This week, we continue our Advent series, "Oh, that you would reveal your mystery." On this second Sunday of Advent, we focus on God revealing His peace. This seems very timely and significant given the variety of local, national, and global circumstances that we face or that we see on the news. It was also very timely in the days that Jesus was born.
In Luke 1:26-38 we read that Gabriel came to Mary to announce the news of the impending birth of the son of God. Those days were not easy times for the people of Israel who faced the ongoing Roman occupation. Many were waiting for God to liberate them through military means. They were waiting for God's restoration and shalom as were the people in the days that Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13. They longed for God's peace to come as they returned to lives of faithfulness, and God's peace would come but through entirely different means.
As Ephesians 2:14-18 reminds us, Jesus is our peace. And the work of Jesus is not that of military might or division. The work of Jesus is the reconciliation of two humanities into one humanity. But this is not only the work of Jesus, it is also the work of Jesus' followers.
James 2:18-24 is a reminder that not only is faith without works dead, but that our faith is shown through our deeds. This leads me to wonder if we might say that our efforts to bring about Jesus' peace in the world around us are also works that demonstrate our faith. Only Jesus can bring about the full consummation of peace in our midst, but we can have a significant part in participating in that work. In the process of faithful living, we embody the revelation of God's peace that we seek. "Oh that you might reveal your peace" in and through us.
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