Sunday, December 17, 2023
The Gospel of Peace - Jesus and Non-Violence
Music
Introit
Hymn #107
Hymn #85
Hymn #103
Hymn #101
Hymn #92
Sermon Notes
By Jeff Gilstrap
Scripture:
Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 5:9Theme:
We follow Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Reconciler, and reclaim the power of nonviolent love evident in his life and teaching, his healings and reversals of evil, his cross and his resurrection.
Reflections:
In our advent sermon series on peace, we have addressed how violence impacts our ability to live in peace and how we as peacemakers are called to address violence and seek alternative ways to address violence. One of the most prominent ways Jesus taught to address violence was through nonviolent action. The scriptures present to us the incarnation of God through Jesus the Christ who embraced and promoted a nonviolent way of living as well as a nonviolent way of responding to confrontation. This is clearly witnessed in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We cannot read Matthew’s discourse on the Sermon on the Mount and come away thinking anything less than living a life of nonviolence. In this sermon as well as in his life, Jesus presents to us an alternative way of life that is nonviolent and filled with love and calls all followers to embrace this alternative way of life. The early followers of Christ, the church, embraced the Jesus way of a nonviolent life. The early church under the rule of Roman empire refused to engage in violence. We as followers must reclaim Christ as “peacemaker” and we must put a special emphasis on Jesus’ nonviolent movement and methods. It is clear that Jesus’ example and teaching was for nonviolence did that did not mean Jesus avoided conflict. In fact, he did the opposite. He challenged the people, the systems and the institutions that oppressed the people, but he chose a nonviolent approach. We need to consider how we can find nonviolent ways to respond to conflict. This is the way of Jesus and the alternative way the world needs to witness.
Questions/Thoughts:
- Why must we always respond to conflict with revenge and violence?
- Why is turning the cheek difficult to do when we have been threatened or harmed?
- What can we do to work toward nonviolent ways of resolving disputes?
- Why is structural violence so hard to identify and name?
Music Notes
By Kenneth Jones
Reflections:
Introit: For Advent, our Introit has been “Creator of the Stars of Night”. For the third Sunday. we sing verse 3; “At your great name, O Jese, all knees musy bow.”
Opening Hymn: “Awake, Awake and Greet the New Morn”; an accessible hymn written in the 1980’s that draws on familiar images in new ways. “Sing out your joy, for soon He is born.”
Candle Lighting Response: A hymn that underscores the ‘waiting’ of the Advent Season. We will sing one verse each week; verse three this week for the Advent Candle of Love.
Special Music: The Chancel Choir will offer our last peek of the Lessons & Carols program (12/17 6:30 PM), “O Beauteous Heavenly Light”, arranged by Joy Rouse.
Responsive Hymn: Appropriate for our advent focus on ythe Gospel of Peace, “Come Now, Prince of Peace” focus on peace, love, freedom, and unity.
Sending Hymn: A 20th retelling of the Annunciation, “No Wind at the Window”.
Benediction: For the four Sundays of Advent, we will sing verses from “While We Are Waiting, Come”, this week using verse three. The simple text, with it’s repitition of the word “come”, reinforces the anticipation of the season.