On the second Sunday of Advent we light the candle of peace. Like hope, peace is elusive in our world. The biblical concept of peace involves the cessation of conflict between nations and peoples, but it is more that just the absence of conflict. It also is the presence of justice. The biblical concept of Shalom includes health and wholeness for all people. Our history has taught us that we humans aren’t very good at making peace.

For the soldiers who have come home from the War in Afghanistan, the longest war in the history of the United States, there may be a release from the conditions of war, but in the wake of this war, we are once again reminded of what has been true of every war. War changes people and that change is permanent. The fighting and hostility may have reached its conclusion for some, but the conflict continues. The trauma of war is not something that one gets over. It stays with those who have been caught up in the battle for the rest of their lives. The official end of United States participation in the War in Vietnam is recorded as the Paris peace accords, signed in January of 1973, but for 85,000 homeless Vietnam Veterans in the United States, the war never really got over.

2021 marked the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, but for former members of the Afghan security forces who are still in the country and who are being hunted down and killed by Taliban soldiers, the war is far from over. Executions and abductions continue and dozens for former forces have been killed. The declaration of peace has resulted in a year of violence and it appears that more violence lies ahead for the troubled nation.

On Tuesday, President Biden is scheduled to talk with Vladimir Putin and express US concern about Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US has evidence that Russia has made plans for a large scale attack on Ukraine. Ukraine says Russia has deployed armored vehicles, electronic warfare systems and 94,00d0 troops along the border.

Ugandan forces have once again crossed the country’s western border to go into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The troops are in pursuit of members of a group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which was founded in Uganda, but then forced into DR Congo. Ugandan leaders say the group is part of the Islamic state group. Suicide strikes have been countered with air strikes and hosts of innocent civilians have died in the various attacks.

The list of places of violence in our world is long and complex. These few examples are yet another demonstration that human efforts at bringing peace to the world are far from successful.

One of the lessons of Advent is that there is much for which we pray that we are incapable of achieving by ourselves. The gifts of Advent are gifts of God, not human achievement.

The Gospel of Luke has the amazing story of Zechariah, a priest in the temple at Jerusalem who had prayed for years to become a father. One day Zechariah was chosen by lot to be the priest to carry the incense into the sanctuary while the people were praying outside. While he was in the sanctuary an angel of God appeared to him and told him that his wife would bear a son who would turn many people to God. Zechariah questioned how such a thing could be and cited his and his wife’s ages as a barrier to them becoming parents. The angel gave his name, Gabriel, and told Zechariah that since he did not believe the words of the angel, Zechariah would become mute, unable to speak, until the child was born.

Loss of the ability to speak is not a good career move for a preacher. Elizabeth, wife if Zechariah conceived and bore a son. The relatives and neighbors rejoiced. Zechariah recovered his ability to speak and sang a song of praise and prophecy that is recorded in the Gospel story. That song is the reading for our Advent worship this week. It ends with these words: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Zechariah’s vision is not of peace resulting from human diplomacy. It is not of peace-making by world leaders. Rather it is of the light of God showing humans the way and guiding our feet onto the pathway of peace. When I read this passage, most intensely during Advent, I begin to think that there are many times when our words and all of our talking do little to bring about peace. Maybe we, like Zechariah, would do well to sit in silence and listen for a while.

This Advent I am aware of how our Advent wishes are very different from a set of goals that we set and then go to work to achieve. They are, rather, prayers that we offer and meditation worthy of our silence. Hope, Peace, Joy and Love are the prayers of every Advent. They are not accomplishments to be celebrated, but gifts of God.

There is a small technical problem in translation that occurs at the end of the song of Zechariah. Scholars have some disagreement about the tense of the verb used to describe the dawn from on high. Some translate it as a future tense: “the dawn from on high will break upon us.” Others translate it in the past: “the dawn from on high has broken upon us.” Like other visions inspired by God, the future becomes present. The not yet already is. The gift of Christ is both vision for our future and a present reality.

The peace for which we long is also a gift we are able to receive. Our prayer, often repeated as a benediction in worship is for the peace of God - the peace that passes all understanding - to be with you. We may not understand, but we are able to receive God’s peace. Perhaps the first step in that process is to accept the gift of silence and listen.