Day 8 • The Week of Peace

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8

This is the second Sunday of Advent, where we shift to contemplate on peace. This shift is to be seen as deeply related to hope, as so much of what we hope for is rooted in a desire for peace in all areas of our lives and our world.

You will notice this shift in our scripture readings for today as well. Where so much of last week’s readings may have come across as apocalyptic, the themes of our readings today may come across to you as an invitation to rest in the reality of what God is doing right here and right now.

Isaiah writes in 40:1, “Comfort, o comfort my people, says your God,” and asks God to speak tenderly to the people in verse two. Psalm 85 declares liberation, restoration, and the goodness God is bringing to people. 2 Peter 3, while reminiscent of the apocalyptic language of last week, does well to remind us in verse nine that the Lord isn’t slow to move but patient out of love for all people. Then, it crescendos with the beginning of the gospel of Jesus in Mark 1, who has come to bring the fullness and redemption of God. The prince of peace.

We also see the prophetic work of John the Baptist in our readings, both in Isaiah and Mark. We can’t talk about John the Baptist without talking about repentance. Repentance is one of those concepts that has taken on a new dynamic for me as I have moved away from highly controlling, condemning theology. I have begun to see it more as an invitation to peace rather than an accusation of shame and a threat of damnation.

This may not have been your experience, but for me, repentance was always framed in the language of condemnation and shame. I would see it directed towards our culture and individuals as a way to tell people how evil they were and how damned they were unless they converted to our particular Christian way of thinking. It always came across as bad news rather than “good news.” This lens caused me to read figures like John the Baptist and even Jesus as doing the same thing whenever they called for people to “repent.”

The longer I follow Jesus, though, the more I believe repentance isn’t just a single act, but it is also an ongoing way of life. The Greek word we translate as “repentance” in the Bible literally means “change of mind.” This word is “metanoia” (μετάνοια), which is where we get the root word for the word “metamorphosis.” Like the beautiful transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly! Repentance is not about shame but an invitation to become fully and beautifully alive. At its heart, repentance is about not only pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful, but it is also about being transformed by the good, the true, and the beautiful.

It is through this desire for continued renewal, continued growth, and continued deepening of our understanding of God, of others, and of ourselves that we are transformed (Romans 12:2). Yet here again, in our hyper- individualistic culture, we can read this and take it to mean that repentance is solely our responsibility. Yet what does Mark 1:5 tell us in our reading for today? That people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to John to be baptized. It describes the repentance of entire communities. When we begin to rightly understand that sin isn’t just an individual reality but also a collective and systemic reality, we can see how utterly transforming communal repentance can be.

You see, in that context, which historians call the “Second Temple Period,” Jerusalem’s population was characterized by extreme social stratification, both economic and religious, which grew incredibly pronounced over the years. There existed in the city a clear distinction between the rich and powerful elites and the wider poor population.

The relationship between religion and the empire directly benefited the rich and powerful, who propagated and benefited from unjust practices against the poor. This is the very reason Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple, ruining a whole weekend of business. They were exploiting the poor in the house of God.

Right here is why it is so important to make the distinction between “keeping the peace" and “making peace.” Keeping the peace means maintaining the status quo, even if it means doing so by force and coercive laws. Even if it means exploiting others to do so. Making peace, on the other hand, means proactively bringing an end to the practices that harm and hurt the most vulnerable and instituting measures that benefit them instead. Measures that actually “make peace.”

This is the kind of collective sin that not only needed confessing but needed repenting from in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. Imagine the collective impact it would have when the entire population of Judea and Jerusalem confessed these kinds of sins and collectively accepted the invitation to bring about transformation instead! What a powerful way to “love thy neighbor.” When we ponder that reality, we begin to understand the vital work and blessing of being “peacemakers.”

For me, a repentant life is one where I prioritize growing in my awareness of how my life impacts others more than I prioritize a desire to just “be right.” This has taught me that those who really love truth aren’t the absolutists who have an unflinching certainty about what they believe to be right. They never “change their minds” about anything and, therefore never grow. They never “repent.”

Rather, those who truly love truth are those who are comfortable with being wrong. Because being wrong is yet another opportunity for deeper understanding and considering the needs of others. It is an opportunity to become more truthful. That’s what loving truth really looks like. It looks like humility, not ridged certainty. If we Christians claim to be a people of “repentance,” we should have a better reputation for being willing to “change our minds,” especially for the sake of our poor and vulnerable neighbors.

Reflection Steps:

The picture of repentance described here as a way of allowing our minds and hearts to change in order to better pursue transformation in our world is a central part of the Advent season. It gives us an opportunity to ponder the areas we might still need to have our minds and hearts changed by the way of Jesus, especially regarding the issues we claim to care about so deeply. A good way to gauge this is to think about an issue you care about deeply. Then, notice the feelings that come up for you as you think about it. Are there areas of that issue that make you excited while other areas cause you concern and stress? Those points of stress can be a nudging of sorts that can indicate one of two things. First, it might be an area where you need to change the way you approach that component so you can see progress rather than stressful stagnation. Secondly, it may be an indication that you have literally done all you can as an individual to make progress happen, and there’s collective work that needs to be done before peace can truly be made. I invite you to take a little time today and reflect on this dynamic of repentance as we prepare for the week of peace ahead.