A Vision of Peace: Sermon Isaiah 11:1-9

Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept you Word. Silence in us any voices but your own, so that we may hear your Word and also do it; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I want to show you something this morning. This is a painting by artist Edward Hicks, as well as being an artist he was also a Quaker preacher in the early 1800s. This scene depicts the vision of Isaiah that we just read a few minutes ago. We have the cows, lions, tigers, bears, living together in peace. They do not attack one another and little children are playing amongst them. Hicks painted this picture in honor of the Friend’s Peace Testimony which the Quaker church formed to express their hatred and refusal to participate in war. It also depicts, if you look in the background, a peace treaty between William Penn and the Lenape Indian tribe which allowed for the formation of the Pennsylvania colony. Hicks wanted to create an artistic vision of what he thought Isaiah saw in his own vision of peace.

In our day and time, the idea of world peace has become something of the cliché. It is something that we joke about, we might ask of Santa Claus or a genie in a magic lamp. Worldwide peace seems an impossible dream. Humans have inhabited this planet for thousands of years and not once in all that time has there been worldwide peace. There has never been in the course of human history a time completely without violence and war. Despite our feeble attempts at peacemaking we never seem to get it right.

But we still dream and we still hope. We still envision a time of utopia, a time of perfect peace and harmony among all the people in the entire world. As the Beach Boys say wouldn’t it be nice. Many prophets in the Old Testament have visions of the peace that comes at the end of time. These visions occur after a time of destruction and punishment for the people because they have rejected God and God’s teachings. God does not abandon the people but instead God restores his people and provides this time of peace. This vision of Isaiah begins by describing the leader who will initiate this time of peace and prosperity. Isaiah gives some characteristics of how this leader will rule and where this leader will come from. The Isaiah gives us a glimpse into what this peace will be like. As we come to Christmas time again and as we are bombarded daily with stories of war and violence, let us look at this vision of peace that comes from Isaiah and let us examine how we can have peace in our own lives.

Isaiah begins by describing this leader who will bring peace to the world. He says that a “shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse.” This is a symbolic statement obviously. The stump of Jesse refers to the royal line of David, Jesse was David’s father. The Kingdom of Israel under David and his son Solomon was the most prosperous time for Israel. This was the time that the first temple was built in Jerusalem and Israel was a formidable opponent to any kingdom in the area. However, like with any royal line and with any human kingdom, the royal line of David was broken and the kingdom was destroyed. The tree was cut down at the roots leaving only the stump and the roots behind. But like with any plant if the roots survive then it has a fighting chance. So this leader will come from the family of David, but more than this he will have a heart for God like David. He will have a connection to God like David did, but it will be even better. Because this new kingdom must come from the stump, it means it will come out of destruction. It will come in the midst of a broken world, like a seedling comes out of the stump of a tree.

This leader will have the Spirit of God with him. In fact, all of the leader’s wisdom, righteousness, and power will come from the Spirit of God. The Spirit will give this leader of that he needs to rule with justice and righteousness. He will not judge the people with the sense of sight or hearing. These are human sense that can be corrupted and weakened. The Spirit of God will give this leader the knowledge and counsel of God to judge the people. This leader will have mercy on the poor and give comfort to the afflicted. He will offer justice to the world and destroy all wickedness. Righteousness and faithfulness will be as natural to him as a belt around his waist.

Do we know anyone like this? Have we heard of a person like this before? Who is it? It is Jesus. Although, Jesus might not have been what Isaiah had imagined at first, it is Jesus who fits the bill. It is Jesus who has the right characteristics. Only the Prince of Peace can bring eternal peace to the world. This prophecy was not fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, but in the second coming which we await this Advent season.

So we know who the leader is that will bring peace into the world. It was not really a surprise. Let us now take a look at what this peace will be like. The vision of peace in Isaiah is based on the animal kingdom. This seems kind of strange at first, but we have to remember that this symbolism would be understood universally. We all have seen animals and understand their behaviors. We understand the food chain how it works. So a vision of animals makes sense. These animals are different. Those animals that are usually enemies are now companions. The wolf lies next to the lamb, the lion lies next to the calf, the leopard lies with the kid and so on. And in the midst of this little children lead these former wild beasts. This is strange to us; the normal cycle of things has been changed. The hierarchical food chain is broken. The lion grazes next to the cow. The idea of the survival of the fittest is gone. The strong no longer prey on the weak. All live together one God’s holy mountain.

This vision of animals can say something to our lives as humans. Just like in the animal kingdom the strong prey on the weak. The rich devour the poor People use one another and break each other down in order to build themselves up. In the new kingdom this will be no more. Remember it will be the least of these that is great in the kingdom of God.

We have seen the leader and we have seen the vision itself. But how will this peace come about? As I said earlier humans have tried to create peace on our own only to fail. In the times of the Roman Empire, there was a time of peace called the Pax Romana. This seemed like peace, but it was brought on by war, destruction, and conquering. The Roman Empire kept the peace by dominating all the people with the fear of their military machine.

In more modern times there have been many peace accords and treaties. The United States government signed many treaties with various Native tribes only to break every one of them. There have been peace accords in the Middle East, especially with Israel and Palestine. These human-made peace agreements only hang by a thread and they all fail at some point.

True peace, permanent peace only comes from God. It is divine in nature; this is why the leader who brings the peace to the world must also be divine in nature. Only through Christ the Son of God can true peace cover the earth. This peace is founded and grounder in the love of God. If we don’t know love then we can’t know peace. We must learn to love one another only then can we have true peace in the world. One day we will know this peace it is not a pipe dream of a fantasy. We have been promised this peace by God and through Christ it will come into fruition. There are many different vision of peace in the Bible; each one of them is a glimpse into the fullness of peace that we will know.

Until then, what are we to do? Do we have to remain in the midst of war and violence? No, we do not have to be satisfied with the way things are, we can begin to change the world. Achieving peace cannot be done by domination or conquering, it can only be done through love. It has to begin with each one of us. I can’t believe I am going to quote a Michael Jackson song in one of my sermons, but here goes. It has to start with the man or woman in the mirror. We have to begin to change ourselves, before we can change the world. May the light and the peace of Christ be in your heart this Christmas.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.