Peace in Unexpected Places, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.

Peace in Unexpected Places, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: The Gift of Advent (2024) A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Luke 2:14.

About the Series, The Gift of Advent (2024): Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love

Join us each Sunday, 10AM at bendfp.org, or 11AM KTVZ-CW Channel 612/12 in Bend.  Subscribe/Follow, and click the bell for alerts.

At First Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God.

We call this kind of faith “Spacious Christianity.” We don’t ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. The life of faith is about a way of being in the world and a faith that shows itself in love.

Thank you for your support of the mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Bend. Visit https://bendfp.org/giving/ for more information.

Featuring:

Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Brave of Heart, Guests

Transcript

Unknown: 0:20

Music.

Whitney Higdon: 0:37

Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian we at first, Presbyterian practice a spacious Christianity, which means, no matter where you are in your faith journey, you belong, and there is space for you at the table, there is space for your doubts and questions. We believe doubts and questions are a gift that invite us into deeper conversations and a more authentic faith. We believe diversity is a strength. Every story is sacred, and everybody matters. We do our best to live the spacious and radical love of Jesus so that all might have a chance to flourish in this world. We are so glad to connect with you in this way. We would also love to worship with you in person if you're ever in the neighborhood on Sunday mornings at 830 or 10am and never hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about us or how we might support You. I hope you enjoy this worship service. Welcome you.

Becca Ellis: 3:39

This is the season of Advent. As we make room and prepare our hearts to receive, once again, the gift of God's love and the birth of Jesus, it is our tradition to light a candle for each Sunday in Advent. On the second Sunday in Advent, we light the candle of peace, reminding us that the one we call Prince of Peace calls us to be peacemakers in this world, may we find ways to practice peace and bring Peace to a divided world.

Steven: 6:56

Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers. Here's the prayer the peace prayer of St Francis, Lord, make us instruments of your peace where there is hatred, that is so love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope where there is darkness, light where there is sadness, joy, Lord, make us instruments of your peace. And here is the prayer of St Francis in reverse. Lord, make us channels of disturbance where there is apathy. Let us provoke where there is blind compliance. Let us bring questioning where there is silence. May we be your voice for justice and peace where there's too much comfort and too little action, Grant disruption where there are doors closed and hearts locked, grant us the dogged determination to listen and care where there Is hostility disturb our fear and judgment of the other. That we might seek to build bridges of understanding when pain is overlooked and tradition speaks louder than suffering, grant that we may seek to do justice rather than just talk about it disturb us, Lord, to be with as well as for the alienated, to love the unlovable as well as the lovely. In a world that lives like a clenched fist, may we disturb the status quo, showing the world that love is stronger than hate. Lord, make us channels of disturbance and instruments of your peace. Amen, one of my favorite moments of the entire year is Christmas Eve, when we light the Christ candle, celebrating the light of God's love that has entered the darkness of the world in the birth of Jesus, a light we are promised that the darkness can never extinguish. We pass the light of a candle, one to another, singing, Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright. In that moment, the world is still, and it's as if we can hear the voice of the angels as recorded in the Gospel of Luke saying peace. Peace, peace on earth and goodwill to all in that moment, even just for a moment, we dare to trust that, contrary to all of the evidence the world offers, otherwise, that peace and goodwill are possible. Peaceful. Good Will that seems like an impossible and even irrational dream. Madeleine liengo wrote, This is the irrational season when Love Blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason, there'd have been no room for the child. We lit the second candle of Advent, the candle of peace. This is the irrational season. Can we make room in our hearts for the child we call the Prince of Peace. It's my tradition during Advent two to share a story about another time that Silent Night was sung a battleground full of death and despair became a holy ground, in a way that no one would have imagined possible for a brief moment, there was peace on earth and goodwill to all this year seems like a particularly important Time to remember this story. It was December 24 1914, two great armies, hundreds of 1000s of British, French and German soldiers faced each other along a front that extended along the border between France and Belgium. It was a terrible war, as if there was any other kind. Troops were dug in deep trenches cut into soggy, muddy soil lit up by candles and flashlights. It was a constant struggle to keep the mud walls from collapsing and the trenches from flooding. Just 50 yards away was the enemy trench. Each side's trench was protected by rolls of barbed wire. In between was called no man's land. Each side posted snipers to shoot anything that moved in the opposite trench. Hand grenades were thrown, artillery shells were lobbed, occasional charges up out of the trenches were launched, almost always resulting in death. The trenches were close enough that men in one trench could hear their enemies voices as the first Christmas of that war approached. Troops on both sides received packages from home to boost morale. British troops received a Princess Mary packet containing cigarettes, pipe tobacco and a greeting card from the King. Each soldier also received a plum pudding at Cadbury chocolates the German soldiers received packages that contain tobacco and a pipe. Separately from this, German troops also received gifts of sausage and beer and one thing more, the German government sent a lot of Christmas trees to the troops in the trenches. As the sun moved across the sky on december 24 1914, something strange, unbelievable, unimaginable began to happen. The shooting slowed down and then came to a halt. No one issued an order. Soldiers on both sides simply stopped shooting. As the late afternoon, dusk turned to darkness, British troops, peering through the gloom, saw the most amazing thing, Christmas trees with lighted candles lying the edges of the trench, all up and down the line. German troops displayed the Christmas trees their government had sent to the front display them so that their British enemies could see them, the stillness of the night, the silence of the artillery, the peculiar light the. Of Christmas tree lights up and down the trenches where all the angels were singing that night, a German voice called out into the silent darkness, a gift is coming now. The British dove for cover expecting a grenade, what came across was a boot filled with sausages and chocolate. The British scurry to find one of the Princess Mary packets, a plum pudding and a Christmas card from the King to send in reply. And then the singing started, patriotic songs, military songs, drinking songs at first one side, followed by applause from the opposite trench, and then the other side. And then it was eerily quiet, the light at Christmas trees, the darkness one soldier wrote and a letter home, my dear sister, Janet, you won't believe this. If I hadn't seen it myself, I would scarcely believe it was possible. Just imagine, while you and the family sang Christmas carols in front of the fireplace there in London, I did the same with enemy soldiers here on the battlefields of France. I could never have imagined such a god forsaken place with such despair and death, seemingly devoid of all hope could all of a sudden become so holy, yet it was as if the holiness swept over us awaken something within us, and for a few moments, we didn't see each other as enemies, into a darkness pierced only by the lit Christmas trees, came a familiar sound From the German side of the trenches, still a knocked, high like a knocked a German soldier began singing, Silent night, holy night. All up and down the Western Front. It spread for miles and miles. Still a knocked, high, like a knocked all is calm, all is bright. The British troops were spellbound. Many joined the singing, and as they sang silent night together, the two languages merged into one, a language of peace, a language of hope, a language that came from that more beautiful world each heart knows is possible but is sometimes hard to imagine. They continue to sing into the night and as the sun rose on Christmas Day, voices from both sides shouted, you no shoot. We no shoot. And brave soldiers emerged from both sides unarmed, walked slowly, ever so cautiously, up out of the trenches into no man's land, and they met in the middle, shook hands awkwardly, and exchanged Christmas greetings, up and down the line, spreading north and south south as Spontaneous Christmas truce, gifts of cigarettes, Candy sausages, Plum puddings, chocolates were exchanged, and then uniform insignia, brass buttons, belt buckles, more singing and drinking and at several places along the western front, soccer games were played. The spirit of peace and good will prevailed over fear and the demonic spirit of war. This truce continued Christmas night into the second day and then, after a week or so, those in power ordered the soldiers back into the trenches, and the shooting resumed once again across no man's land in. 6000 deaths per day for the next 46 months. But even for a short while, the improbable became possible, the unimaginable became a reality on a silent night and holy night in the trenches, the birth of the Christ Child, the Prince of Peace, interrupted the violence and drew hostile forces together as brothers and for a few moments, gave weary soldiers a taste of peace at Goodwill, again, as one soldier described it, I could never have imagined such a god forsaken place with such despair and death, seemingly devoid of all hope, could all of a sudden become so holy. Yet it was as if the holiness swept over us awakened something within us, and for a few moments in time, we didn't see each other as enemies. This is all in a book called Silent Night, the story of the World War One Christmas truce, by Stanley Weintraub. I know it's not Christmas Eve, but in a moment, Silent Night will be sung. May we remember something awakening in those soldiers, interrupting the violence, causing them to come out of their trenches, sharing an improbable peace, and even for just a few moments as this song is sung, may something be awakened in us. May we come out of the trenches of our despair and cynicism, assuming things in this world and in our own lives will never change. May we experience a peace within our souls, a peace we didn't think possible. May we be the ones who see the darkness, know it's real, and choose to light a candle anyway, and dare to hold that fragile candle up against the wind and pass along the light wherever it's needed. Remember, this is the irrational season Where Love Blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason? There had been no room for the child? Let's make room. Let's make room For the Prince of peace. Madeline, le'engle said, this is the irrational season Where Love Blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason? There had been no room for the child? May we come out of the trenches of our despair and cynicism assuming things in the world and in our lives will never change. May we experience a peace within our souls we didn't think possible. May we shine a light into the darkest corners? May we listen for the voice of the angel saying, Peace on earth, good will to all, and dare to live as if that promise is possible. Go in the peace and the love of Christ, and May the love that you bring into this world bring peace to others.

Whitney Higdon: 28:42

Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope you enjoyed this worship service. If you would like to make a donation helping make these podcasts possible or support them many ways. First, Presbyterian seeks to serve our community. You can make a financial gift online at bend fp.org, every week, we hear from someone thanking us for the gift of these broadcasts, and what a difference they make. Your support makes that possible. Our church is committed to reach beyond our walls, bringing hope where there is despair and love where it is needed the most. Your generous support helps us to be generous in love. Go to our website, bend fp.org, and click on the link give online Your support is really appreciated and makes a difference in people's lives. Thanks again. I hope to see you next week. You