“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7)
The wars in the Middle East from Gaza to Lebanon don’t seem to be ending. Nearby in Syria, a 54-year authoritarian regime has ended that left a population cheering the fall of a dictator but worried about what will happen next — especially to Syrian Christians.
It is heart-wrenching to see women and children gunned down. We can’t be oblivious as we see with our naked eye medical personnel, humanitarian staff, and even journalists killed while on duty.
We also need to empathize with children and families on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border having to leave their homes in a hurry and become refugees, much like Mary and Joseph had to huddle baby Jesus away from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre of children.
While King Solomon warned us that there will be a time for war and a time for peace, it is hard to fathom that our Lord wanted equal time for both. War and suffering are never part of God’s will for his children. That is why in the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus bestowed the greatest gift to peacemakers, saying that they “shall be called children of God.”
Lebanese artist Mohammad Nassif in his workshop in Shebaa on Dec. 27, 2023, as he cuts and bends fragments of Israeli artillery shells into artistic creations like the cedar tree symbol of Lebanon. (Xinhua/Alamy).
When our Lord was born, he heralded a new paradigm. The call of the angels to the shepherds in the present Palestinian town of Beit Sahour was clear: “Peace on Earth and goodwill to all.”
Working for peace, however, need not be in the abstract. As children of God, we also must reject injustice as the Old Testament prophet Amos called for justice to “roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Peace with justice might seem to be a far-fetched idea in Lebanon, the Middle East, and the world. Nevertheless, as believers we are ordered to pay attention to what Isaiah (1:17) said: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist living in Amman, Jordan, and the publisher of Milhilard.org, a website specialized for Christians in Jordan and Palestine. He is also author of the new book State of Palestine NOW: Practical and Logical Arguments for the Best Way to Bring Peace to the Middle East.
NOTE: This is part of our Unsettling Advent devotionals running Dec. 1-Dec. 24. You can subscribe for free and receive them each morning in your inbox.
