Second Sunday of Advent A Light of Peace

On this Second Sunday in Advent, we light the candle dedicated to peace. I have always thought of peace as being somewhat external. Peace is a state of affairs in my family, the community, or world. Peace is a lack of war. It is a sense of security. Peace is an absence of harsh words and anger. It is a time when violence is no more. We yearn for peace and pray it to shower down on us like rain.

I am just beginning to realize that may be backward. Peace is not “out there,” and it is my task to seek it or pray it into existence. That is far too passive. God does not call us to be inactive. Passivity puts the gift of peace out there in someone else’s control. That is entirely wrong. 

God already gave us His peace through His Son, once and for all time. We already have it.   It is a free gift; we must simply open our hearts and accept it. The world’s peace is an inch deep and easily disturbed. God’s peace is intrinsically bound to the very cells that make up our body. It is a “cellular peace.”

Jesus said, “I give you peace but not as the world gives it.” His peace is not an inch deep it is in the very marrow of our bones.

The peace of Jesus is something that keeps us bound to God no matter the unrest or the chaos of our life. Jesus’ peace is dynamic, energizing, and engaging. The peace Jesus promised is not meant to calm but to energize. Jesus’ peace is robust, forthright, and demanding. It is vibrant and powerful. It is not intended to bring a state of sedation.

The peace of God incarnate is awe-filled and overwhelming. The peace that came into the world at Christmas is a siren’s call. We must come to terms with ourselves and push the junk of our lives out of the way. It is a call to make room for God and to allow Him to take up residence in the very cells of our bodies. In Advent, we are being asked to not seek a faith life filled with quiet contentment. We are being asked to seek power and light from within that no amount of darkness, however profound, can overpower. We are challenged to live and move and have our being in God as Jesus did. That is the gift of peace. This is the light of the second week of Advent.

No one ever faced more discord and unrest than Jesus did. He met the Pharisees’ hatred, the challenges by the government, accusations of working with the devil, personal loss, extreme abuse, abandonment, and even death. But the peace that was within him, at His cell level, never left Him. He handled adversity and all manner of upset without losing the nucleus of peace that held together His being. He gave us that gift of “cellular peace” when he promised His peace — a peace the world cannot provide.

When we hold the cellular peace of Jesus at the center of our lives, we can stand in the middle of the angst of our world and speak God’s truth. We do so without the fear of losing heart or being swallowed by judgment. When we are centered in God’s peace, we can coexist with unrest and anxiety. Rather than being overpowered by upset, we transform it. Our cellular peace changes hearts and brings about the Kingdom of God. 

Advent peace, the peace of God, is fearless. It is standing for His message of love in a world stormy with discontent. God’s peace is vibrant and powerful, and when we accept it, it becomes cellular and takes possession of us. We become indispensable and robust witnesses to the Gospel. God is not incarnate among us, so we can float along through life without worry, pain, or anxiety. God is incarnate among us to give us a confident peace that will transcend and transform both our personal and the world’s turmoil and bring about the Kingdom of God. 

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen