Pictures of Peace

A Sermon from Journey United Church of Christ
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Isaiah 11:1-10 & Matthew 3:1-12

 We’ve all had those experiences of encountering folks who – well, how shall I say this – are a little out of the norm. Maybe it was the person in the cubical next to ours who has a rather odd habit that a cubical can’t hide? Maybe it’s the person sat next to us on our last flight or train ride? Or maybe it’s that eccentric aunt who you only see once a year?


I’ve always kind of thought of John the Baptist that way. When I was first introduced to him as a child, his “out of the norm” style was a bit fascinating – that whole live-in-the-wilderness, meals-of-locust-and-wild-honey thing was intriguing for me as a kid. Kind of like that odd fascination I have with that show "No Reservation" where the guy travels around the country eating the most crazy "local" food.  I know it's not going to be pretty, but I just can't stop watching. Outside the norm … but in a good way.


Then when I started to pay attention not only to what he wore and what he ate, and started to pay attention to his message, I have to admit that he began to scare me a bit. He seemed like an angry kind of guy. My grown-up aversion to harsh judgment placed him way outside the norm … in a bad way. Especially when it comes to pairing gospel texts with the Christmas story. John just doesn’t seem to fit.

Now, on the other hand, when I look at the picture painted in the prophecy of Isaiah that we read earlier, I must admit that I am more likely to think of it as “within the norm”. I’m not alone. The “lion and the lamb” provides one of the most beautiful and comforting images in the Bible, and there are countless versions of the picture printed on Christmas cards every year.


For me, it goes beyond a pretty Christmas card. Isaiah promises a world ruled by justice and righteousness, a world where the poor and the weak and the vulnerable come out on top for once. No more pain or suffering. The lion and lamb will lie down next together. A baby can play next to the snakes. I love the picture … and I want, with all my heart for it to be the norm now and in the future.
But I need to remind myself that getting to that “norm”, was everything but normal. Painting a new picture of normal took some work. Changing the shape of the world wasn’t easy. Before we get to pictures of peace and harmony, of justice and righteousness, things were about as abnormal as John the Baptist eating locusts in the wilderness. Not a pretty sight, but nonetheless, a reality.


Back up a chapter in Isaiah and you’ll see what I mean. In the passage right before today’s reading, at the end of Chapter 10, the prophet describes God as what Kate Huey defines as “a divine forester who chops down with terrifying power the tallest trees of Lebanon, the most beautiful part of the world.
Now, in Isaiah, those magnificent trees represented the mighty rulers of the empires and kingdoms that surround the vulnerable little land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem.  Isaiah paints of vision of God just plowing through like an ancient version of “swamp loggers” … just mowing them down with nothing left standing. Just a few hopeless stumps.


Sounds remarkable like John the Baptist’s words describing an ax that is cutting down trees at the root.


Neither is a pretty picture and neither is what we like to think of as normal pictures of peace. Yet in the midst of the devastation … Isaiah tells of a new norm … a tiny shoot springing forth from the stump.  The new norm for which John the Baptist calls the people to prepare. There seems to be understanding that for peace to enter the world things need to change. And for the "Prince of Peace" to share his message and for that message to be heard, things need to be different.

The normal order of things in our world has been “survival of the fittest” where the strong always win and weak always lose. God’s order – God’s norm calls for what seems like a complete reversal of that “norm”, a restoration of shalom, a return to God’s way, where lamb and lion can lie next to each, where children can play next to snakes, where a tiny vulnerable shoot from what seems like a dead stump not only shoots forth, but survives and thrives and grows.


And Isaiah and John both agree that in order for that to happen, some things need that perhaps we have comfortably assumed are “normal” need to be pushed aside to make room for the “new norm” that is characterized wisdom and understand, counsel and might, knowledge and honor, righteousness for the poor, equity for the meek … “

It’s all part of John’s message to “PREPARE”  Someone and something is coming, he says, and how you get ready matters. “Get rid of everything that’s blocking the way of the ONE who is to come,” he urges.  Get ready for what will be a new “NORM” - God’s NORM


Perhaps John wasn’t so outside the norm after all. And perhaps this Advent it would do us well to reflect on what it would mean for us live outside society’s norms and to more fully live God’s norm? To work with the divine forester in removing that which blocks our vision of what should be. To work to prepare the way … making the path straight?


Think of your own journey through advent? What needs to be removed so that peace can more fully thrive and survive? Are there old patterns that need to be chopped down as you work to set the stage for deep, meaningful, long-lasting inner peace?

How about your relationships? Where do you desire more peace? What needs to be “pushed aside” to make it possible. Might we need to cut down our own self-righteous attitudes or old resentments or bitter grudges? Maybe something new shoots forth in the form a conversation with or a letter to someone from whom you’ve been separated?


Reflect on situations within our own community and around our world that call for peace? What can we do to be active peacemakers who help cut down injustice and what can we do to establish a peace that would more fully reflect Isaiah’s vision of the lion and lamb? What small new thing might God be calling forth from our faith community?


This is the season of Advent, as we too are waiting for the ONE who is to come. Not just waiting for Christmas to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus, but waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ and the total embracing of the new norm.  But we don’t just wait. We participate. We can radically re-orient our lives, clear a path and prepare the way. We can reshape our lives and the life of this community and we can reach out to world beyond these walls, beyond our city, even beyond our nation, and speak and live, words of peace. God’s norm.
Let’s move some trees together with God … and get a new view of what is to come.