The Lion and the Lamb - 2nd Sunday of Advent, 2022

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the kid,
The calf and the lion and the fatling together (Isaiah 11:6).

It’s one of my favorite Advent images – the lion and the lamb (the fatling) lying down together. The image comes out of Isaiah’s vision of a world, shaped by the ways of God, that no longer uses power to attack or destroy another. It is a world of peace, at peace, filled with peace – a peace that permeates even the animal kingdom.

The Isaiah text is a traditional text used to develop the theme of peace on this 2nd Sunday of Advent. The text presents a vision of what scholars call “the peaceable kingdom.” This kingdom of peace, at peace is tied to the reign of the messiah who reigns with righteousness and justice – the traditional language used in the Hebrew scriptures in reference to the ways of God. Thus, the text offers us more than an image of peace that permeates the world. It also identifies the way to such peace.

The image presented in the vision of a world of peace, at peace is often dismissed as unrealistic, as nothing more than idealistic dreaming or wishful thinking. Such reactions to the vision generally overlook what the vision says about the way to such peace.

The way to such peace is clearly stated, so why do we fail to recognize it?

A world of peace, at peace is what occurs when we embrace and live the ways of God – the ways of righteousness and justice. These two familiar terms are covenant terms. They describe how we live in relationship with one another in the covenant community.

Righteousness is more than a moral or religious concept. It refers to living in right relationship with others in the covenant community. The meaning of righteousness - to live in right relationship within the covenant community - is clarified by the term with which righteousness is consistently paired in the Hebrew scriptures: justice. Justice, again, is more than a legal term. It is a covenant term describing how we live in relationship with one another within the covenant community. Justice refers to how we use power within those relationships. To practice justice is to use power on behalf of those who have little or no power – the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, the resident alien (Isaiah 1:17). We do justice whenever we embrace, advocate for, and provide for these who live in vulnerable circumstances. We do justice whenever we use our power to empower the powerless. Using our power on behalf of the powerless is what it means to live in right relationship with our neighbor, i.e., righteously.

Justice was the idea Jesus taught when he spoke of living as a servant – using our power to seek the good and wellbeing of another (Mark 9:35; 10:42-45). Righteousness is living out of a servant spirit. In the mind of Jesus, the term servant captured the ideas of righteousness and justice.

The way to peace outlined in Isaiah’s vision also highlights why we do not experience peace. Our world is filled with brokenness, alienation, and division because of how we use power in relationship to one another. Jesus used the language of “lord it over” and “tyrants” to describe how power is used in the world (Mark 10:42-45). We use power over, down against others for our own personal benefit. This use of power is always at the expense of the other.

This way of using power is the way of domination. In order to protect our interests and maintain our advantage, we use power against the one we view as “other.” We use power to dominate and control, keeping the other “in their place.” If need be, we attack and destroy them. In other words, we use power violently. The degree of violence varies, but any use of power against another is a violent use of power.

The violent use of power stands in opposition to how God uses power. The creation story (Genesis 1) teaches us that God uses power to call life into being and then to nurture that life into maturity. The way God uses power is always life-giving and life-enriching. In the words of Jesus, it is the way of the servant. Having been created in the likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), we were created to use power the way God does – in life-giving, life-enriching ways – as a servant.

Sadly, we have denied the likeness of God within us, choosing instead to use power to look-out-for-ole-#1. Our use of power is driven by self-interest and fear. We are afraid there is not enough to go around – scarcity thinking. Thus, we want to make sure we get our share – and more! We want to make sure we don’t miss out. We are afraid of those who are different – the other. We are afraid they we take what is ours. Our fear leads us to compete, using our power to win. If necessary, we use our power to eliminate the competition. It’s the story of Cain and Abel lived out over and over and over again.

(Aside: this unrecognized, fear-based way of thinking is celebrated in the way we worship athletic competition in its various forms. But that’s a blog for another time.)

This issue of how power is used is the driving theme of the story of the flood. That ancient story identifies violence as the reason God chose to destroy the earth (Genesis 6:11-13). Yet, in destroying the earth, God used power violently. God used power violently in an effort to get rid of violence. We often miss the end of the story and its message. After the flood, the LORD said, “Well, that didn’t work. I’ll never do that again” (Genesis 8:21-21). Destroying the earth did not fix the problem. It did not change what was in the human heart (Genesis 8:21). Using power violently does not solve the problem of violence. It’s a truth we don’t want to acknowledge, much less put into practice.

How to create a world of peace, at peace is the unrecognized story in the Christmas story told in the gospel of Luke. The world into which Jesus was born lived under pax Roma – Roman peace. Roman peace was a peace created by using power to demand conformity to Roman rule. It came through Rome’s use of power down, against those under her rule. It came through domination. Roman peace was not actually peace. It was, at best, stability – stability that benefited those in power at the expense of those whom they ruled. Into this world, Jesus was born, offering a different way to peace. It was not the way of domination (power over), but the way of self-giving love – the way of the servant. In Jesus, God took on human flesh in order to address the human condition. At his birth, the angels sang “Peace on earth!” (Luke 2:14). All of heaven recognized that the servant use of power was the way to real peace. The reality played out in heaven at his birth was not duplicated on earth. At the end of his ministry, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not recognize “the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:42). It seems Jesus understood the way that leads to peace proclaimed in Isaiah’s vision.

If we want a world of peace, at peace, we must change the way we use our power (in its many forms). We must address the underlying, fear-based thinking that drives us to use power against others, i.e., violently. We must address the self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit that fills our hearts. We must move beyond our fear of those who are different from us so that we no longer view them as “the other,” seeing them instead as beloved children of God. We must surrender our scarcity thinking. We must embrace the ways of God as our own.

While such sounds impossible – more wishful thinking and idealistic dreaming - it is actually very possible. This kind of inner transformation of heart and mind is exactly what God is using his power to make happen. It is story we celebrate these Advent and Christmas seasons. In Jesus and then in the Spirit, God comes to us as a servant. Having created us, God has claimed us in Christ Jesus as beloved children. God now works to bring us his children to Christ-like spiritual maturity through the work of the Spirit. The Spirit, in teaching us the ways of the kingdom, is transforming our hearts and minds, empowering us to live as servants, here, now.

Isaiah’s vision of a world of peace, at peace is neither wishful thinking or idealistic dreaming. It is a glimpse of what will be because of the self-giving, servant love of God. It is a world that God will bring into reality as God works in and through us as his Spirit-empowered children.

Isaiah’s vision of a world at peace, of peace is a reminder of what will be because of God’s righteousness and justice. It is also a call for us to partner with God in bringing this world of peace, at peace into being by embracing and living the servant-ways God in every aspect of our lives.

Isaiah’s vision reminds us that the way that leads to peace is God’s way of using power in life-giving, life-enriching ways. The way of the servant is the way that leads to peace.

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 11:9).