This is the Sunday of the Candle of Peace and the Sunday of John The Baptist crying out in the wilderness:

– “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

– “Repent, for every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

– “Repent, for after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.”

– “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”

Today is the Sunday of Peace – and The Sunday of John the Baptist. John sure presents an awesome image doesn’t he?  What with his strange garb, his strange diet, and his  long, long hair and long, long beard. But what connection is there between this John – out there preparing the way of the Lord in the wilderness by preaching repentance and the nearness of God’s kingdom – and peace? Is it just one of those coincidences of the seasonal calendar and the readings? Or is it deliberate coming together of themes and ideas so that you, the people of God, learn the truth and are equipped by the Truth – and by the Spirit from whom all truth comes – to live that truth and share that truth with those around you?

How much I wish certain people were here today,

– people from my family who are hurting

– and people from our community who are unhappy and are always seeking something

– and people from those corporations and governments that afflict their citizens and indeed our world.

Peace and repentance,  Peace and being in a right relationship with God,  Peace and looking to God and walking in his light are so intimately linked that you cannot have one without the other.

Think of how elusive peace is – how far away the Kingdom of Heaven seems at times.

There is no peace in the Mid East – or Indonesia

– there has been no war to end all wars

– just times in which there is more suffering and killing and times in which there is less.

And think of your own households – and families – or those of your closest friends.

Think of the addictions – the ignorance – the greed – and the rebellion you see.

Think of those people who live in fear – and of those who do all kinds of self destructive things – and yes – think of those bedrooms or living rooms or playrooms where there is violence or neglect.

My friends there is no peace in the hearts of literally millions of people.

But there can be – for we can and do see peace around us as well.

We see nations without civil wars or violent oppression within;

– nations reasonably well run – whose people eat and drink and have a place to sleep

– nations that run according to the rule of law – a law that respects individuals and tries to ensure people of certain fundamental rights.

And we see families – and individuals within families – with peace, indeed we see them – even when afflicted by disease or accident – or poverty not only with peace, but with a kind of joy, and hope, and love that radiates from them.

So how do we get there?

Well – on the world scene – peace doesn’t seem to come by making treaties or alliances, nor does it seem to come by fighting for peace, by bombing cities or by assassinating foreign leaders

though for a short time these things may seem to work.

And in our lives peace doesn’t seem to come by buying the right kind of deodorant, nor by investing in the right kind of securities or mutual funds,

Nor even by obtaining a better paying job or by trading in our husband or our wife on a new and better model, though for a short time these things may seem to work.

Peace obtained in all these ways seems to last for only for a moment – and then our hunger, our desire, our anxiety arises once again, our inner and our outer conflicts return.

Where is peace to be found?

That is the question isn’t it.

The question so many have.

Well there is an answer to that question.

An answer that our readings speak of today,  An answer that I want to share with you for the remainder of our time together.

Peace comes with repentance.

Peace comes with turning towards God and living within Christ

Or to use the highway image that the Prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist use so often, by preparing the way for the coming of the promised one.

It is that simple.

In Isaiah, chapter thirty-two, verse 17, it says this:

“The fruit of righteousness will be peace.  The effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”

That is in here  (heart).  But more, in verse 18   for out there, it says:

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.”

The fruit of righteousness, that is the fruit, my friends, of walking in the way of Christ of being grafted into the vine, Of turning towards him and doing those things he asks us to do – is fruit indeed!

It grows out of us – not because of something special about us but because of something special about the God we open ourselves up to the God we resolve to truly love – truly trust – truly obey.

The fruit of righteousness is peace.

Each Year within the church the second Sunday of Advent is called the Sunday of Peace.

And each year on this Sunday we read – either from Luke, or from Mark, or from Matthew the story of John the Baptist  and of how he went out into the wilderness and there preached a baptism of repentance and the good news of the coming of the promised one of God.

It is deliberate – and it is repetitious – because it is the truth we need to hear.

Where is peace.

It is not in claiming that we are the descendants of Abraham or that our grandmother and our grandfather were saints of the church, if indeed they were, Repentance is all about.

It is about turning to God

– and yearning for God

– and allowing God’s Word to work in you, turning so much

– that you eyes and your whole body is focused on the path of righteousness, yearning so much

– that you deliberately engage in random acts of kinds, allowing so much

– that you forgive those who do not know what they do, and even those who do.

What is our commandment – the one that will demonstrate to the whole world that we are Christ’s disciples?   It is that we love one another – that we love one another in the manner that Jesus loves us.

There must be people you wish could hear this word today

– people who aren’t here, and, sad to say, aren’t likely to be here anytime soon

– nor likely to hear and accept if they were.

But I am here.  And you are here.  And the preaching of John, a preaching that drew literally thousands of people to him, that preaching is for us as well, it is for us for as long as the world needs peace, for as long as we need peace.

Paul prays at the conclusion of today’s reading from Romans these words:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are called to be ones who overflow with hope and with peace and joy: to be ones who bear the fruit of repentance in abundance – so all

the world – and especially those who are closest to us – may know whose we are and where it is that peace may be found.

This is no great labor that requires years of training and an immaculate pedigree.

This is the fruit of turning towards God  and of loving mercy and doing justice and walking humbly with your

Lord.

This is the fruit of turning towards your brother or sister and of loving them in the same way that Jesus loves them – in the same way he loves you.

This is the fruit of walking in the light and obeying the commandments that Christ has given us.