Adult Bible Study December 23, 2007

Lesson Text: Luke 2:1-14
By George Epp
E-mail: g.epp@sasktel.net

Conflict, poverty, sickness, and hunger are as much parts of our reality as are the oceans and the land. Too bad. There are better worlds to live in than AIDS-ravaged Africa, the killing fields of Sudan, the horrors of the Congo, the conflict in Iraq, and the military oppression of Burma and Pakistan. There is better food in the world than that with which half its population must eat. There are better ways to resolve conflict than an appeal to military force. The irony is that these better places and better conditions for living are all within our grasp, but we choose to take the broad road to ruin instead.

Jesus entered such a world. Palestine had been occupied by the Romans for some 60 years, and the population would continue to be oppressed by this occupation for another 300 years thereafter. To this day, there have been only short periods of peace in the region, most often an enforced peace. At this writing, Hamas rules Gaza, Fatah the West Bank, and the killing continues as it has for centuries. And Israel chooses—or is apparently obliged—to defend itself through retaliation and the use of deadly force.

As we celebrate the birth of our Saviour this Christmas, we dare not let ourselves sink into the abyss of permanent pessimism. What relevance could the birth of a baby to a working-class mother in a stable possibly have in a world where change is often measured by the effects of war planes dropping megatons of explosives on places where children live?

The temptation to give up on the spirit of the Babe in the manger and to put our trust in power and force afflicts us today as it did in Jesus’ time. When we side with military solutions, we betray the child in the manger, not to mention our faith predecessors. When we take the risky, narrow road of love and vulnerability, we honour the Christ child. If ever there is lasting peace, it will have been won by the marchers down the Christmas road.