Pictures of Peace - Advent 1.
Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
Over the last 7 years I have rediscovered the joy of Christmas. It’s not like I was a Christmas grinch or anything. At least I don’t think I was. You’d have to ask Jo.
It’s common knowledge that I have no time for Santa – but that’s another story.
It’s more like I’ve been invited to see Christmas afresh.
For me that invitation has come through having little people in our house. Since we’ve had kids, the whole routine of Christmas has changed.
I have always liked Christmas but as I grew up I found myself less visibly excited. The whole event became calmer, more mundane, a bit more ordinary.
But seeing Christmas through the kids eyes is another story all together. The excitement is palpable. As we build toward Christmas, as we read Nativity stories, light candles, bake treats, put up a tree, wrap presents – the momentum builds. There is such a deep sense of anticipation and wonder in it all.
And you know what – seeing Christmas through the eyes of my children, it’s as if I have been given new eyes with which to see the joy of it all.
It’s given me a fresh vision for the season.
Today is the first day of Advent. It’s the moment where we begin to lean forward towards Christmas with anticipation.
Over the next four weeks we are going to be focusing on the readings from the prophet Isaiah. We are going to focus on the theme of peace that is highlighted in each of these readings. These readings, I hope, will give you and I a fresh vision too of what this season is all about.
Isaiah 2 opens up with the phrase: “The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
For Isaiah, it was all about seeing.
He didn’t read the word or hear it, he saw it.
Advent in the tradition of Isaiah is all about seeing.
A wonderful Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, says this about Isaiah’s vision and the season of advent:
The vision of Isaiah is “an act of imagination that looks beyond present dismay through the eyes of God, to see what will be that is not yet. That is the function of promise (and therefore of Advent) in the life of faith. Under promise, in Advent, faith sees what will be that is not yet.”
Advent is about seeing in faith that which will be but isn’t yet.
This season is of course a build up to Christmas, but more than that it is also a season in which we anticipate the second coming of Jesus, it is a season of longing and hope for God’s peace and justice to come to this weary world.
The prophet Isaiah paints some beautiful and hopeful pictures, and todays reading is a wonderful example. It is full of hope for the future.
But Isaiah was no Pollyanna prophet. He wasn’t inclined to sentimentality. What we see through the book of Isaiah is both gritty reality and grounded hope that God is good and God will help his people.
The context of Isaiah – reality as it is and as it will be
For example, if we look to Isaiah 1, we see a picture of reality as it is for Isaiah and for the people of his time.
Isaiah holds nothing back. Speaking of Judah he says this:
“Your country lies desolate, your cities burned with fires” (7)
“How the faithful city has become a whore” (21)
“Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts.” (23)
He calls Judah a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity who are corrupt and have despised God. (4)
Here Isaiah is fairly blunt isn’t he?
He paints a picture of reality as it is for the people.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied during the reign of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Chapter 2 reflects on the context of King Uzziah. In King Uzziah’s time Judah was doing well. Things were going fine and dandy materially speaking, but the prophet Isaiah points out that there was a sense that the people didn’t need God. They trusted in their wealth and power.
One of the big themes of Isaiah, particularly in these opening chapters is the sovereignty of God and the need for the people to trust in God rather than only in their own strength.
Isaiah pronounces judgement on the people’s arrogance and calls them to look to God.
Chapter 1 of Isaiah paints a picture of the real situation of the people of Judah – they have abandoned God, they are lost and in need. Chapter 2 gives a picture of a new reality – the hope of God’s kingdom of peace.
What today’s reading invites us into is to engage in a similar exercise.
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
What’s our reality? What if we were to be blunt like Isaiah? What would our chapter 1 look like?
When we think about our own context, it’s just as messy as Isaiah’s chapter 1 isn’t it? – On March the 15th we discovered such violence and hatred that we never imagined existed in our midst was unveiled for all of us to see with tragic consequences, we face global climate Crisis, wars ravage the world, mental health issues abound at home and here in Timaru we face many social issues.
One of the big ones currently affecting our population is the use of methamphetamine. In the last couple of weeks I have had conversations with local councillors and a school principal who have expressed a deep concern at the havoc this drug is wreaking in the lives of families in our neighbourhood.
This is the reality of chapter 1 in our world and community.
Personally too, in each of our lives we live with a chapter 1 which Isaiah invites us to look bluntly at, to acknowledge and name.
If we just lived with chapter 1 and that was it, imagine the despair we might live in? If we thought nothing could change, if we couldn’t see a brighter future, how would we move forward?
Christianity believes in chapter 2. The Christian faith holds out a hope for the flourishing of the world, of our local communities and of our own lives.
But the reality is that we live in between the times. Advent reminds us of this.
The Christian life needs something to sustain us in between chapter 1 and chapter 2 so that we can live with faith.
Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God in pictures and parables, imagery that is highly evocative and paints hope for humanity grounded in what God is doing.
Isaiah does the same.
The Pictures of Peace in Isaiah provide us with fertile imagery to live as hopeful people, and to live us advent people.
So, what’s the picture that Isaiah 2 paints for us?
Isaiah 2
Isaiah looks forward to a new day in which the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains.
All other kingdoms will look like nothing in comparison.
You don’t need a degree in history to see how the powerful kingdoms of this world have worked and continue to work. Wealth is gathered through commerce and war, blood is spilt, grand buildings are erected, leaders edicts are proclaimed. During the reign of King Uzziah, the people of Judah proudly trusted in their ability to build their own kingdom.
Yet Isaiah says, in the end, the mountain of the Lord shall stand the tallest. God’s kingdom is the only one that is ultimately unshakeable and lasting. It will stand s the highest of mountains.
And Isaiah prophecies that nations shall stream to it.
Here we see a wonderful picture of the kingdom being for all people, not just Judah. Through this kingdom God will draw all people to himself – the nations are invited to come.
People will come to this mountain to learn from God and follow in his paths.
In verse 4 we hear that God shall judge between the nations and that the people shall beat their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Their will be no need for war anymore.
Human kingdoms persist through war. That’s how it works. Short times of peace are secured through long bouts of violence. But God’s kingdom isn’t so insecure. God’s kingdom wont’ be established like other kingdoms and when it comes in its fullness there will be no need for war to maintain it.
God’s kingdom is one of peace.
The imagery is stunning.
God’s kingdom will take that which is for war, that which sheds blood, that which tears down and will transform it to bring peace.
Where do we see this kingdom established? To what does this promise in Isaiah point us toward.
Just think for a moment about what happened to Jesus at Calvary.
The Romans used instruments of war to execute him. After being beaten, he was hung on a cross, his side was pierced with a spear and his blood flowed like a victim of war.
Then 3 days later we see the vision of Isaiah take shape.
Jesus in his resurrection transfigures the tools of war, he breaks their power and he establishes his kingdom of peace.
Of course, this is just the beginning. But it is the decisive point where Isaiah’s vision becomes a reality.
Jesus hangs between chapter 1 and chapter 2.
And he invites us to follow him, as verse 5 of Isaiah beckons: “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
The invitation for us as we hear this reading at the beginning of advent is for it to shape our imagination and therefore our lives.
What might this look like?
In America, a couple of activists have taken this vision rather literally and this year have been going on a tour speaking out against gun violence and broken and corrupt gun laws.
Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin have been on a speaking tour and a part of a group that literally melt down guns and repurpose them as gardening tools.
In their book, “beating guns” they say this:
“We believe in a God that would rather die than kill. We believe in a God whose last words are grace and forgiveness for the people who are killing him. We believe in a God who interacts with evil without becoming evil, who exposes our violence to heal our violence , who endures death to save us from death. We are atheists to the god of war, and believers in the Prince of Peace”
Shane and Michael’s imaginations have been shaped by Isaiah and by Jesus.
They have seen a new reality for the place that they live and they are acting on it.
In our own lives and in our own communities what are the chapter 1 issues where we need to bring the hope of God’s chapter 2?
I believe this morning that as we reflect on Isaiah 2 we are invited to do a few things:
-Look honestly at our chapter 1. What is that God sees when he looks at us?
-Hold on to chapter 2. What might be different in our lives if chapter 2 shaped how we live in light of chapter 1?
-Finally to start small. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the stuff in chapter 1. But where is God calling us to be prayerful and active. Where is God calling us to partner with Him? Our chapter 1 might be that we see the loneliness in our community and so our chapter 2 encourages us to visit people, to host meals, to be with those who don’t have friends. Our chapter 1 might be that we notice that there are people who have no idea who Jesus is and so our chapter 2 may be to reach out and tell them. Our chapter 1 might be that we notice that there are people in our community who can’t make ends meet and our chapter 2 may be to give generously to them, helping as we are able.
What Isaiah does as a prophet is give us a way to see differently. That’s a big part of what prophet’s do.
My prayer for us this Advent is that God would give us a clearer vision of who He is, a clearer vision of the brokenness of our world, and a clearer vision of the hope we have for healing in Jesus.