As we venture through Advent, our 2023 Saint Luke Advent Devotional writers will guide us on a journey of love, hope, peace, and joy, illuminating the true meaning of the season. We will discover that the most significant longings of our hearts are not found in gift-wrapped boxes but are gifts from a loving God. These reflections will inspire and elevate your Advent experience as we reflect together on what we truly want this Christmas.
Today’s reflection comes from Sparky Lok. Sparky has been a member of Saint Luke since 1996. He co-teaches the Sixth-Grade Sunday School class and participates in the Feast Incarnate mission. He is a Stephen Minister and helps to lead worship as Assisting Minister and Lector and in delivering Children’s Messages. He recently joined the Senior Choir and served on the 2023 Pastoral Call Committee.
Peace & Good will
Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” -Luke 3:8-14.
Christmas 2023 will likely dawn on a world in which major wars rage in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine, with both conflicts posing the risk of widening. Here at home, Christmas will find our nation more deeply divided along political and cultural lines than it has been since the Civil War. Both situations inspire fear, anger and despair in many of us. The blessings of peace and good will among people often seem to belong to a bygone age. In this climate, no scripture passage better captures my Christmas wish than Luke’s gospel account of the angels’ message to the shepherds as they joyously proclaimed Jesus’ birth.
As visiting angels so often do, the angel in Luke’s gospel understands the shepherds’ terror and admonishes them not to be afraid. Then the host of heaven praises God and calls for peace on earth. The King James translation of this verse includes a call for good will among people. How wonderful this Christmas would be if peace, good will and the freedom from fear they afford were to reign on earth!
Gracious God, teach us to work for peace and help us heal the rifts between the nations and among the people of our beloved country. Guide us to seek reconciliation and restore good will among all people. Amen.