Last weekend’s lectionary text from Isaiah continues to haunt me. It is a powerfully prophetic moment in Scripture in which Isaiah describes the radical and supernatural peace that the Root of Jesse will make possible when he comes:
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 nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.Isaiah 11:6-9
These exaggerated images, of course, are the prophet’s wonderfully poetic and imaginative way of making the point that the Root of Jesse will usher in a kingdom of peace, the likes of which the world has never known. So dramatic will this peace be, says Isaiah, that the creatures who have traditionally been violent enemies in the food chain will graze, play, and lie down with one another. Such is the prophetic vision of peace given to Isaiah concerning the impact of the Messiah on world that is often violent and fractured.
On Saturday and Sunday, I preached this Scripture. Now I’m compelled to live it (which, of course, is always much more challenging, isn’t it?).
My tendency, I’m afraid, is to reduce the issue of peace to an unattainable and esoteric philosophical ideal—one that is fun to discuss among the enlightened and the erudite, but impossible to achieve in any significant fashion. This Advent, I am praying that God will deliver me from this tendency, so that, rather than simply philosophizing about peace, I might instead become an intentional peacemaker in my little corner of the world for the cause of the Root of Jesse and the kingdom that he came into the world to inaugurate.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. More specifically, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace in the church, in the grocery store, in the Banana Republic (among all of the other Christmas shoppers), in the blogosphere, and behind the wheel of my car.
Peace, brothers and sisters.
Eric -
Your alluding to St. Francis in this entry has compelled me to offer a little contribution of the precious meaning I take from this special prayer.
Namely, that it is the act of giving to others which allows us to receive the same gift within ourselves. “It is in giving that we receive”. Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace and in so doing I will be blessed by You to receive the same joy and love peace brings, within mine own heart.
It is a lesson worth spreading and seeding throughout this greedy world. Perhaps if people really understood that they would get what they seek by giving it away, there could be peace on Earth.
An intentional peacemaker? I offer that it is a noble prayer of the heart which can bear much fruit if we but (as you pray for, dear Pastor) heed the advice of our philosophical pondering.
Eric,
Those are indeed some powerful images and I thank you for reminding me of their uniqueness. I love the fact that the Lion will not merely co-exist with the Lamb, but will lie down with the Lamb. In other words, biblical peace is not merely the absence of hostility or conflict, but it is the presence of reconciliation.
May we in the ministry do more than merely avoid conflict: may we actively pursue reconciliation and healing in our relationships with God and others!
Peace, brother………….
E.,
I love the text, but am wondering a thing or two…What was the child’s finger playing in the Asp? What is an asp anyway?
Yo, Barbara…
An asp is a poisonous snake, as is an adder.
Asp and you shall receive!