by Dr. Jeff Mathis
The second Sunday in our Advent season commemorates how God makes peace with us through Jesus. Put another way, Jesus is God’s peace to us.
Indeed, Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Jesus’s teachings make it clear that we are to be more than just recipients of God’s peace. In Christ’s headlining Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands his disciples to make peace rather than simply consume God’s peace.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).”
For much of my life, I’ve understood the Advent and Christmas seasons as a celebration of what God gives us—hope, peace, joy, and love—in contrast to what Jesus commands us to give to others. Disciples of Jesus give hope to others. Disciples of Jesus make peace in a world of violence and turmoil. Disciples of Jesus share God’s joy with neighbors and love their enemies.
Consider these practical ways that we can make peace. Careful observers will notice a common theme.
Make peace by making a new friend.
Put yourself in a position where you can practice the spiritual discipline of friendship with someone different from you. Just as Jesus crossed a boundary to develop a relationship with a Samaritan woman at a well, disciples of Jesus make friends with those we wouldn’t be caught dead with.
Make peace by deepening a friendship.
Make time to listen and share with someone you may not know as well as you’d like. Be Christ to this person by carving out time and energy to spend time with them. The gift of companionship can lift spirits and help people feel less alone.
Make peace by reconnecting with an old friend.
The patterns and rhythms of our friendships change over the years. Go out of your way to circle back around and reach out to someone who has meant a lot to you. Make space in your heart to allow the door to be cracked and not slammed shut.
Transform a friendship that has become unhealthy or even toxic.
Instead of isolating or ghosting yourself from a friend, pray for your friend and listen for better understanding. Observe what is going on in the relationship and be aware of hurt, pain, and grief in your friend’s life. Choose to be a source of help, and encourage your friend to seek or accept the help of someone certified to offer the kind of attention they need.
Disciples of Jesus make peace because God makes peace with us. Throughout his ministry, Jesus’s teachings and healings point toward reconciliation, inclusion, and embrace. Reconciliation means choosing to forgive and allowing yourself to be forgiven. Inclusion is the ministry of making space for others. We cannot embrace one another until we choose to be close to others.
If this is how God makes peace with us, it serves as a blueprint for how we can make peace with others.
We become peacemakers when disciples of Jesus make friends with their enemies and offer them love.
Disciples of Jesus practice peace when they dedicate time and energy to be Christ to others.
We are peacemakers when we pray for reconciliation, healing, and health for all.
It’s not complicated. We make peace when we make friends.