You have probably heard the phrase before, ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all’. That phrase comes from the gospel of Luke, but it is not quite what the text itself says. Let’s read it together:
8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b] praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!”
– Luke 2:8-14, NRSVUE
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours. We do, of course, believe that the peace of Christ is offered to all people, but here the messenger of heaven is specific: glory to God in the highest heaven, and on Earth peace to these people on whom the favour of God rests. It draws our eyes towards the people who are there in this moment, the shepherds who receive the message.
At this moment they and all of Judea are living under the occupation of the Roman Empire through the rule of the client king Herod. They are living outdoors in the fields nearby; they are not, crucially, living inside the shelter of the town wall. It is a dangerous and exposed place to be. In a hundred years’ time, when Hadrian orders the destruction of Bethlehem and desecration of Jesus’ birthplace, the soldiers he sends will walk unhindered through these fields before they arrive at the town itself. If you wanted to find similar people today, the hills and pastures in Scotland would not do. You would need to go to occupied Donetsk or Kherson in Ukraine, or some other place where the people have been subject to violence and where their lives are no longer their own. These are the people who receive the good news, who are invited in to witness the birth of a saviour who will deliver them and a Lord who will stand in authority over and above the Roman Empire, and every empire which follows it.
It is easy to talk about peace in a country which is at peace, but when you promise peace to people living with violence those words become heavy with urgency. The fact that the coming of Jesus is pronounced in this way to these people humbles me and brings me great hope. It brings me hope because, like many of us, I feel the tension of the moment we are living, of increasing polarisation and global crisis and war which is no longer all that far from us. It humbles me because I know that much of that violence is still far from me, and that if I had been in this scene at this time I would not have been living out in the fields but inside the city wall.
This is the invitation and the challenge at advent. The invitation in a time of global violence to behold and give glory to Christ who comes to bring peace, and the challenge to go and share the good news of Jesus coming with others, particularly those in our country fleeing violence and persecution. May we know the peace of Christ and be carriers of his presence into our communities this advent.
Blessings,
Lal Dhillon