Advent Devotional 13

Pausing to Just Be

By Linnea Wells

“Now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Camping in the rain is not generally considered peaceful. However, in that moment before you fall asleep and you listen to the rain falling on your tent, there’s a very specific sense of calm and peace. It’s just a matter of your perspective. Peace is out there, sometimes we just need to stop and pay attention.

When my sister and I were mid-grade school, we used to get up early on December mornings and just sit in front of the lit-up Christmas tree. The house was quiet, and it was the very definition of peaceful. The holiday season can get hectic with all the activities and gifts (which are not automatically bad things), but the pause to just ... be ... was necessary for my spirit.

When we only see the inconvenience of rain, or the hustle and bustle of Christmas, then it’s time to pause and remember to let the Lord of Peace guide us.

Holy God, lead us into your peace at all times and in every way this Christmas season. Amen.

St. John youth member Linnea Wells plays in the bell choir and is on the youth leadership team.

Advent Devotional 12

The Gift of Peace

By Elizabeth Nicolai

Dona nobis pacem. Give us peace. In 1989 there was a “peaceful revolution” in East Germany of prayer vigils and gatherings in churches of activists singing “Dona Nobis Pacem”. Nearly 100,000 people gathered in a peaceful protest in Leipzig, Germany to pray, chant, and sing. That revolution, that anthem would lead a month later to the fall of the Berlin Wall. A song, a prayer, a gathering of people, and a nation becomes a domino that ends decades of cold war. 

We follow a Prince of Peace, we celebrate people who change the world and bring forward peace. We can name Nobel Peace Prize winners, leaders who negotiate treaties, philanthropists who start movements. And it is easy to think that I can not do that. If I am honest, I can not always create peace between the children in my own household. But just as it wasn’t only one person singing in East Germany, it isn’t only me who has been asked to create peace.

Peace is a movement that is stronger with a hundred, with a thousand, with a hundred thousand voices singing. As you celebrate peace this week, look around your community and rejoice in the work of those around us, see where you can add your voice, song, effort. I’m heartened by all the many people who showed up for In My Backyard to create that positive change for our neighbors. I see the letter writing campaigns and calls to politicians to support a variety of causes. And I can feel the prayers and support that our congregation and our neighbors send.

Dona nobis pacem. Give US peace. Peace is a gift to all of us. Peace is a gift from all of us, working together.

Source materials:

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/sports/olympics-german-olympic-bid-has-sour-note.html

https://www.dw.com/en/how-east-germans-peacefully-brought-the-gdr-regime-down/a-50743302

St. John member Elizabeth Nicolai is a Sunday School teacher, Girl Scout leader and substitute bell choir ringer.

Advent Devotional 11

By Karen Biggs

Wow! Peace is mentioned 249 times in the Bible. Let’s look at it from two angles: 1) an out-in-the-world, relational peace and 2) an inner personal peace.

RELATIONAL PEACE:

 Jesus is the Prince of Peace who gave us a gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). No matter how crazy our circumstances, Jesus is the ultimate source of our peace, having overcome the world (John 16:33) — it is a powerful gift we can tap into. We are encouraged to focus on it, seek it, and let it rule in our hearts. We are even “called to peace” (Col 3:15) — a calling is what God wants us to be doing with our lives.  “Blessed are the peacemakers,” according to the beatitudes (Matt 5:9) — not just peace-lovers, but even more, peace-makers. Yes, it’s a gift from God, but there’s a participatory aspect. We are told to “seek peace and pursue it” (I Pet 3:11). This is an active, not passive peace. Think of ways you can reach across the aisle to bring peace into your sphere. For example, maybe it’s befriending a neighbor during the long winter, speaking kind words to those who oppose your political views, joining a neighborhood task force to solve a local challenge, attending an inter-faith gathering to foster understanding and friendship, or mentoring a child who needs a peace-modeling adult in their life.

INNER PEACE:

 Internally we all want peace to rule in our hearts. Anxiety and fear can hinder us from living fully. Peace can be elusive because it requires us to trust God. Life can get scary and sometimes it’s not easy to cast all our cares upon God and trust His future for us. We think we know how life should go, and we often trust in our limited, human rationale rather than God’s wisdom.  Isaiah 55:8-9 reads, “ 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' ” Sometimes, we won’t understand what or why something is happening, and that’s just the reality of it. God’s perplexing ways are higher than ours.  Philippians 4:6-7 states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  I physically hold my hands out (as if cupping water) and place my burdens there; then, I lift my hands and give it to God, visualizing my burden floating to heaven into God’s care. He is King of the universe, faithful, Love incarnate, and His burden is light (Matt 11:30). He desires us to enter into His peace.

Peace Calling

By Karen Biggs

To the waters You called,

“Peace! Be still!”

Raging replaced with calm,

Fear long gone.

Jesus, bring it on.

May the Lord be gracious

And turn His face toward us,

Shine His glory upon us

With a covenant of peace

Our burdens we release.

By petition with thanksgiving 

Praising Jesus’ self-giving and forgiving,

Prayer rockets to the heavens beseeching

Ultimately Your peace eclipsing 

All analysis and understanding.

So let us trust You more

Fixing our minds on the holy Mentor

Who keeps us rest-assured

In His perfect peace so pure

Guiding us along a path secure.

May we live with each other

in harmony, and be holy,

Seeking peace and pursuing it wholly

So with wide-eyes we can see You,

Our Father faithful and true.

Let peace rule in our hearts 

Quenching life’s fiery darts,

For we are called to one accord

To cast our cares upon the Lord

Because we are evermore adored.

Peace is calling,

A gift enthralling.

Let not our hearts be dismayed

Nor our souls be afraid.

For God’s peace is His love-serenade.

St. John member Karen Biggs is a Stephen Minister.

Advent Devotional 10

Let There Be Peace on Earth

By Pastor Adam Richards

“Let there be peace on Earth.” For almost 3/4s of a century, this has been a common Christmas musical refrain, played in churches, shops, and public squares across the English-speaking world. But it inherently begs the question: what exactly is “peace?”  Some would suggest “quiet” as a synonym, but as discussed in Pastor Autumn’s children’s sermon this past Sunday, quiet doesn’t always mean peaceful!

Indeed I am reminded of a quote from MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which Lindsay Watson already directed us to this past Friday, where King criticizes “the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” It speaks well of this church that our children have already begun internalizing the lesson that peace and justice go together at such a young age!

Indeed, it is an idea that can be found in scripture, such as James chapter 2, verses 15 through 16 where he states that “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” The scripture reveals that peace without justice is actually the hiding of conflict, whereas true peace is when justice takes root and all are made whole, removing the desire for conflict altogether!

As the new year approaches, it is worth prayerfully considering not just where peace is lacking both in one’s own life and broader society, but also why. Invite God into a conversation about these matters, be they big or small, and you might find your heart strangely warmed, revealing a path to true peace!

Adam Richards is the associate pastor of discipleship and justice at St. John UMC! 

Advent Devotional 9

Pausing for Peace

By Kathy Sievert

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

In the frenzy leading up to Christmas when I’m consumed by my to-do list--shopping to finish, presents to wrap, packages to mail, parties to plan, dinners to host, gatherings and events to attend, the tree and house to decorate, cookies to bake, Christmas cards to write - I forget about God’s nearness and the true gift of this season. It’s easy to be swallowed up by anxiety and discouragement, knowing I’ll never complete all these preparations. And I wonder is it even the right way to get ready for Christmas? Have I become too distracted by mundane activities? Am I too busy to be aware of God?

The other day I found my stash of Christmas cards. I bought several boxes last year during the post-Christmas sales. Every single card design I selected seemed like a whisper from God: “Wishing you the blessing of Peace at Christmas and always.” “Peace on Earth.” “May peace and gratitude be yours this Christmas and throughout the year.”

I took a deep breath. Peace is more than an absence of conflict; peace is an attitude toward life. The prophet Isaiah tells us that those who trust God have peace. (Is 26:3) Jesus, the Prince of Peace, gives us inner peace and a way to have peace with others. I can’t avoid all the troubles, conflicts and difficulty in my life, but I can choose to trust God, to open my heart and feel God’s presence in the concern and compassion, in the simple pleasures and quiet moments, in nature’s beauty and the kindness around me. I can choose to be at peace by asking myself some questions: What does all this holiday busyness really mean? What do I need to release and give to God? Why is so hard for me to pause and accept God’s peace? What happens when I stop and turn toward the Prince of Peace?

It’s easy to feel hopeless about the possibility of peace on earth and inner peace. Yet all around us, there are clues to cultivating a peaceful spirit. When I take the time to really listen to the words of the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1863 poem, I discover a path to peace. In the lyrics, someone hears the bells pealing

more loud and deep:

God is not dead, nor does God sleep,

For Christ is here; His spirit near

Brings peace on earth, good will to men.

The carol concludes with a call to faith to overcome the darkness.

Oh, hear God’s voice, and turn from sin.

The Prince of Peace then enters in,

And grace imparts within their hearts

His peace on earth, good will to men.

I’m setting aside my to-do list for a while to reflect on this mystery. God is with us. I will quietly marvel at the birth of the Prince of Peace and what it means for the world.

God of Peace, Emmanuel, God with us, help me to slow down and open my heart so I can rest in your presence and know your peace in these times of global turmoil and personal distress. Amen

St. John member Kathy Sievert is a Stephen Minister.