8th December 2024
Waiting in Peace
As I woke up this morning, it was to the news that an expert has said that the world today is in the most precarious position it has been in since the end of the Cold War. We hear of "wars and rumours of wars" (Mark 13 v7) - in Ukraine, in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, in Syria once again, in South Sudan; we hear of chaos in apparently stable democracies, even in France; we hear of named storms threatening more flooding - and the song of the angels "Peace on earth" seems very far away.
And yet, on this second Sunday in Advent, we turn our thoughts to peace. In our 10.30 service we move from the story of Sarah and Abraham, trying to wait in hope for God's impossible promise, to Hannah, rejoicing in receiving the gift of God's answer to her desperate prayers. Her prophetic song (1 Samuel 2:1-10), which will later be echoed in the song of Mary, the Magnificat, looks towards a time when the weapons of the mighty will be broken, when the poor will be exalted, when the actions of all will be weighed and God's justice will reign on earth.
There are at least two conditions that need to be fulfilled for peace to flourish in areas that have been riven by conflict. First, the political conditions - a peace treaty, where both sides recognise that justice has been served. Second, and most importantly, the ongoing work of reconciliation, of building bridges in local communities on the ground.
The Christian charity Tear Fund has a long history of working with communities in areas of conflict, seeking to create the conditions that will lead to peace from the ground up. In Ituri, a province in the north east of the DRC, armed groups have been operating for many years. This has created a cycle of violence, with horrific massacres and massive displacements of peoples, leading to hostility and fear between communities. By training up peace champions from these communities to lead a process of peace building dialogues, this cycle is beginning to be transformed. Children are able to go to school and gain qualifications in communities other than their own, people can go further afield to market; there has even been a football match between different community groups. None of this would have been thinkable a year ago, say those who have participated in these programmes.
As we focus on God's peace on this second Sunday of Advent, I wonder how God might be calling us to be peace champions on the ground here in our community? I wonder who God is calling us to engage in dialogue with? I wonder how we can work with God in that Kingdom task of bridge-building and reconciliation over the coming year?
To find out more about the work of Tear Fund and its partners in Ituri, click here.
