to dialogue with those of other faiths. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s example reminds us of the bravery it takes to show not only one’s country but also sometimes one’s church how to be a Christian.

One organization that may be a North Star for us in standing up in this time is our diocesan Sacred Resistance Group. They will be having an in person and Zoom meeting this Tuesday night. Unfortunately, I have a longstanding conflict that night but perhaps someone would like to attend in my stead and learn about their efforts to protect immigrants and others who may feel at risk in the coming months. We must be ready for action.

At the same time, we need peacemakers, and these things are not necessarily opposites. We don’t all think alike and church has the opportunity to be a space for connection across difference. A friend this week shared a summary of a book by Ephrem Arcement called The Shape of the Church: Seven Dimensions of Ecclesial wholeness (2024). It focuses on seven aspects of the church that will help it thrive beyond just numbers in the pews. One thing my friend said was that the conservatives- those who wish to maintain tradition, and the progressives, or those who seek change in the church, need each other. He asserted that the prophetic voice is both voices together- to hold onto our heritage on the one hand and to call us into the new reality God has in store for us in the other. As an Anglican, this makes a lot of sense to me. We need scripture or God’s word, our reason or the way we are interpreting the facts here and now, and our tradition to make sense of God’s call in our lives at this moment.
And so, we return. To the wilderness with ourselves, to prayer and openness with God. To working together in solidarity and in community, but always with our eyes focused on the forerunner, and from him always, always, focused on the Prince of Peace. This will entail diving deep into our personal contemplation so that we feel grounded for any action we feel called to do, action I hope is infused with peace but engaged with the struggles of the world. As we engage with the world’s pain, we trust that though we may be baptized with fire, God’s peace will ultimately prevail. God is making a way for us, and our salvation is at hand! We must clear a road in our hearts for God too this Advent. So that one day, hopefully soon, we too will sing with Zechariah, father of John the Baptist: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free.” Amen.

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