Advent 2: Peace – Guiding our feet
“and you, my child, will be called Prophet of the Most High … to guide our feet into the way of peace”
Scripture reading: Luke 1: 68-79
Meditation
“Today’s Gospel says that Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, which opened his eyes to see the significance of his unborn son, John the Baptist.
“In truth, being baptized with God's Holy Spirit does not mean charismatic acting out. It means, I take it, we may be visited by a spirit of openness and generosity, energy, that ‘the force’ may come over us, carry us to do obedient things we have not yet done, Kingdom things we did not think we had in us, neighbor things from which we cringe.
“Heaven and Earth rejoice in a new world wrought by God, where there will be no more infant mortality, no more infants who live but a few days, and no more old people who will die too young, or live too feebly or continue as a shell while the life is gone. Heaven and Earth will rejoice because in that new world wrought by God there will be no more usurpation of people's homes. Those who build will stay around to inhabit. Those who plant will survive to harvest and enjoy their produce. No more people being taxed out of their homes, no more losing their vulnerable homes to the right of eminent domain, no more rapacious seizure by war.”
~ Walter Brueggemann
John the Baptist and Advent point us to behaviors that bring about peace in this world. Zechariah’s prophecy is a vision of peace - a peace which is much more than the lack of war. Zechariah’s vision of peace includes the gifts of wholeness, forgiveness, well-being, and a loving community. John calls his neighbors to participate in God’s peace. What might that look like in the twenty-first century? What part of that can you and I participate in today?
Prayer
Lord, anoint us to see with Zechariah, beyond our own limits. Visit us with your spirit of openness and generosity, and open our eyes to opportunities to love with abundance. Guide our feet into paths of service and peace. Amen.
GHM Partner Story –Nigeria
For over a decade, Besty has trained Community Health Workers in Dingai in rural northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram threatens the peace here. One day Boko Haram came to Dingai with violence, killing a young boy before leaving the village. This village was roughly half Muslim and half Christian. Customarily, if a Muslim did a violent act, the Christian community would attack their Muslim neighbors. But here in Dingai, these Muslims and Christians had worked for many years together with Besty to improve the health of everyone. They were united by the work.
On the day the boy was murdered, even as the Christian family discovered his body, Muslim neighbors were frantically grabbing their belongings to run for their lives. But the boy’s family rushed to the center of the village yelling, "It was foreigners who did this! Do not hurt our neighbors!" After years of building relationships with their neighbors by promoting health, this community stood together in peace.
GHM gets to contribute to this peace by investing in building neighborly relationships. We give thanks for Besty and the Community Health Workers who work with her - for their self-less, community-wide care for their neighbors. Today, over 70,000 people in this region of Nigeria are in such "neighborhoods," working together for the common good.