"A Vision and Possibility of Peace"                        2010

Isaiah 11:1-10      Romans 15:1-7, 13

 

Isaiah 11:1-10

11A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4but 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. 5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

 

Romans 15:1-7, 13

15We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. 3For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.  5May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  7Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

The prophet Isaiah lived and wrote during

            a most difficult and violent period of Jewish history.

For more than 40 years

            the Assyrian Empire and the Egyptian Empire   had been

                        fighting war after war for power and domination…

     … and the tiny nation of Judah

               was geographically and politically caught in the middle

                        between those two battling powers of the ancient world.

 

For generation after generation, the Jewish people had endured

            the endless upheaval of war, killing and marauding armies ---

                        --- which created a sense of  hopeless resignation,

                                        and a deep longing and fervent desire for peace.

 

And how they missed the glory days    as described in the stories

     about the golden age of Israel under the rule of King David,

            a righteous leader described as a man  after God's own heart.

 

Into that situation of   helplessness and hopelessness,

            the Lord gave the prophet Isaiah a wonderful vision –

- a promise of restoration, a glorious history yet to be written.

 

vs. 1-2, 10

            A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.  The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. … On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.  

 

            In the tradition of King David, the son of Jesse,

                        God promised to raise a righteous and faithful leader

                                    through whom God would save and restore His people.

 

In Hebrew,

            the word for a shoot sprouting from a stump is "netzer",

                        and 'netzer' became a symbol of restoration, hope & peace.

 

Right after WW II, a group of Jewish survivors from the horrors

            of Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp in Germany,

                        established a kibbutz in the state of Israel in 1948.

 

They named this new kibbutz, Netzer,

            the word   for a living shoot sprouting from a decayed stump

                           as a connection

                                    to Isaiah's hopeful vision of restoration & peace…

   … the hope of the peaceable kingdom described by Isaiah's vision.

 

vs. 6~9

            The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  

 

The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, cow and the bear,

            - once vicious enemies by nature and instinct,

                        now co-existing in a compassionate community of peace.

 

The Jewish perspective of this vision of restoration and peace

            was waiting upon God's promise    to send the Messiah,

                        who would usher in God's kingdom and reign of peace.

                       

So of course the early Christians recognized the similarity

            between the life and ministry of Jesus and Isaiah's prophecy,

                        between the parables Jesus told about the Kingdom of God

                          and the promise of peace as described in Isaiah's vision.

 

However,   it is not the nature of a wolf to live with a lamb.

                It is not the nature for a leopard to lie down with the kid,

                       nor for a bear to graze or a lion to eat straw like an ox.

      It is not our nature to forgive when we have been wronged.

            It is not our nature to let someone else get the upper hand.

 

As we read in James 4:1

            Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?  Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?

 

If the vision of the promised peaceable kingdom is going to more

           than just the imagery of cute animals frolicking in the grass,

                then the lion must control & restrain his instinct to kill,

                        wolf, leopard and bear must discipline their cravings.

 

Those beasts will have to become more than their selfish instincts,

       and they must desire    to live in peace and community à

              more than they want to kill, or insist on having their own way.

 

Advent, the coming of Christ  is about    that possibility

            of real and internal change, living in peaceful harmony,

                  and it's about our willingness to submit and be changed,

                        even if it's not always our nature, & does not come easily.

 

The obstacle that most often gets in the way is our driven-ness,

            our need to control  and be recognized as being in the right,

                           even more about than we care about honoring God,

                           or building up that other person whom God dearly loves.

 

It's not so much about our treatment of people who are nice to us,

            as it is how we respond to those who are difficult & different,

               when we are offended and feel that we have been wronged,

                 or if someone disagrees & doesn't see truth as clearly as we.

 

Our call is to grow in grace and to be instruments of God’s peace,

      and for us to live & serve within Christian faith & community à

                        à where      the forgiven person  becomes a forgiving person

                                    where      the healed person   becomes a healing person

                                         where     the loved person   becomes a loving person.

 

Yes, surely we all  do long for such a life, church and community

            of grace, forgiveness, healing, peace and compassion.

 

And most of us, most of the time    can and do practice restraint.

            We try to be nice and strive to avoid open conflict.

 

But the peaceable kingdom of Isaiah's vision,

            and the faithful life as demonstrated by Jesus Christ,

                        does not mean

                                    supplanting integrity for the sake of getting along-

                                        --  it's really not about  the lion becoming a lamb…

          … being faithful is far more complicated than just being nice.

 

In Romans 15,

            Paul offers an example of allowing   for grace to help balance

                       truth and integrity,  with compromise and compassion.

In the background  of this passage,

     Paul is dealing with a significant issue to the early church;

       the question of Jewish traditions of unclean food restrictions.

 

Some Christians were convinced

            that the Old Testament rituals and restrictions still applied.

                        For other Christians, God's grace and Christian freedom

                                    meant the end of all Jewish rituals and restrictions.

            There were faithful Christians on both sides of this question,

                             and Paul was opposed to tearing the church apart

                                    to fight other Christians over their differences.

 

Paul addressed this very emotional issue in several of his letters,

            but he gave differing instructions   depending on the context.

   His answer was not always the same, even within a single letter.

 

But in each instance however, Paul applies   the principle of love,

                        specifically the Greek word,  agape ---

                                    which by definition is the sacrificial form of loveà

            agape love specifically,

              places the benefit & best interest of others  ahead of our own.

Therefore, concerning Christians and Jewish food restrictions,

            Paul explains that it's not a question of who is in the right,

                        but rather     it's about making your highest goal and aimà

                                    seeking the benefit and building up of other people,

                                                ahead of our own wants, opinions and desires…

   … it is following the example of Christ's sacrificial love for us.

 

vs. 1-3a

            We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself;

 

The crucial phrase is:  for the good purpose of building up the neighbor;

            which does not mean always giving in to their opinions & wishes

                        or allowing everyone exactly whatever they want & desire.

 

The question becomes, what is truly the most beneficial for them,

     and what will best serve to build them up and deepen their faith?

 

Sometimes it's having the integrity and courage to say, "no",

       "I love you too much to just go along   even though it’s easier,

                        or not to say ok,  when I think that you are in the wrong."

The lion is still a lion, and should not be swallowed up by the lamb.

 

The agape love that Paul applies     is by definition,

            seeking the best for that other person,  which is not the same

                       as acceding to their wishes, wants, desires and whims,

                                    yet it is, striving for Isaiah's peaceable kingdom.

 

agape love calls for wisdom, patience, courage and integrity;

            to know when to keep my mouth shut and compromise gracefully,

                        and when the more loving thing is to speak out and object…

… and the reign peace is when our loving compassion   has integrity.

 

The question we need to ask is, as we make our way through Advent---

            what is really the best thing for building up that other person

                 and how do we harmonize our differences, always with grace?…

    … for only then  Isaiah's vision becomes more than an idealistic dream.

 

As we approach the Lord's Table of grace, hope and peace today,

                 may the Lord

                        grant us open hearts, wisdom, courage and compassion ----

- and as the Apostle Paul wrote   Romans 15:1-2, 5-6

            We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Each of us must accommodate our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor.

            May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant us  to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,  so that together we  may with one voice   glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.