As Christians we talk about the Peace of God that passes all understanding, so where is this peace and why are we not living it? What is more none of the readings for today really speak of that peace with the exception of the Psalm (85:8), rather they speak of the preparation that is required before the coming of God and God's incarnation. Thus, we hear Isaiah speak of making straight the highway in the wilderness (Is. 40:3) and Mark's Gospel talking about the Baptist crying in the wilderness "prepare the way of the Lord" (Mk. 1:3). So if this Sunday in Advent is about peace and God's peace at that why are we referring to preparation rather than peace itself? Perhaps a reason for this is where we sit in society today as a people and as professed Christians. The reality is that we have not followed the way of God's peace and therefore we can only prepare ourselves and our society for the possibility of that peace when we see God's presence.
Again I suppose with all of these things we need to ask for ourselves what is God's peace or rather what do we mean by peace? At the end of the service we are often sent out with "the peace of God which passes all understanding" and to "go in peace" with an obvious expectation of there being no disruption to life that is lived in the presence of God by perhaps war and violence. Perhaps, this is what we think peace is an absence of violence and violent relationships within society. The root of violence in society is perhaps people thinking differently, so does peace mean and absence of opposing opinions. If that is the case then perhaps we can look at peace being a totalitarian state or an elective dictatorship where every opinion expressed is that of the leader. From this point of view there may be no violence unless it is perpetrated by the state itself, is this the peace we yearn for and is this the peace of God that passes all understanding?
No, for God's peace does not mean that there will be no disagreements or differences of opinion. It does not mean sameness but newness in diversity. It means being able to do things together whilst respecting each other for our diversity in God. It means that we are adults and are able to manage those differences by listening and talking rather than taking offense and arms against those that disagree with us. The Baptist cries out in the wilderness to draw our attention for the need of preparation. Preparation is required because we are to used to achieving our own ends by steamrolling over everyone else. it is our view that matters and everyone can either move with me or get rolled over; my way or the highway. We have to prepare ourselves to begin the process of actually keeping quiet and listening to the other so that we can hear God speaking. We are constantly hearing ourselves so we cannot hear anybody else. We have to still ourselves and prepare to engage in the act of listening, to engage in the act of understanding, to engage in the act of becoming. We cannot just blaze in with all our ideas at the forefront and expect to bring peace in the world when we are unable to listen and understand the needs of the other.
The Baptist cries out in the wilderness because it is only here in the wilderness where no one else is around that the sound of God and the other can be heard over the noise of our own ideals. It is only in hearing the siren song of Gods quiet voice that is insistently calling us to amend our ways by stopping and listening to the coming of God's incarnation and our own change towards an attitude of listening that may presage the coming of God's peace, that passes all our current understanding as it listens to the needs of the other so that they too can have peace.
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