Dave's Ministerial Musings (December 2013 Newsletter)
By Rev. David Wilson Rogers | November 27, 2013
I spend a lot of my meditation time contemplating the realities of our world and the culture in which we all live. As Advent begins to break forth into my prayer time and we all prepare for the annual celebration of Christ’s birth, there is a common phrase from the story of the season that dominates my mind. “Peace on Earth.”
As I reflect back on the birth story in Luke 2:14 where the angels proclaim “Peace on Earth,” I find it striking that it is a reality we have yet to fully realize.
If Jesus was born to bring peace, why then have we known so much war? Why is the sin of domestic violence still destroying families? Why are politicians pronouncing vile accusations against other politicians? Why are our prisons overflowing? (Am I beginning to sound like an annoying two-year-old?)
Some ancient translations of verse 14 continue to read, “good will among men (or people), and some read “peace among those whom he favors.”
Both translations are relevant and hold the key to understanding why, after 2,000 years, we still struggle for peace. We are going about it all wrong!
When the angels announce God’s peace, the promise lies in our willingness to accept that peace through recognition that it is a peace promised to all whom God favors and is achieved by seeking out the truth of that peace among those people.
Whom does God love? By virtue of our all being created in God’s image and called good, those whom God favors are all humans!
Notice there is no qualifier for race, creed, language, gender, sexual orientation, economic power, educational level, or position in the society. It is peace to all when we are willing to live as God’s divine all, and stop living by terms of what’s only best for me and those like me.
Peace on earth comes only through working toward the common good of all humanity. Particular doctrinal belief systems, scriptural interpretations, political affiliations, must point toward the common good that is Jesus. —Dave