 |
Can You Even Imagine a World at Peace?
“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”- Isaiah 2:1-5
The primary focus of the Advent season is expectation. When we read the writings of the prophet Isaiah, we get some hints about what we might expect when the Messiah comes. In this week’s reading, the verbal pictures of swords being beaten into plow shares and spears into pruning hooks whet our imaginations. Was this merely eschatological dreaming, or was Isaiah painting a vivid picture to illustrate a new possibility for the human community?
I believe Isaiah’s words were indeed written to prescribe a new possibility for humankind. And what if we could imagine peace in the same way Isaiah did—could we, then, transform the current situation? According to Keith Russell, professor of Pastoral Theology at the American Baptist Seminary of the West, “Advent is a time to test our vision and to develop eyes to see beyond the now to the not yet.”* What would peace look like? How would our world economy function if nation did not lift up sword against nation? What if no one trained for war anymore? In our contemporary weariness of the wars vividly portrayed on our HD televisions, can we even imagine peace? If we cannot see it, how will we ever realize it?
“Come, O House of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (v. 5). A Christian’s stance can never be passive. While we wait, we must move. As we walk in God’s light and share God’s love with our neighbors, we form community and call one another to live out a new reality.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a 1953 speech, spoke these words:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
When we spend our resources on war, we destroy community and live in opposition to the teachings of Christ. The Prince of Peace taught us to express our love for one another by feeding the hungry, caring for the marginalized, and welcoming those who have been deemed expendable. When we dare to dream Isaiah’s dream and follow Christ’s teachings, we wage peace.
Prayer: God of Peace, remove those thoughts from our minds, words from our vocabulary, and actions from our living that cause us to wage war instead of peace. Help us imagine peace and become effective peacebuilders in our communities. In the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen.
* http://www.pulpit.org/articles/December07Lectionary.asp
Wayne Dvirnak
Part-time Ministry and Mission Coach
Northern Front Range and Wyoming Clusters
|
|
-Read past thoughts-
|
