The Prince of Piece

This morning I read about this family Christmas photo that was shared on Twitter recently by a United States congressman. Thus far, the commentary I have read on it notes how inappropriate it was for him to share this photo at this time, given the school shooting that took place in Michigan last week.

I have another concern about the photo, however. It should be self-evident to any Christian who is motivated to “put Christ back in Christmas” that this image is contrary to the core message of Christmas.

In the birth of Jesus, we see that God did not respond to the world’s violence with more violence, even in self-defense. Jesus was born into a regime of heartless brutality, terror, and oppression. Yet, the Son of God did not enter this world armed to the teeth; nor was he born into a family who had stockpiled a great arsenal to defend their rights against the might of their Roman oppressors.

Instead, the Son of God took on human flesh, laying aside his heavenly power and prerogatives to identify with us as powerless and weak. His real power was simply in his solidarity with the oppressed, in his becoming one of them. In becoming human, God became vulnerable and approachable—gentle, not forceful.

This was (and is) God’s way to peace on earth—and the Christmas story is our yearly reminder of God’s heart. Now is not a time to celebrate our capacity for violence, whether personally or nationally. In fact, if we were to really embrace the spirit of the season, we would sense the invitation of God’s Spirit crying out to us to mourn our violent response to God’s offensive of love.

The world will always have a “Yes, but…” to this initiative of God’s—but that will not cause God to give up on his program for peace. On the contrary, the one who would follow Christ sees the connection from the cradle to the cross of Jesus. He died as he was born…caught up in the swirl of violence, but relentless in refusing to take up arms. In both his birth and death, Jesus showed us the full extent of God’s love for us and he exposed the utter absurdity of our unjust brutalities.

Let us not desecrate the light of the nativity of the Christ by treating our capacity for violence so flippantly. Instead, may we mourn our tendency to perpetuate the violence that plagues our world and may we learn to identify with the One whose only weapon to counter the hatred was love and love alone. Then we will really experience God’s good will for all; then and only then will we have true peace on earth.

………………….

The Prince of Piece

reflections by Troy Cady