‘Let your peace be peace’

Andrew Collis
Christmas Day, Year B
Psalm 98; Titus 2:11-14; John 1:1-14

Our traditional reading for Christmas Day is taken from the first chapter of John’s gospel: “The Word became flesh …” We might think on it this way. A word becomes flesh when we really mean it and put it into practice. A word or value becomes flesh when it aligns with the life of a person or community.

The word “commitment”, for example, becomes flesh in the life of an SES volunteer or firefighter. So too the word “service” … “dedication” … “generosity” …

This is something we intuit to be true, something we understand. It’s also something we can do. We can try to be present, and encourage each other to be present, in the words we write, speak and sing (is music, too, not a means of embodying words?).

And we can try to be consistent with respect to the values we profess.

James, repeating a teaching of Jesus, puts it simply: “Let your yes be yes, and your no, no.” We might develop this a little: Let your greeting – “good morning” or “malo e lelei” – be a warm greeting, let your sorry be a heartfelt sorry, let your goodbye be goodbye, and so on.

It may not seem especially spiritual, even recalling the word “goodbye” is a contraction of “God be with you”. The spiritual, however, has to do with integrity – with a coming to our senses, a coming home to ourselves.

There is delusion, hypocrisy, sin … and there is embodiment, real presence.

A traditional term is Incarnation, which holds together what is ever at risk of pulling apart: spirit and matter, faith and good works, grace and nature, divinity and humanity. Christianity, at its best, affirms relationship, non-duality, unity in diversity (fruit-bearing branches abiding in the Vine).

Christians of many denominations light purple and pink Advent candles in the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Our candles represent four possibilities: hope, peace, joy, love. In the flesh, we see how these ideals are lived out.

Perhaps we acknowledge the commitment of mediators in Gaza and Israel … among UN delegates and negotiators … hope, peace, joy, love …

Perhaps we ask: How does Jesus practise hope? How does Jesus enact peace? How does Jesus en-joy life with others in the world? How is the giving and receiving of love made possible in the conduct of Jesus and those who gather in his name?

The good news is this invitation to live out the meaning of a word that addresses us … the wonder of a word that encourages us to become more humane, more sensitive to the pain of others, in tune with creative and healing forces, at ease with difference, open to joy and laughter, focused on what can be done to lift up the downtrodden, to share resources … to transform hate and fear (and everything that pulls us apart) into love.

According to Luke’s gospel, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the model for all the saints. Mary says yes to hope, peace, joy and love. Mary says yes to God … Amen.

Let your peace be peace
Let your goodbye be goodbye
Your many gifts won’t bring release
Your many gifts won’t bring release
Receive the one that makes you cry

To be soulish, what can this mean?
An addiction, a broken staff
Do you feel it, can you imagine
Becoming old, learning to laugh?

Then let your peace be peace
Let your goodbye be goodbye
Your many gifts won’t bring release
Your many gifts won’t bring release
Receive the one that makes you cry

So hurry up and come on down
The host is at your house today
Spread a blanket on the lawn
Shake out the pieces when you pray

Then let your peace be peace
Let your goodbye be goodbye
Your many deeds won’t bring release
Your many deeds won’t bring release
Allow for one that makes you cry