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Psalm 122
Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 8:5-13

Peace.

We pray for it in Jerusalem. Well, we may or may not be in Jerusalem when we pray, but certainly the peace of that city is important.

they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
      and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
      neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4b

The Capernaum servant is in distress, and the centurion asks that Jesus beat the servant's swords of distress is to ploughshares of repose.

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed."

I am sure I don't need to remind you that a centurion traveling a great distance on behalf a single servant is a little unusual (read the text. This guy commands a whole lot of people.) We can infer that the centurion is gay and that the servant is someone whom he loves intimately.

The "I'm not worthy" remark doesn't have anything to do with the centurion, though. None of us is worthy to have Jesus come under our roof. And yet this season of Advent reminds us that before Jesus' stably birth, the world was aching for the heavens to be torn open so that God could break through that strange divide between his kingdom and this world.

But we certainly can't ignore the implications of Jesus' actions on behalf of a gay relationship. Advent might be about waiting, but how long do we have to wait to see gays on equal footing with heterosexual people? When can they get married, share benefits, get tax privilege and all the other benefits heterosexual people enjoy?

We pray for it now. We might or might not be gay, but gays are a part of Jerusalem; they are a part of God's holy kingdom. How can we not pray and work toward their peace here on earth?

On a day when more and more voices are calling the conflict in Iraq a civil war, one remembers that war is never civil.

Humans like to fight each other for oil, power, bigotry, sexual insecurity, racism, fear, ignorance, sin, et cetera.

The scriptures remind us that violent conflict or stubborn oppression are contrary to the way of God.

What is the way of God?

Peace.

From peace to pieces: My Gmail account now holds 4000 pieces of unread spam.

Labels: Advent 2006