I wonder what the shepherds were
talking about under that lone tree in the fields, as they watched their flocks
that night. You know they had to be
talking. What else could shepherds do as
they watched their sheep sleep? Perhaps
one of them expressed worry about his son who was drinking his life away. Perhaps one of them was worried about finances. I imagine it was difficult to support a
family on a night-shift shepherd salary.
Perhaps one was worried about his struggling marriage, which had grown
cold after all those years. The more he
worked at it, the worse it became. Or
maybe they were pondering the recent census ordered by Quirinius and the heavy
taxation soon to follow.
I
don’t know what the shepherds were talking about in the fields that night, but
I know the sorts of discussions 2014 has placed on the table. In this year, we’ve seen the rise of ISIS and
the evil that can be inflicted by radical fundamentalists. We’ve watched in horror as entire towns were
held in their grasp and heads rolled. We
watched as conflicts in Syria and the Ukraine sent entire people groups running
for their lives. We watched as EBOLA spread
and took lives. We watched as racial
conflicts destroyed the illusion of living in a post-racial society. I don’t know what the shepherds were
struggling with that night long ago, but I know the disturbing news which has
sent us to our knees this year.
Into
the midst of their fears and anxieties, the heavens opened and angels sang,
“Glory to God in the highest…and on earth, peace.” Peace.
It
seems absurd to utter that word in our chaotic and fractured world today. When there is animosity between the
religions, tension between the races, division between the classes, and war
between the nations how can we even think of peace? To speak of peace in our day is either
comical on the one hand or revolutionary on the other.
One
neglected aspect of the Christmas story, at least in the way Luke tells it, is
the Roman backdrop to this scene. The whole
story begins with the phrase, “In the days of Caesar Augustus.” These were the days when Rome ruled the
world. Empire was having its way. Might was making right. And of course, Rome, like all empires, couched
their control in the language of peace.
They called it the “Pax Romana” or “peace of Rome.” But the peace of empire isn’t true
peace. It is subjugation and control,
which only lasts as long as you are the big kid on the block. It is not creation in the wyas of God, but
politics in the ways of empire.
But
when Jesus was born as a “Savior, Christ the Lord,” he was born as an
alternative to the ways of Rome. The
peace from the angels that night was a different sort of peace from a different
sort of Lord. It wasn’t the peace that
comes from subduing or killing your enemies, but the peace that comes from
loving them and being reconciled to them.
It’s not the sort of peace that comes from controlling people by overt
force and power, but the sort that comes from inspiring people with authentic
love and service. It’s not the sort of
peace that comes from halls of power; it’s the sort of peace that shows up in
mangers and fields. It’s not the sort of
peace that comes from silencing the other; but the sort of peace that comes
from actually listening to them. It’s
not the sort of peace we achieve through military victory, but the sort of
peace we receive through grace.
It
is a pervasive peace, which begins deep in our own fractured and alien hearts
and spreads from person to person, religion to religion, nation to nation. It allows us to make peace with our own souls
so that we live out of our true selves rather than our false selves. We can be honest about ourselves and with
ourselves. This peace reconciles us to
God, so that we need not keep looking for something else to worship or running
from the One who can’t be escaped. It
brings us closer to people, even those with whom we disagree. It unites and reconciles, bringing together
shepherds and angels, heaven and earth, Rome and Bethlehem.
So,
as we reflect on this Christmas season and all that 2014 brought us, may we
open ourselves to this peace. It is this
peace that that world longs to receive.
It is this peace which God longs to give. It’s almost too good to be true…almost. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth…
peace! PEACE!!!
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