The third day of Christmas (December 27th) remembers St. John the Apostle. Although he suffered greatly during his life as he experienced persecution for his faith, he is the only Apostle who is believed to have died of natural causes instead of a martyr's death.
Scripture: 1 John 2:1-11
Devotion:
This song almost gives me whiplash. We go from the angels' message of "peace on the earth, good will to men" being sung to the weary world, to the "woes of sin and strife" that we have long suffered as we, being "at war with man", don't hear the angels' song. We need to have the warmongers and "men of strife" be quiet so they can hear the song of peace.
This year especially, we can relate to "life's crushing load" that the song sings of. We have toiled and taken slow, painful steps as injustices and the pandemic rock our world. But there is a call to rest and listen to the angels' song. We yearn for the time when Peace comes over all the earth, but this isn't here yet. We aren't called, as Christians, to passively wait for peace to come to the earth; we are called to join in God's work of bringing peace to the earth, bringing hope to the hopeless, bringing comfort to the mourning, bringing healing to the broken, bringing reconciliation and redemption to a world separated from God.
John doesn't shy away from delivering tough teachings. In 1 John 2, he directly ties our knowing Jesus to our keeping of His commands. This isn't to say that we earn our salvation through good works, but rather that we show our love for God in obeying Him. John writes that if we say we know Him, but don't obey Him, then we are liars. Our obedience to God's commands shows we are His. He goes on to tell us that if we claim to live in Christ, then we must live as He did.
John continues by discussing hate and love. If we love our brothers and sisters in the faith, then we are walking in the light, but if we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are walking in darkness. We live in an era of division. We have stopped listening to or even respecting the other side. Whatever our hot button issue is, if someone disagrees with us, they are viewed as a monster. In the Church, we are quick to declare, "But I love everyone", but this love is not displayed when we unfriend, snooze, or ignore those with opposing views. It isn't shown when we have "agree-fests" where we mock, scorn, and belittle those who disagree with us, especially when we are isolated from those with opposing views.
Our world is divided. We won't wake up one day to find a world at peace. It takes work, long, hard, draining work to foster peace in a divisive age. It involves listening to others, setting aside clichés and strawman arguments, and acknowledging the humanity of those who hold different core beliefs. As Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:46-47), "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" We aren't any different from a non-Christian if we only love, respect, and interact with those who are part of the same denomination, those who have the same political affiliations, or those who agree with us on the same social issues. If we are to bring peace to our world, we need to love those who disagree with us and befriend those who are different from us.
Challenge:
Listen to someone who holds different beliefs than you. Learn instead of argue. Seek to understand their reasoning instead of trying to convert them to your viewpoint. Ask open questions instead of defending your position.
Rephrase what they said to make sure that you are interpreting their message correctly.
Choose not to get into a fight on social media. Better yet, choose not to say anything negative about other people, even people who disagree with you on the issues that matter most to you, especially when they are not present.
Learn to control yourself in conversations and refuse to engage in outbursts where you spew hurtful words at those who disagree with you. Set aside name-calling, condemnation, and snap judgments.
Look for the humanity in the very people you disagree with. Look for their passion, their goodness, their resolve.
Refuse to utilize dehumanizing language. The person you disagree with is a person made in God's image and should be treated with respect.
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