Because of the tender mercy of our God,
    the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)

              Jesus was born at a time known as the pax romana, which means “the peace of Rome.” The Roman empire controlled most of the Mediterranean Sea, most of Europe as far north as Hadrian’s Wall, much of Asia Minor and what we today call the Middle East. The “peace” was kept by legions of soldiers who quickly and decisively put down any unrest at the tip of spear and sword.

              That was how the world worked. Might made right. Strength, force, and power were the currencies of the day. Some lives, namely those of the rich and powerful, were considered more valuable than others. You took care of “your own” starting with “your-own-self.”

              Along comes Jesus and he begins teaching crazy things like blessed are the peacemakers, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemy, be generous, feed the hungry, do to others as you would want others to do to you. Some of this was new and radical. Some of it was the wisdom of the sages of old. All of it flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of the empire and “those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

              There are some today who have aligned Christianity with the wisdom of the empire. They have decided that in the name of Jesus, they get to choose who matters and who does not. And they have chosen peace by the sword and the gods of mammon and might.

              The scripture above are from the Song of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. They are words of hope for a people living in a hard and violent time. It is a song of promise that God has not forgotten God’s people nor abandoned creation to its own ends. Zechariah sings of God’s involvement the world, bringing light to shine among us through one who will come to be called, “the Prince of Peace.”

              May we choose God’s hope. May we choose God’s way. May we choose God’s peace and work for a world where everyone matters as a beloved child of God.