The Peaceable Kingdom

December 5, 2004 (Second Sunday of Advent)

By The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

- Isaiah 11:1-10
- Psalm 72:1-8
- Romans 15:4-13
- Matthew 3:1-12

(From The Lectionary Page)

Today’s reading from Isaiah has inspired several artists to put on canvass the image of the Peaceable Kingdom. A painting by Edward Hicks, the painting Quaker, is the one I know best.  (See it here at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, MA.)

The peaceable kingdom. We can paint the scene in our minds as Isaiah describes three pairs of animals: wolf and lamb, leopard and kid, calf and lion. Hearing this lesson this time around, it struck me that not only is Isaiah pairing together predator and a meek victim, but also a mature adult animal and an innocent younger animal.

The prophet is telling us that peace is like a lamb, kid, and calf: hunted, slaughtered, and devoured before it can mature and reproduce. That will always be the fate that peace suffers, unless you and I both believe and act differently. The way things are today, peace rarely makes it out of infancy. Treaties among nations, and treaties among family members, are broken before the proverbial ink is dry. Around the globe peace is the exception, and uneasy peace exists in our country and in the Anglican Communion. In fact, many of us here this morning are dealing with issues at work or in our families where peace is anything but secure.

But that was not how creation began. Harmony was the rule in the Garden of Eden, and harmony will be the rule of the Messiah.

There is an old cartoon that says, "Do not try to teach a pig to sing—it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." The conviction that you can’t teach natural enemies to get along is a strong one. Implicitly and explicitly taught, divisions among races, creeds, and economic status are perpetuated everywhere. But people of God: you can also find everywhere signs that people are refusing to accept this un-natural way, this un-godlike division.

A few weeks ago, as Islam’s holy fast of Ramadan ended, in a small Israeli village on the border of the West Bank, Muslim and Christian and Jewish people broke the fast and feasted not only on traditional foods, but on trust and a genuine desire to live peaceably. In this village, people of all three religions share equally in leadership on the city council and rotate the office of mayor. Children attend school together and learn of each other’s religious traditions and history as a people. The school received no government funding from the previous Israeli prime minister, and little money is currently trickling in, but the school has supporters from around the world, notably American Jews. Though situated on a modest plateau, this village is the holy mountain Isaiah saw, where the instinct to hurt and destroy enemies, and the use of might to coerce and enslave the weak are redeemed by the Lord of Hosts, where knowledge leads to goodwill and understanding, and wholeness – shalom, salem, peace – covers all people as the waters cover the sea.

Theologian Walter Brueggemann calls the church to view itself as a community of exiles, people who offer an alternative view of how the world ought to be. In Cadences of Home, he writes: "[Exile] means simply that [certain] people are at work seeking to maintain an alternative identity, an alternative vision of the world, and an alternative vocation in a society where the main forces of culture seek to deny, discredit, or disregard that odd identity." In other words, peace makers face opposition, false accusations, threats, and too often, death before their work is done.

Our faith, our Savior himself, teaches us about choosing the peace maker’s way of life. But as we know, reality and experience make some pretty convincing arguments to preach peace but also carry a big stick. The world we know is where wolves devour lambs, not sleep with them. Walt Kelly, author of the classic cartoon series "Pogo," succinctly put it, "When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last!"

And despite all of this, the prophets call us to heed their words, forsake the world’s ways and arguments, and embrace the peaceable kingdom. These are the words of God’s anointed prophets. Do we have the courage to make these words our own, to be wise as serpents, firmly rooted in reality, and still unequivocally committed to the peaceable kingdom?

As believers in Jesus Christ, our Master invites us now – not in some distant time and place – invites us now to live in this peaceable kingdom. Those who have done so have made a tremendous difference in history.

• Francis of Assisi reaching out to the poor of his time and even trying to broker peace between the Crusaders and the Muslims in the Holy Land.
• George Fox and William Penn, treating Native Americans with dignity and honesty, and thus securing peace for Pennsylvania, so long as the Quakers were dominant in the colony's government.
• Gandhi, influenced by the Sermon on the Mount, fashioning non-violence into a powerful means of fighting for the independence of India.
• And Martin Luther King, Jr., persuaded by the teachings of both Gandhi and Christ, that non-violence was the best method for African-Americans to use in gaining their civil rights.

Probably none of us expect to have their kind of impact, but we not underestimate our influence on others around us. It is vital to remember the power of non-violence in a time where we hear many violent solutions. By loving those with whom we disagree, by praying for those whom we consider enemies—in short, by living as if the peaceable kingdom already prevailed in our own lives—we will be cooperating with God in bringing it about. (Lectionaid, Dec 9, 2001)

This is how God’s people prepare the way of the Lord and await the Coming of Christ. Despite the evil winds which blow, we cling to the vision of the peaceable kingdom. We live it, we will it, we expect it.

Prepare the Way of the Lord. Cast away the works of darkness, children of the day. Embrace the peaceable kingdom.