“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom [God] favors!” (Luke 2:14)
On Christmas Day in 1863, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Christmas Bells,” which includes this stanza:
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
The poem, which became the hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” expresses the heartwrenching pain of a family and a country torn apart by the Civil War.
Looking back on that era, historian Mark Noll has written about how the violence reflected a nation in theological turmoil over slavery, biblical interpretation, and the will of God. Providence would be revealed in the outcome of the war. The activity of God was conflated with the machinations of humans and armies.
It’s astonishing to realize Christianity’s complicity in the enslavement of other children of God. It’s frightening to think that followers of Jesus could demean others so fully and be caught up in economic self-interest so completely that they perpetuated such harm. It was a theological-political project whose sins continue to stain our social fabric and religious dynamics today.
Autumn Nazeer (left) and Jason Cordon (right) on Dec. 13, 2020, decorate a Christmas tree placed on the base of the Gen. Robert E. Lee statue defaced with graffiti during Black Lives Matter protests in Richmond, Virginia. The statue was permanently removed in 2021. (Jacqueline Larma/Associated Press)
What will future American citizens and American Christians say about us 150+ years from now, when Bible verses are being used to cheerlead military action and aggressive immigration enforcement in ways that reveal how our theological imaginations have failed us again? What explanations will be offered in the decades to come to explain the idolatrous nationalism and its derivative sins that literally unfold before our eyes as we watch videos on our social media feeds?
Longfellow’s final verse has become my fervent prayer:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Yes, it’s easy to wish that Longfellow had used more inclusive language. But, in fairness, it was also men wielding the power, committing the violence, and killing for the sake of subjugating others. They were the main obstacles to true peace.
Still, there was plenty of blame to go around then, just as there are many complicit in our challenges now. God is used to justify our flawed agendas. God is mocked by our attempts to make what is holy and universal into something parochial and profane.
In Advent, we wait for God to arrive in this world anew. Christmas is a reminder that God is not dead, nor is God asleep. That means the wrong shall fail, peace will come, and goodwill found by all humans created in the Image of the One revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
Beau Underwood is a contributing editor at Word&Way and a Disciples of Christ pastor in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NOTE: This is part of our Unsettling Advent devotionals running Nov. 30-Dec. 24. You can subscribe for free and receive them each morning in your inbox.
