Devotional Messages

Micah 4:1, 3-5 – In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. … He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into fishing hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.  (NRSV)

What does it mean to pray for peace in a time of war?  What does it mean to sing of peace when violence rages in our streets and all around the world?  What does it mean to be a people proclaiming a gospel that starts with “Fear Not” when there is so much to be afraid of?

Our world seems swirling in violence tonight.  Elders shot at dance studios and immigrants in fields working.  Black men brutalized in the streets by law enforcement.  Women trying to hide from violence inflicted by loved ones.  The Holy Land awash in violent oppression and violent resistance.  War raging in Ukraine and unrest so many other places.

We cannot be like the false prophets of old who chanted “peace, peace” when there was no peace.  Even in the midst of a time of celebration, we must proclaim the painful truths of our world, the brokenness and violence and despair.  For our gospel is a gospel of truth.  It is a gospel from a God who understands our human pain from the inside out.  It is a gospel of a Savior who cried out from the cross, “How long?”

But we are also a people of hope.  And so we do not avoid speaking of peace.  We speak of peace as way of reminding ourselves not to acquiesce to the current state of violence in which we live.  We speak peace to help one another remember that God longs for our world to be a place where no one is afraid, where human resources and energy are put toward human flourishing rather than violence and destruction.  We speak peace to help ourselves believe that we can make choices that move us in the direction of God’s shalom.  And even if it doesn’t feel like it’s working, making those choices testifies to who and whose we are: people of peace, following the Prince of Peace.

Collect for the Week:  Almighty God, whose peace passes our understanding, grant us hope in the face of despair, that we might continue to sing of your shalom even when war is raging.  Through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Amen.