This was the song the angels sang to the shepherds on the first Christmas night (Luke 2.14). This was the good news that heralded the birth of the prince of peace.

Today, our world seems so far from peace. The criminal acts of September 11 and the retaliatory attack on Afghanistan by US-led forces have brought the world to a level of war and insecurity very far from the vision the angels saw.

Peace on earth? Even the birthplace of our Lord is a war zone. For several weeks in October, Manger Square in Bethlehem was filled with artillery, tanks and other weapons of war - just one of the expressions of the animosity, destruction and death which have characterized the relationship between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews, especially in the last 16 months. Now Ariel Sharon seems determined to demonstrate in blood that the Palestinians have no right to be in Palestine.

One can also point to other conflicts - in the Great Lakes region of Africa, in Northern Ireland, in Macedonia, Indonesia and elsewhere. How can we celebrate peace on earth when people are bleeding and dying?

The angels' vision of peace on earth is also compromised by injustice. Hardest hit in many countries are the children to whom the Christmas season is especially expected to bring joy. Adult structures and systems, adult actions and decisions, place their lives at risk. Structural adjustment programmes deny them access to good education and good health delivery. Many are affected by HIV/Aids. Some are themselves infected, while others have lost one or both parents. How can these children be at peace?

In Afghanistan, we have seen children used in combat by both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. These children cannot be at peace this advent, nor can they grow up with values that will usher peace in.

Peace is not simply the absence of war. WARC has constantly lifted up injustice in the economy and the earth. As long as large sections of the world's people suffer under economic neoliberalism and we plunder our environmental resources our world will move further away from peace.

So are we to write off the vision of the angels as irrelevant or false? No.

Now more than ever it is a vision we need to hear. Like the shepherds, we need to respond actively: Let us go to Bethlehem and see the truth of these sayings. The vision will be realized when as committed Christians we take up the call (with all its risks) to journey with Jesus the Christ, the prince of peace.

We need to be at the forefront of proclaiming the good news of reconciling a sinful humanity with God. But our words are cheap if we are not also at the forefront of promoting reconciling communities in which people of different backgrounds and creeds are constantly in dialogue, of finding new ways of creating with our non-Christian neighbours a culture of peace. We have to break those chains of injustice in the economy and in our regard for the earth which can only work against peace. Yes, the angels' vision will be realized if we extend goodwill to all - not just to those who are like us or who agree with us.

Now is the time for the whole Reformed family to commit itself anew to be the instrument of God's peace. This means going against the forces of death, and in many circumstances includes challenging governments to review policies and actions that work against peace.

Let us celebrate Christmas 2001 with a good reflection on how we can respond to God's call to walk with and work with our Lord Jesus Christ, the prince of peace - whose birth is heralded by the angels, and heralds the fulfilment of their angelic vision of peace on earth and goodwill to all.