Well, no doubt Herman was in trouble and going the wrong way. Often God’s people are doing the same thing. John the Baptist looked out on the freeway of God’s plan for the world, and saw that most everyone was going the wrong way. In fierce, fiery language he told the people to turn around and get going the right way, for the Lord God was about to collide with everything in the world that was going the wrong way and sight would not be pretty. For God is driving his creation one way, the way of reconciliation and healing, while humanity, like Herman, is almost always headed the wrong way: into cliques, divisions, hostilities, violence, and war.
But though John saw that violence would be the result of God bringing in the Kingdom, violence was not God’s goal or ultimate dream. Wrong way movers and shakers often think violence is the answer. Certainly the religious leaders and the Roman governor thought that their violent act of nailing Jesus to the Cross was the triumphant end of the matter. But Easter Sunday, when Christ rose from the dead, showed the world that there is something greater than violence and death in the Universe. The way of God is life, not death, and the path of Christ is peace, not war. That’s why Paul wrote to the Colossians, And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God. (Col. 1:20) Christ is the realization in history of God’s dream of peace, of the day when the wolf snuggles up to the lamb and the calf no longer has reason to run from the lion, and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11)
A little child, meaning Christ, the one born of Mary in Bethlehem. What did the angels sing over the fields outside of town that night? "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and good will among people!" (Luke 2) That’s the meaning and reason for the season!
The angels’ song over the shepherds goes right to the heart of the gospel, and is echoed in our holy liturgy: near the beginning we sing the Kyrie, "In peace, in peace, let us pray to the Lord." "For the reign of God and for peace throughout the world…" And as the liturgy concludes the assisting minister sends us on our way, with "Go in peace. Serve the Lord." From beginning to end, it’s all about peace, the peace of the Lord. And so we all answer, "Thanks be to God."
Thanks be to God, whose ultimate will is the peace for the world. Thanks be to God for Christ, the Prince of Peace, who came among us on earth to show us what a life of peace looks like, and thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit, who gave birth to the church, as a community of peace on earth. Our congregation, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and all churches are called to be places where peace is shared in a war torn by hostilities and violence.
"In peace, in peace, let us pray to the Lord." What we express liturgically is not merely a footnote to other concerns, but is the main concern. Peace ought to be the very quality of the life of the Christian church. That’s why the St. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. Being Christians and living in peace are two sides of the same coin.
But because of sin, Christians have a hard time with peace. Like Herman the freeway driver, Christians often get confused and head the wrong way. Divided into denominations and other alliances, Christians take mean shots at each other and even refuse to honor one another as brothers and sisters in Christ! In the last few years the experience of many congregations, including Lutheran ones, is that dissension has reached such levels that churches are being torn apart. So now workshops are being arranged to teach people how to deal with hot issues without ending up screaming at and hating one another. In our Synod there is one coming up near the end of January. The process is called "Holy Conversation" and what that basically means is what seems to be so hard these days for so many: in midst of deep disagreements over important issues, to still be able to live in peace with one another—a sign, I would say, of true community in Christ. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow his way are called to be peacemakers.
In other words, "In peace, in peace, let us pray to the Lord" needs to be also, "In peace, in peace, let us live in the Lord"—if we want to be a church that makes a difference in the world. We need to pray for peace, live for peace, and have Christ’s mind of peace. But when feelings run deep that never easy. We need to give up on always being right, which for many of us tends to feel like we are being nailed to a Cross ourselves.
Little Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his mother that he had thought it over and then had said a prayer. "Wonderful!" said the pleased mother. "If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," said Johnny. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."
Peace is never easy, not in our homes, in our churches, or in our world, and yet, how much more peace there would be if we would just pray that others would be given the strength of spirit to put up with us! After all, the clear knowledge that we ourselves are misbehaving sinners is the beginning of wisdom; we are blessed when others have enough Christ in them to put up with us!
Once we start seeing things that way—that we personally aren’t perfect and don’t need to be--we are turning around and heading the right way with God—heading toward the healing, reconciliation and peace Christ came to be and give. For while there is violence, struggle, heartache, and war in the world, peace is the work of the Church.
Believing that, "we do the liturgy and we disperse, trusting that the peace of God in Christ Jesus, ‘which surpasses all understanding’ (Philippians 4:7), goes with us and prepares us to be peacemakers. ‘Go in Peace. Serve the Lord.’"* And let all God’s people say, "Thanks be to God!" And then let’s go out and head the right way on the highway of life. Amen.