Monday, 1 Advent

Isaiah 4:2-6; Psalm 122; Matthew 8:5-13

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem . . . For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”  For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”

Not only for the sake of my relatives and friends, not for the sake of the house(s) of God, but for the sake of the world: for the sake of creation, the sake of the most vulnerable, the sake of the enslaved and oppressed and exploited; for the sake of those who hate me, and those who simply don’t care; for the sake of my soul that dies a little every time I seek war or conquest; for the sake of God who so longs for our return: for all these I will seek your good.  

I will seek your good, O Jerusalem; O Damascus; O Tehran; O Havana; O Moscow; O Washington.  I will seek your good, Caracas; and yours, Darfur, and Mogadishu.  I will seek your good, though you may not see it as good.  I will seek the real peace that comes with justice, with compassion, with conversion of hearts and minds.  I will pray for this peace, and I will seek it.

Jesus’ peace crosses the boundaries between Jew and Gentile, sinner and righteous, male and female.  Jesus brings peace to all who will receive it.  This is not simply “believing,” but willingness to be opened and to stand with Jesus, to dare to trust in the face of “good reasons” not to.  Prayer is a daring statement of trust.  Seeking peace is a statement of strong love, of bold and determined love.  

Pray for peace today.