Sermon 12/5/04
Visualize Whirled Peas - Isaiah 11:1-10
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Visualize whirled peas. That's the message on one of my favorite bumper stickers. Visualize whirled peas. Can you see it? If you're imagining a cloud of chaotic vegetables, take a step back, and look again. The passage from Isaiah we heard today is another one of my favorites. It is typically called "the peaceable kingdom", because of the Eden-like place of safety and tranquility described by the prophet Isaiah. We read of a wolf living with a lamb, a calf, a lion, and a fatling together, and a child playing near the home of a snake, all without harm, all without fear. These obvious mismatches are meant to catch our attention and tune us in to the fact that something different and unique is going on in this vision of Isaiah's. A wolf and a lamb? A calf and a lion? A child and a snake? But, "They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain," God declares through the prophet Isaiah, "for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." The passage from Isaiah shows a world where things that usually cause fear in people are changed into things that we no longer need to fear. Everything is turned around, and no one needs to fear for their safety - they are protected by God. This is how it will be in the 'peaceable kingdom.'
Today, our second Advent candle symbolizes 'peace.' Peace is a word that we hear a lot during the Holiday season, especially in the church. We know that we are anticipating the birth of the one called the Prince of Peace. When the angels herald Christ's birth, they sing of peace for all of the world. Our Christmas cards contain messages of peace. Our carols talk about bringing peace on earth. But, in truth, sometimes it seems these dreams of peace are just that: dreams that are too idealistic, too unrealistic to be worthy our serious consideration. It's hard, today, to believe that peace will come to our earth, isn't it? Since September 2001, our world has changed significantly, and the relative peace we once experienced, at least here in the United States, seems like another lifetime, doesn't it? Fear, anxiety, stress, worry over the unknown, worry over our safety, worry over the future has replaced the calm. We're worried as travelers, worried as vacationers. We're worried on public transportation and in crowded public spaces. We're worried at special events where many people gather together. Then, we look around our world, and we see war and death and fighting. We struggle as men and women are sent across the world, separated from loved ones, to serve in the military. We struggle as we see images of destruction, and hear reports of chaos and instability. And our worries aren't just about what's going on over there. Here, at home, in our country, we face a kind of unrest and division that at least I've not experienced before in my own lifetime. And in our own families, within the walls of our own homes, and within the confines of our own minds, we are not at peace with ourselves, with our neighbors, or with God. We are full of fear and anxiety. We are depressed, we are worried. We are making ourselves sick with stress. Peace? Is it possible?
We want peace - we need peace, within us, at home, in our community, in our world. But how - how can peace come? Isaiah had a vision of this leader that would be filled with God's spirit. Today, we read this as a prophecy of the Christ, but Isaiah's prophecies as a whole envision a king who rules a country, who guides the people in a very literal way, as the world would have expected a king to lead. Isaiah had amazing visions, but he, like many of his peers, and many of the people in Jesus' day, still pictured a Messiah who would lead an earthly revolution. Now, we have the perspective to know that Christ came in a different way than expected, as we talked about last Sunday. We know the unexpected coming of Christ was as a little baby, who led a different kind of revolution. So, must we just put Isaiah's vision of the peaceable kingdom aside? Or can we still hope for the world of peace he described?
Isaiah may have had a different idea about how Christ would come, but Isaiah hit the nail on the head about why Christ would come, what he would stand for. Isaiah knew that the Messiah would come to bring justice to the world. In today's society, we tend to attach very negative connotations to the word justice. When we want to bring someone to justice, we mean that we want to punish a wrong-doer, to give bad-guys what they deserves. But God's justice is not like our justice, we must remind ourselves. Justice has another, less-emphasized purpose - to bring justice to those who have been treated unjustly, to give the good ones what they deserve but have not gotten. Peace and justice go hand in hand in Isaiah's vision. He can't see peace without seeing justice brought to all of God's people, even those usually overlooked. He writes, "He will not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his wais, and faithfulness the belt around his loins." Isaiah's Messiah comes to bring peace by bringing justice to the world. This Messiah judges not be how things look, how they seem, but by how things really are. How can people feel peace if they do not have justice? How can people feel God's love if they do not sense God's loving action towards them? For Isaiah, the Messiah means peace will come because he brings with him justice - the justice that brings grace to people who have been shut-out, unwanted, unloved, and unsafe. Peace, with justice.
In the United Methodist Church, this idea of Peace with Justice is very important to us. We even have a special Sunday in May that celebrates ministries that focus on peace with justice. This history of this Sunday reads in part as follows: "The United Methodist Church believes God's love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people's lives to risk interpreting God's love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The Church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other "mind-makers-up" that exist in our society." (1) Preacher Edward Markquart writes, "Anytime the Spirit of the Prince of Peace lives inside of you, it results in justice. You cannot have peace without justice . . . When the Prince of Peace is inside of you, you work for justice for the poor, the oppressed, and the millions or billions on earth who are hungry and starving and don't have clean water or gainful employment. If there is no justice, there is no peace. Justice is always involves work; you work for justice. Justice doesn't naturally happen on its own. Justice does not just fall in your lap, like an apple falling from a tree. You work at planting the tree, watering the tree, pruning the tree, so that apples will fall in your lap. And so it is with God's justice." (2)
As we wait for the Prince of Peace this Advent season, we can help to usher the Christ-child in by working for world peace in the meantime. And while the concept of world peace might sound like the impossible dream to us, Isaiah has shown us just where to start. We work for peace by working for justice. We work for peace by seeking out the best for the poor, the needy, the meek, the ones who have been overlooked and unloved. In the holiday season, we cannot pretend we do not know of the needs of others. Everywhere we look, we can find people in need, causes to support, charities to donate to, organizations who are trying desperately to meet the needs of adults and children and families who just can't make it through the cold winter season without a community pulling together. And we'd do well to greet these reminders of those who have less with generosity, not the annoyance that too often replaces generosity. But the Prince of Peace demands of us even more than that - peace with justice takes more than charity. "He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge." Peace demands that we create a world where those who are outside our circles can feel welcomed inside. Justice demands that we find out why there are people in our own city who go hungry, when we have so much. Peace demands that we cross the boundaries of race and class that typically keep God's children separated from one another. Justice demands we don't just shrug our shoulders, and forget to work for change.
Today, we light a candle for peace. The root of Jesse, the one we know as Jesus, is standing as a signal to the peoples. Will we listen? Will we learn? What kind of world do you want to live in, and what are you doing to help usher in that reality - the reality of God's kingdom, come to earth? O Prince of Peace, we pray that you come and dwell within our hearts. Amen.
(1) United Methodist Book of Resolutions, 1996.
(2) Edward Markquart, http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_visions_for_peace.htm