Sermon Notes

The Path of Peace
“The Path of Peace”
Rev. Stephen Milton
Lawrence Park Community Church, Toronto.
Dec 8th, 2024
Today’s scripture is believed to have been a song or hymn before
it was placed in Luke’s Gospel. They are the words of a father.
who has experienced extraordinary things. Zechariah has been a
priest in the temple for many years, and now he is an old man.
Nine months ago, the Angel Gabriel arrived while he was alone in
the temple’s most holy room. Gabriel told him that he and his
elderly wife Elizabeth were to have a child, who would be named
John. He would be a prophet to prepare the way for the Messiah.
Zechariah scoffs at this – how can two old people have a baby?
As a result, Gabriel takes away his voice until the child is born
and named John. That baby will become known as John the
Baptist.
So, the words we heard today are the first words Zechariah has
spoken in nine months. His words are a song of praise that echo
words from the Psalms. Scholars think the first part of his words
were a hymn that the followers of John the Baptist used to sing [1].
The words praise God for remembering the chosen people, whom
God has saved from trouble so many times in the past. Now
Zechariah in his rusty voice sings of God sending a saviour to
save the people from the ones who hate them, who oppress.
them. At last, a Messiah will be coming to save us and set us free.
That sounds like Zechariah is speaking of the Roman empire,
which has invaded and occupied Judea. But there’s a problem
here. If the Messiah is meant to free the Jews from the Romans,
then this Messiah will fail. Luke writes his Gospel around the year 85
That’s 15 years after the Romans have crushed a rebellion by
the Jews. That’s 15 years after the temple was burnt down, and
all of its treasures stolen, taken as booty back to Rome. That’s 15
years after the Jews who weren’t killed were taken as slaves back
to Rome. In the years after Zechariah sings this song, the Jews
are worse off, not better.
When Christians hear prophecy in the Bible, they make a
distinction between what the prophet knew, and what God means.
Prophets often protest that the words God wants them to share
don’t make sense, or are so upsetting they will get them in
trouble. The Holy Spirit often speaks in ways that are either true
far in the future, or require a different kind of meaning that takes
time to understand. That’s what is happening here. Zechariah
may think the enemy is the Romans, but Luke wants us to look
deeper.
Luke wants us to see that the Holy Spirit was speaking about a
different kind of enemy. A spiritual enemy. [2] The urge to hate, to
commit violence, to mistreat each other. The Apostle Paul calls
this spiritual evil The Powers and Principalities of the world
(Ephesians 6:12). Other people call them evil spirits or demons.
Greed, hatred, the desire to dominate and oppress. Whatever you
call it, we know that it is still with us. It seems to come and go,
drifting from place to place, but always coming back. How is it
possible that in our day and age we are still talking about Nazis
and Neo Nazis? The urge to do evil keeps floating through the
world, looking for places to land. Or, it may be a feature of our
human nature, a sinful urge to hurt others. There are many ways
of describing it, but “it” keeps showing up, causing wars, leading
people to hurt each other, creating misery, on purpose.
The problem with enemies is not just who they are, but the urge to
hate itself. We have seen it in our time. The first thing leaders do
when they declare war is that they dehumanize the other side.
Putin Nazis
Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine by telling the Russian
people that Nazis had taken over the Ukrainian government [3].
Those people are monsters, we have to go save the Ukrainian
people.
To get soldiers to kill other people they need to feel hatred and a
sense of moral superiority. Wars don’t start with armies, they start
with a change of mind. A darkening of the soul in the name of
what is good. We’re perfect, but they are monsters. That’s how
wars get started and peace ends.
So, how do we push back against these forces that hate peace?
Luke tells us in the second part of Zechariah’s song. The focus
shifts from the fate of nations to the baby in his arms. Zechariah
says:
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon [h] us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
 
Do you hear the difference? No more suggestion of war or of
hatred. Instead, he speaks like a father would tenderly address a
baby. He speaks of a salvation that will come not through armed
deliverance, but through the forgiveness of sins. He speaks of
God’s mercy. He speaks of feet being guided to the way of peace.
In this part of Zechariah’s song, he is admitting that each of his
people, like all people, sin. None of us is perfect. But sometimes
we think we are. And when we’re in that mood, then the rest of
the world, everybody else, looks very imperfect. And when we’re
perfect and other people are imperfect, trouble follows. That
sense of personal perfection is where judgement comes from.
When we think we have made no mistakes, then the mistakes of
others become glaringly obvious and totally unacceptable. That
kind of self righteousness makes peace impossible in a house or
a nation

So, in this second part of Zechariah’s Song, he speaks about the
importance of forgiveness. But not about forgiving each other.
The song speaks of the salvation that comes from forgiveness by
God. Humans forgiving each other is of course a very good
practice. Often the only way to heal a relationship is to forgive
another person, even if they haven’t apologized for what they did.
But Zechariah is singing about God’s forgiveness of us being the
route to salvation. Because the hardest hearts are the ones who
don’t believe they can be forgiven.
The person who thinks they are beyond forgiveness is spiritually
lost. Often in action movies there is a sad villain, someone who
has killed too many. He is certain that they can never be forgiven.
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is like that in Star Wars. His many sins grow and
grow, his heart becomes more and more hardened, he treats
people like toys to be thrown around the room in his fits of rage.
When he meets his son, Luke Skywalker, his only thought is to
bring him over to the dark side so they can rule the galaxy
together. Vader doesn’t believe there is any good in himself, that’s
why he can be so cruel to others, crushing throats with the force
with just a thought.
But Zechariah’s song reminds us that salvation comes through
the recognition that all people can be forgiven by God. Zechariah
doesn’t explain how. Do we need to repent first? He doesn’t say
That message will come through his baby son when he grows
up to be John the Baptist. For now, through the Spirit, Zechariah
is speaking words he may not fully understand. He is speaking of
the forgiveness that will come from Jesus when He is on the
cross. Nailed on the cross by the Romans, Jesus says “Forgive
them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) That’s
forgiveness even for the hated Romans. A forgiveness they don’t
even know they have received.
Jesus doesn’t defeat the Romans, as Zechariah hoped, but he
does something better. He shows the way to peace through a
change in the human heart. A promise of forgiveness to everyone,
even killers like the Romans. A promise that not one of us is
hated by God. God is always waiting to take us back. We don’t
have to be perfect, and we won’t be. Taking on the understanding
that God loves you despite your faults opens a door. Because if
you, with all your faults, can be forgiven, then your heart can stop
judging others. You can see them as flawed and stumbling
through this life, too. As fellow travellers, no longer enemies or
irritants.
That message of the power of forgiveness shows up in strange
places. It is a song whose title we can’t quite remember. It seems
so unlikely, how could the power of forgiveness make such a
difference?
One strange place this message shows up is in that story of Darth
Vader. I admit, his life is a strange place to find forgiveness.
Afterall, in the prequels we see why he became so evil. As a
young man he killed an entire village of aliens who killed his
mother. The emperor convinces him to kill tiny children in the jedi
temple. Terrible crimes. No wonder he feels he can’t be forgiven.
But do you remember the end of his story? His son is called Luke,
a rather Biblical name. Luke Skywalker believes that some flicker
of goodness still exists in his father, Darth Vader. Luke, the son,
risks his life believing his father can be saved. And he is. Vader
and Luke have a deadly battle against the evil Emperor. Vader is
mortally wounded.
Luke and Vader
As Vader lies dying, he asks Luke to take his helmet off. He tells
Luke that his faith in him has given him peace. His inner turmoil is
over because he has been forgiven. It is a salvation that comes through
forgiveness for the galaxy’s most evil man.
Does this prove forgiveness provides salvation? No, of course
not. The only proof comes from real life when people like us let
the truth of Christ’s forgiveness sink in. It is like a sun shining into
the darkness of our lives. For those who believe that the world is
broken, unforgiveable, that we have no second chances, Christ
comes with a message that can save the world. God loves you.
That love is a light in the darkness of grief and despair. It is a light
that can end inner turmoil. No matter what a person has done,
God has not given up on them, forgiveness is possible. Christ
comes to show us the way to peace, inside ourselves and in the
world. For the path of peace is crowded with imperfect people like
I And we are led by a Messiah who preached peace with his
last breath.
Amen.