Swords into Plowshares

Advent devotion - December 24, 2009

Scripture - Isaiah 9:2–7

A child is coming.
Do we know the wonder in those words?
In the midst of our wilderness a child is coming, and in his hands he can hold our hearts, if we allow it.
In his eyes we can see the wonder of your love.
For almost two thousand years we have returned to this promise,
Lord, and to the message that John the Baptist proclaimed.
Prepare the way.
Prepare to hear the angels sing. Be not afraid.
In our world of conflict and war,
be not afraid. A child is coming.
In our world of financial turmoil,
be not afraid. A child is coming.
In our world where some live in plenty,
and others don’t have enough,
be not afraid. A child is coming.
In our world where some face the uncertainty of illness,
and others face the certainty of death,
be not afraid. A child is coming.
In our world haunted by the specter of addiction and the pain of
grief, where this candlelit season contains shadows as well as light,
be not afraid. A child is coming.

Prayer
O God, in this quiet moment prepare our hearts for your promise. Prepare our hearts for hope. Prepare our hearts to know your peace and joy in the presence of your Son.

Elder Tedd Roos, Lakewood Presbyterian Church
Lakewood, Ohio

Order Proclaiming the Good News of God's Peace.

Palestinian Christians call for just peace

On December 11, Palestinian Christian Leaders released a statement commonly called the Kairos Palestine Document.

The ceremony that launched the document took place at the International Center of Bethlehem and was attended by over fifty people, included members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), from around the world. 

At a time when thoughts turn to long-ago events in Bethlehem, the Kairos Palestine Document calls readers to think of present-day events. In this "moment of truth," the Palestinian Christians offer "a word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering."

As the introduction to the document reads:

"We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God’s divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land. Inspired by the mystery of God's love for all, the mystery of God’s divine presence in the history of all peoples and, in a particular way, in the history of our country, we proclaim our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian belonging – a word of faith, hope and love."

Rev. Ronald  Shive, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Burlington, N.C., and chair of the General Assembly’s Middle East Study Committee was among the Presbyterians present for the launch of the document. The Presbyterian News Service reports:

"“We will be looking carefully at this statement in the Middle East Study Committee,” Shive told the Presbyterian News Service. “I would urge all Presbyterians at Christmas to reflect upon its word to our church and others.”'

The Presbyterian Church has been involved in mission efforts in the Middle East for nearly two centuries. Read recent statements of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assemblies on seeking a just peace for Israel and Palestine.

A Christmas prayer 2009

A Christmas prayer

God of glory and God of grace,
God who creates and loves us all,
God whose Holy Spirit gives us gifts for faithful living,
You come to us in a child,
Born in Bethlehem, a humble city in an occupied land,
 
A child whose parents fled with him for safety,
               Crossing borders, becoming refugees,
 
A child who grew in wisdom and in years to be an adult who proclaimed great good news,     
               Befriended sinners,
               Stood with the oppressed,
               Welcomed the outcast,
               Healed the sick and
               Reconciled the estranged,
 
An adult who revealed your love and lived your love,
               Shared food with those who hungered,
               Blessed the peacemakers,
               Offered liberation from all forms of tyranny,
               Transformed conflict and
               Broke down walls of division.
 
Jesus remained faithful to you in all things though he threatened the powers and the powerful
Who seized him, tried him, tortured him, and crucified him.
 
But your loving grace and power raised him from the dead.  And through Jesus
               You make possible forgiveness and fresh beginnings,
               Life anew and life abundant.
 
We give thanks that Jesus remains the friend of sinners and
               A companion on life’s journey,
               That we might live in faith,
               That we might love you, love one another, and love all your creation,
               That we might do kindness, pursue justice, and seek peace,
                    This day and every day.
 
Remembering the birth of the child of Bethlehem, we give thanks, And we celebrate your love revealed in the life and death and resurrection Jesus our Savior, In whose name we pray.
Amen.

•    Mark Koenig, Nancy Eng MacNeill,Teresa Stricklen and David Gambrell

The staff of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program wishes you a blessed Advent and a joy-filled Christmas. In a world broken by sin and torn by violence, we still dare to proclaim the ancient vision of peace on earth.
 
Feel free to use this prayer with the attribution "Presbyterian Peacemaking Program." If our Web page (www.pcusa.org/peacemaking) could be included, that would be appreciated.

Not finished with your shopping?

Still looking for a gift for that someone special?

Consider a gift that works for peace. Support the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. There are several options. Give to:

Peacemaking Offering - provide basic support for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program's ministry

Conference scholarships - help persons attend events sponsored by the program

International Peacemakers - bring sisters and brothers in Christ to the United States to share about their ministries

Build a Culture of Peace & Nonviolence - support faith-based nonviolence training and peace building efforts for youth and young adults

Presbyterian United Nations Office - enable the Presbyterian UN Office to represent the church at the UN to interpret to the church the work of the UN

HIV/AIDS & Peacemaking - address the root causes and impact of HIV/AIDS

2010 Peacemaking Seminar

2010 Peacemaking Seminar
Re-membering Peace: Still the Believers’ Calling
August 25-29, 2010
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico

In 1980, the 192nd GA of the UPCUSA adopted Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling [PDF]. In 2010, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program invites you to join us among the mesas of northern New Mexico as we practice the art of storytelling — weaving our stories of peacemaking together, discovering how we are already intertwined and bearing witness to our being knit together into Christ, who is our head. We will bring back together — re-member — those who have gone out to proclaim the good news of peace over the last 30 years (Isaiah 52:7, Nahum 1:15). In this seminar, we will live out the practice of anamnesis: remembering the places where the triune God has led us in the past, in light of our present realities, and looking with hope towards the future of peacemaking.

Join at Ghost Ranch for a time of re-membering:

• Retell the Presbyterian stories of peacemaking.
• Recognize the current strands of peacemaking throughout the church.
• Renew our commitment to follow Jesus, living out the believers’ calling for this day and generations to come.

Within the cloud of witnesses, in a homecoming of peacemakers, seminar participants will re-member — retell the stories of our Presbyterian heritage of peacemaking.

Bearing witness to the ways in which we are knit together into Christ, we will re-member — weave together the many ways in which we continue to make peace in our world.

Strengthened by our gathering, we will re-member — renew our covenantal responsibility to go out into the world, living out the believers’ call, looking towards the needs of peacemakers yet to come.

The 2010 Peacemaking Seminar is designed for young adults and adults. Registration is limited. For more information contact Dayna Oliver.

If you cannot attend the 2010 Peacemaking Seminar, consider making a gift so that someone else can.

Pray with the people of Bethlehem

Christ is Born!
Glorify Him!
3rd Annual Bethlehem Prayer Service

Saturday, December 19, 2009
9:30 AM Gathering, 10:00 AM Service
(All times are Eastern Standard Time.)

This will be a joint simulcast service with the people of Bethlehem and people who gather at the Bethlehem Chapel of the Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC)

In the DC area?  Join worshipers in the Bethlehem Chapel at the National Cathedral.

Elsewhere? Gather with friends to watch the service by internet. (Note the link will not be live until the time of the service)

In Bethlehem, behind the wall that separates neighbor from neighbor, patient from hospital, student from school and farmer from land, Palestinian Christians continue to bear witness to their faith this Christmas, as they have done for generations.  Once again, let us join our voices with theirs in seeking and offering hope for a better future.

Prayers, readings, and hymns alternate between Washington, DC and Palestine via the Internet, bringing together people of different lands, languages, and ethnic backgrounds in celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace. 

Participants in Washington include the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington; the Rt. Rev. Richard H. Graham, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod; and the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the Cathedral. 

In Bethlehem, participants include the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem; the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb from Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.

Sponsored by:
Ad Hoc Committee for Bethlehem
Bright Stars of Bethlehem
Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation
Sharing Jerusalem
Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace
 
Find updated information about the service.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Report 1 from our folk in Copenhagen

Check out the first report on the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen written by Bill and Carol Somplatsky-Jarman, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staff members who are attending the event. Thanks to the Environmental Ministries Office for posting their reports.

They reflect on the role of youth at the conference and offer a number of web pages

And remember the invitation to sound bells, drums, gongs, conch shells (and other instruments that call people to worship) for climate justice on December 13 for

A prayer for December 7

God of the ages, in your sight nations rise and fall, and pass through times of peril. On this day we remember with gratitude those who died in defense of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and all those who gave their lives in this nation’s defense during the ensuing conflict. Hasten the day when there will be no more war, and all your children will learn to live together as brothers and sisters in peace.  For your own Name’s sake.  Amen.

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association

Toward a mine-free world

Good news from the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World!

The summit closed with more than 120 governments adopting the Cartagena Action Plan (read the plan in draft form [pdf], a detailed five-year plan of commitments on all areas of mine action including victim assistance, mine clearance, risk education, stockpile destruction and international cooperation. Good news!

The summit brought the announcement that four  countries - Albania, Greece, Rwanda and Zambia - are now mine-free. And that's not good news, that is great news! This is a significant event for all these countries - in Rwanda, for example, 80% of the land is used for agriculture.

The United States remains among the 39 countries that have not yet signed or ratified the Mine Ban Treaty [pdf]. Not good news.

But, the head of the U.S. delegation to the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World informed participants that the Obama administration has begun a comprehensive landmine policy review. That is good news.

And it is a reminder that the effort to create a mine-free world will continue.

Register now for Ecumenical Advocacy Days

2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days

March 19-22, 2010 - Washington DC

A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples

Register Now

March 19 - 22, 2010  in Washington D.C.

"and Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'"   -Luke 9:58

Jesus had no place to lay his head. Neither do tens of millions of migrants, refugees and displaced persons. Be a part of an action weekend addressing this global injustice. Join hundreds of faith-based advocates in taking action on U.S. legislation that will welcome immigrants, protect refugees, and prevent displacement of millions.

Participants will worship, study and dialog together. There will be special events for Presbyterians and other denominations as well as times for people to meet and plan in state groups.

On Monday, participants will visit Capitol Hill to advocate for our members of Congress to remedy these global injustices. 

The conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Crystal City, VA just outside Washington, DC.

Learn more and register now for this important faith-in-action event.

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.  -Hebrews 13:1-2