In this morning’s gospel reading, we have the annual Advent appearance of John the Baptist, the one tasked with announcing the ministry of his cousin, Jesus, and pushing people to reorient their lives toward the Kingdom of God. Because John shows up every Advent, one of the tasks for preachers is to make sure we’re not saying exactly the same thing year after year.
So I looked back at what I
preached a year ago, and found strong similarities between my initial preaching
hunches this year, and where this gospel lesson led me last year. But rather than calling me away from this
angle of approach, to find another way in, I’m going to lift a paragraph from last
year’s sermon and say it again on this 2nd Sunday of Advent 2025, the Sunday of
Peace: “If we understand peace as a stress-free state of being where
everything’s nice and chill, it seems odd to be talking about John the Baptist
on the Sunday of Peace. However, peace –
the broad and beautiful Jewish concept of shalom - is so much more than
that. Shalom, as defined by Jewish
journalist Susan Perlman, is about peace but also wholeness, completeness,
soundness, health, safety and wide-spread, available prosperity…. In order for
there to be peace, there needs to be justice.
In order for there to be justice, there needs to be a desire for equity,
a levelling out of wealth and resources, likely with some overbalance in order
to get there, a removal of all manner of barriers so that there is fair
opportunity for everyone to experience shalom. Such peace, justice and equity
will come only if the systems change, systems that continually fill the pockets
and bellies of those who have more than enough while others go empty, away.”
It's a bit precious to quote
oneself, so enough of that. But the
reason I was drawn to say it again, is that this year 2025 has been dominated
by things very much the opposite of this broad, beautiful notion of peace.
I yearn for peace in its
simplest form. I tend to live a pretty
quiet life, I grew up in a pretty peaceful family, and when our kids were
growing up people would comment about how much calmness they brought with
them. This being the case, when I hear
the word peace, my first association is this kind of mellow, harmonious
tranquility. A week ago, in retreat time
on Vancouver Island, I was reminded of how much my soul needs not just quiet
placidness, but full-on tranquility, the kind one finds in a tree-lined trail
and the sounds of running water as it cascades and gurgles through rapids and
streams. The classic words of the 23rd
Psalm, which speak of walking with our Shepherd God “beside still waters” and
the way that this “restoreth my soul” are so apt; solitude in nature opens us
to an important aspect of peace, especially at a time of year when seasonal
activities ramp up and a flurry of gift-buying can be anything but peaceful.
My second association with
the word peace, beyond placid tranquility, is the way it’s used all the time in
the news, that is, peace as the absence of war.
On October 9th a truce was settled between Hamas and the
state of Israel, and even as we hope and pray that the truce will hold, anything
truly resembling peace in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel is a long, long way
off. In Ukraine, the war is nearing the
four year mark, and we hear a lot of bluster from narcissistic world leaders
bragging about their role in establishing peace while at the same time
wondering aloud if now would be a good time for a war. In northeastern Nigeria,
continuing abductions by the Boko Haram chill me to the core as I try to
imagine what it would be like to live in a situation where the threat is so
present and unpredictable. Yesterday, Canada
marked the 36th anniversary of the Montreal massacre at Ecole
Polytechnique, and we lament the ways that gender-based violence of all sorts
makes life a living hell for so many. Peace, in this sense – being able to sleep
soundly at night without being targeted by personal or political violence –
remains a key part of God’s plan for the world, even though it is so elusive.
But the thing that really
strikes me as 2025 mercifully draws to a close, is the way that the “John the
Baptists” in our world today, those who do not remain silent in the presence of
injustice, are so very essential to the establishment of a peace that goes
beyond tranquility, a peace that transcends signatures on a peace treaty. This is the fullness of the Shalom embodied
by Jesus, insistently announced by John the Baptist, the peace demanded when truth-tellers
speak out. As the rights of trans
children and their parents get wiped out in parts of Canada, including our
neighbours to the east, Calgary based organizations like Skipping Stone and our
United Church affiliate, Affirming Connections, bring the consequences of this
targeting into the light of day. As immigrants
south of the border and in many nations get scapegoated for everything, as the
heartbreaking stories of Indigenous Residential
School survivors get intentionally disbelieved by some members of our own
provincial legislature, as the needs of this planet are casually set aside, it
is so important to have the right to protest, and to have media voices that are
committed to principles of fairness, diversity and verifiability, unafraid of
state retribution is they step out of line, to open our eyes and ears and
hearts. As the world in 2025 has been held
captive by the wild whims of a small handful of elected leaders and captains of
industry, we know all too well that just being silent about the evils of the
world does not equate to peace. Trying
not to rock the boat does not move us in directions that honour God.
As jarring as it is to hear
the baptizer thundering “you brood of vipers” at the crowds who had come to
hear him, John was doing the groundwork needed for people to actually engage
Jesus, the Christ. John pushed people to
change the very foundations of their lives, not just plaster over the problems.
He was infuriated by the inaction of supposedly good-hearted people whose pious
words and intentions were just for show. And, just like his cousin, Jesus, John
the Baptist paid for opposing the status quo with his life.
One of the heroes of my
childhood was another God-follower, who paid that same ultimate price for being
a “John the Baptist” figure in his day, and proclaiming the good news of Jesus,
our lover and liberator. Preaching in 1956 at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared these memorable
words at the time of the Montgomery bus boycotts. I share them, in the language of the day in
which he wrote them:
“I
had a long talk the other day with a man about this bus situation. He discussed
the peace being destroyed in the community, the destroying of good race
relations. I agreed that it is more tension now. But peace is not merely the
absence of this tension, but the presence of justice. And even if we didn’t
have this tension, we still wouldn’t have positive peace. Yes it is true that
if the Negro accept his place, accepts exploitation, and injustice, there will
be peace. But it would be an obnoxious peace. It would be a peace that boiled
down to stagnant complicity, deadening passivity and If peace means this, I don’t
want peace:
· If peace means accepting second class citizenship, I don’t
want it.
· If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of
injustice and evil, I don’t want it.
· If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening
status quo, I don’t want peace.
· If peace means a willingness to be exploited
economically, dominated politically, humiliated and segregated, I don’t want
peace. In a passive non-violent manner we must revolt against this peace”.
And then Dr. King concludes,
“Jesus says in substance, ‘I will not be content until justice, goodwill,
brotherhood, love yes, the kingdom of God are established upon the earth. This
is real peace. Peace is the presence of positive good’.”
“Peace is the presence of positive good.” What a beautiful, simple way to put it. And that’s where I want to leave things on this Second Sunday of Advent, 2025, the Sunday of Peace. In our individual lives, in our life as a faith community, in our life as The United Church of Canada, may we be people whose lives depend on the presence of positive good. In our neighbourhoods, in our towns of Oliver and Osoyoos, as residents of BC and citizens of Canada, may we be people who want the wide-spread presence of positive good. While I still find it challenging to hear the Advent ravings of John the Baptist at the same time that I want the placid, harmonious, tranquil version of the Christmas proclamation, “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward all people”, I give thanks for the baptizer’s reality check at this time of year. And so we lift our prayers for peace: peace that is substantive, just, and filled with the glory of God. Amen.
References consulted/cited:.
Geopolitical Monitor. https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/map-boko-haram-nigeria-020915/
Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/commemorations-celebrations/16-days/national-day-remembrance.html
Jabakhanji, Sara and Bruce,
Graeme. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-ceasefire-violations-tracker-9.6990252
King, Martin Luther Jr. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/when-peace-becomes-obnoxious
Perlman, Susan. https://inheritmag.com/articles/what-is-shalom-the-true-meaning
© 2025 Rev Greg Wooley, Osoyoos-Oliver United Church Pastoral Charge
