upper room daily devotions

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Dorothee Soelle on Christmas, Peace, and Fear

My sermon last week was about the conflict of peace and fear. In short, I preached about the angel's pastoral words to Mary - "Do not fear" - and that without them she might not have travelled to see Elizabeth and set herself on a course to give birth to peace in the world. For more reflections on this, see my older post Advent 4C - Mary, Fear and Peace, and Wendell Berry. It seems that this theme resonates for me right now. As I was reading today in "Watch for the Light," probably the best Advent book I've run across in eons, I stumbled upon an essay by Dorothee Soelle about fear, peace, and Christmas.

Without understanding this imperium [roman] in its economic and ecological power of death, we also cannot see the light of Christmas shine. Living in the pretended social market economy, we do not even seem to need this light!

Whoever wants to proclaim something about this light has to free the stifled longing of people. An interpretation of the Bible that takes seriously concrete, everyday human cares and does not make light of the dying of children from hunger and neglect is helpful in this regard. By showing up the incomparable power of violence in our world today, it deepens our yearning for true peace.

Our text (Luke 2:15-20)refers to the praxis of transmission and proclamation. The frightened shepherds become God's messengers. They organize, make haste, find others, and speak with them. Do we not all want to become shepherds and catch sight of the angel? I think so. Without the perspective of the poor, we see nothing, not even an angel. When we approach the poor, our values and goals change. The child appears in many other children. Mary also seeks sanctuary among us. Because the angels sing, the shepherds rise, leave their fear behind, and set out for Bethlehem, wherever it is situated these days.


"Do we not all want to become shepherds and catch sight of the angel?" and "Because the angels sing, the shepherds rise, leave their fears behind, and set out for Bethlehem, wherever it is situated these days." Powerful Christmas message!

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