Christmas Day – 2009
There can be no peace on earth without justice
“For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And his name will be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgement and justice
From that time forward, even forever.” (Isaiah 9:6,7)
“… we have often been reminded of the words of the Prophet Jeremiah: “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). In fact, one of the basic affirmations of the ecumenical movement since the earliest times has been the conviction that a durable peace can only be built on the basis of justice. The Vancouver Assembly in 1983, in its statement on “Peace and Justice”, said: “Peace is not just the absence of war. Peace cannot be built on foundations of injustice. Peace requires a new international order based on justice for and within all the nations, and respect for the God-given humanity and dignity of every person. Peace is, as the Prophet Isaiah has taught us, the effect of righteousness”, and it added: “The ecumenical approach to peace and justice is based on the belief that without justice for all everywhere we shall never have peace anywhere”.
Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, 1999
