The Peaceful Kingdom A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. … 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, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. ~ Isaiah 11:1-6, 8-9 (NRSVUE)
Today’s scripture is one of those iconic ones: The Peaceable Kingdom, or The Peaceable Realm, as our hymnal calls it. It has been painted by artists, made into stained glass windows, and sung about in hymns. It’s the ultimate vision of peace, and Isaiah talks about it like it’s something that could actually happen someday. But we all know that it would take a miracle or an extraordinary force of nature. Because let’s be honest, folks, the picture that Isaiah paints is just not possible. It would never happen. A wolf laying down with a lamb? A leopard lying down with a kid? The calf and the lion and the fatling together? It would never happen because they are all on different levels of the food chain. Many of them are not friends, but food for each other!
But as people of faith, aren’t we called to believe in things we can’t see, explain, or even imagine how they might work? It seems impossible to us to see a wolf lay down with a lamb because in the world as we know it, it just doesn’t work that way, does it? Unless we decide that it does.
Did you hear that? It doesn’t work that way unless we decide that it does! Friends, the truth is Isaiah’s example of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling are all metaphors or figures of speech that try to convey the idea or try to suggest that the strong–whoever the strong might be–will no longer harm, exploit, hurt, take advantage of or kill the weak. Instead, all individuals, all peoples, and all nations, large or small, powerful or feeble, rich or poor, will all follow God, learning to live in peace and harmony. Can you imagine?
I was thinking about today’s reading this week, and I started to wonder, “How in the world would that happen?” How could the peaceable kingdom come about? How would the wolf lay down with the lamb? How could the people who see the world as half empty sit down and share a cup of coffee with those who see it as half full? How can people from all religions and no religion at all come together to work for the common good? How could Republicans and Democrats start working together?
How could those who work to make changes sit down with others who want everything to stay the same? How could we begin to find peace in a world that is so divided and broken? Well, it would take all of us to decide to do it! It would take all of us putting aside our need for control, putting aside our need for strength and dominance, putting aside our judgment and hate. It would take all of us putting away our agendas and our opinions and our need to get our things done our way and sitting down next to our neighbor, whoever our neighbor might be—not looking at them and reading the labels that the world put on them but simply being present, looking them in the eye and seeing them as living, breathing human beings, just like us.
I have a story to share with you. I’m sure that many of you have heard it before. It’s actually a piece of history, and it’s a story that I think of every single Christmas, especially when we gather here on Christmas Eve. It gives a glimpse of hope that somehow, even in the very worst of times, if we decide to CHOOSE peace, peace is possible.
In 1914, they called it “THE GREAT WAR.” Most people believed that the soldiers would be home by Christmas. Nobody dreamed it would take four years and sixteen million lives before World War I finally ended. Yet that first Christmas held within it a moment that continues to be talked about today, more than a hundred years later. You see, after yet another day of fighting on Christmas Eve, British soldiers on the Western Front saw their German counterparts light and lift candles into the air. The German soldiers were exposed by the light, their weapons nowhere to be seen, and from their trenches came the sound of a Christmas carol whose melody was profoundly familiar to British ears. And so, as the Germans sang “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht,” the British joined in “Silent Night! Holy Night,” and they all sang together. As the story goes, in time, soldiers from both sides emerged from their defenses and walked – unarmed – into no-man’s land. There, they sang, exchanged greetings, some even played football, and took part in what has to be one of the most powerful Christmas ever–a Christmas Truce–and like Isaiah spoke of the wolf and the Lamb, a true Peaceable Kingdom. The Christmas Truce lasted until the morning of December 26th, but the power of the moment and the power of Silent Night still remains today.
Friends, usually during the season of Advent, we light candles and talk about filling our lives with hope, peace, joy, and love as we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child. And that all sounds good, but also, during Advent, we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, and we start to run as fast as we can, trying to get everything done, trying to find the perfect gifts, trying to decorate the perfect tree, and trying to get ready for the perfect parties.
Folks, I have to make a confession. Every year, I say I’m going to change. Every year, I say I’m going to slow down this year. Every year, I say this Christmas is just going to be about being together. But then, somehow, the world steps in. And no matter what I do, it never feels like enough. But as I said earlier, only we can decide what we do. Only we can decide to make a difference. Only we can decide to do it differently this year.
Friends, if we could really learn to trust this year’s Advent theme, and we could truly learn to BE PRESENT to ourselves, to God, and to one another during this season, I think that might be the key. And we might find that we truly have more peace in our lives. But it’s scary sometimes, isn’t it? What will other people think? What if we’re not prepared like we used to be? What if everything isn’t perfect, and we don’t have all the bells and whistles?
Well, if we’re comfortable asking all those “what if” questions, then what if we just sat down next to our friends, our neighbors, and our family, took a deep breath, and just enjoyed being with them? That’s what those soldiers did on the field that Christmas Eve. They found peace in the midst of conflict because, for just a few hours, they put aside their differences. They didn’t worry about what other people expected them to do. They weren’t looking for perfect gifts or decorations. They sang Silent Night, and they were simply present with one another.
Friends, so many of us long for the peace of a Silent night, and each year on Christmas Eve, we experience a Silent Night here in Oldtown when we choose to let it all go, when we choose to come here on Christmas Eve and release all that we’ve been carrying, when we take a deep breath, when we light a candle, and when we simply allow ourselves to be present and to sing.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, as you go out into your busy week ahead, don’t let the hustle and bustle of the season overwhelm you. Instead, do your best to create a peaceable kingdom wherever you are. Spend time with friends and family, and remember that you can even connect with people you don’t see eye to eye with. Just take a deep breath and remember that they are human beings just like you are. And if it helps, you can always start to sing. “Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.”
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