Malachi 3:1–4; Psalm 85; Luke 1:68–79
How have you been this past week? I feel conflicted because of the breaking news from my home country. The president, who has a far-right bias, made a bad choice after watching biased YouTube repeatedly. So, he declared martial law, but the National Assembly blocked it. Last Tuesday night, the President, through the Minister of Defense, mobilized elite forces to attempt to arrest and paralyze the National Assembly, the National Election Commission, and some journalists. Fortunately, the democratic process and the resistance of conscientious soldiers did not escalate into a civil war, but the incident was enough to shatter my peace of mind.
What are the reasons that break the peace in your life? When we often lose peace in life, God gives us messages through the Bible. First, it tells us who God is. Today’s text from the Gospel of Luke is Benedictus of Zacharias, sung by John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, who was filled with the Holy Spirit after he had been unable to speak for 10 months after he was born. Zacharias served as a priest for a long time. He sang that the appearance of the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament was near. He believed God gave his Son to prepare the way for the Messiah. He thought God would come and redeem his people. The original word translated as come is ‘episceptomai,’ which expresses God’s direct interest in His children. For instance, Sarah was well past the age of having children. However, as in Chapter 21 of Genesis, God came to Sarah, who was suffering from infertility. At this time, the author used this word. Also, in Chapter 1 of the Book of Ruth, during the time of the Judges, when there was a famine in the land of Canaan and the people were suffering, God visited them. So, in verse 6, it says, “The LORD had given his people a good harvest.” The Bible author also uses this word at this time. Through this, we can see God’s grace and love toward people in tribulation and crisis.
God saves us from our enemies and has compassion for his children. He is the one who keeps the oath he promised to Abraham. So, the Creator protects us in the world’s crises. In our religious life, God saves through the forgiveness of our sins so that we do not go down the path of death due to sin. If we look at verses 78 and 79 of Luke’s Gospel, “78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Therefore, I pray for those living in darkness. We hope Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will come to Red Deer and places where God’s light is needed, including our homes and homeless shelters.
Second, what does God require of us? In Malachi 3:3, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.” The Messiah wants His people to be pure. God wanted the corrupt descendants of Levi to be clean. For us living in the 21st century, God wants us to be pure. Ultimately, it is to maintain the purity of serving God. It’s about giving God time in my life. It is living according to the will of God. God wants my life to be an offering. If we meditate on Jesus Christ, who became a living offering between God and humans, we can also offer a Righteous offering to God. We can give material things to God. We can also provide with our hearts. This is a holy life. This is a sacred life. It is a distinct and differentiated life. This is an offering in which my soul is pure, and there is no inconvenience for God to dwell in. I hope we can meet baby Jesus with this purity.
So then, what should we prepare for the Prince of Peace? It’s time to go beyond the spiritual aspects of purity and fear and meditate on public righteousness. American Christian ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr wrote “Moral Man and Immoral Society” long ago. However, when we look around the world, we frequently see unethical human behavior. Seventy years ago, the country had a good wheat harvest, and stocks were building up. Of course, some of this wheat was sent to poor countries, but in the end, the accumulated inventory was dumped into the Pacific Ocean. The goal was to raise wheat prices. Sometimes, some societies overdosed their livestock, including cows and pigs, with antibiotics. At times, we have had to witness the emergence of numerous homeless people due to the failure to prevent the excessive profit-seeking of real estate developers in metro cities. We sometimes had to stand by and watch our leaders make wrong policy decisions. However, none of this is easy. In verse 10 of Psalm, the poet expresses: “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” Love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace are, in fact, attributes that are difficult to harmonize with each other. Righteousness refers to the principles set by God. As a representative example of God’s principle, God punishes according to human actions. We frequently witness this aspect of God in the Old Testament. In other words, God’s principle is to punish those who commit sins and reward those who do good. And that is God’s action based on righteousness. Therefore, peace has no place before righteousness. However, the poet expresses. “Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Then, my beloved, how does the poet say that love and faithfulness meet together and that righteousness and peace kiss each other? This is impossible for humans. But it is possible with Almighty God. In God, these seemingly conflicting attributes are in perfect harmony. An event that demonstrates such ideal harmony is the cross redemption of Jesus Christ. The truth of God, the righteousness of God, is for sinners to die. According to the principles and righteousness established by God, sinners can never live. ‘The wages of sin is death’ is a principle established by God, and God’s righteousness must enforce this. However, God is a God of righteousness, mercy, and peace. That is why God could not stand and watch sinners die because of their sins. God adopted an extraordinary method to harmonize these opposing qualities. It was sending the sinless Jesus Christ to this world.
Yes. God sent Jesus Christ to our side as the Prince of Peace for this challenging task. He comes into our lives today as well. Through the Bible and prayer, God inspires us. Even if the life of righteousness and peace is difficult and we fail, God gives us grace and mercy to try again. The grace that offers a new day as a gift. Although the path of righteousness is complex, the Bible tells us there is peace. “Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.” Dear everyone, Let us walk together on this path of righteousness and peace. The Lord will be with you; Amen.