Preached on December 2, 2007, first Sunday of Advent, at the First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, UCC
Dedicated to the Muslim leaders who signed “A Common Word between Us and You” and the Christian leaders who have responded; and always to the glory of God.
Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14
Advent means the arrival, or coming of God into the world. In our prophetic text this morning, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a future in which peace for all nations will be established by the presence of God in Israel. We understand this as a text about the birth of Jesus Christ when the angels proclaim goodwill and peace on earth. It is also about that future time when Christ will reign over a new heaven and earth, our hope that is yet to come. And so it is a text about Christmas past and about Christmas future, but for us, this is also a text about Christmas present: God coming into our lives today, to bring peace, and so Isaiah’s words are for you and me. “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
I am convinced that Jesus Christ is bringing peace into our world, peace into our lives, and peace into our souls. I also know that there are barriers to this peace, and that God will ask us to give up that which keeps us from peace.
Giving something up for peace is evident in what Isaiah says about the people beating their swords into plowshares. Now, let’s think about what this means. In ancient times, strong metal was difficult to come by. Perhaps the only significant metal in a family’s possession would be the plowshare, used by farmers to plow their fields. Plowshares were curved metal blades that turned over the earth as the edge sliced through the dirt. If a nation went to war, there was no extra metal for weapons, and so a farmer would take his plowshare and make of it a sword. He would make of his pruning hook a spear. But notice that now there is no way to till the fields, no way to prune the vineyards. A choice has been made to go to war. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the prophet Joel said “Prepare war….beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.”[1] But the prophets Micah and Isaiah both make the opposite claim on behalf of God: beat your swords into plowshares. Apparently, it was commonly known that these were the choices. You could farm and provide for your family and people, or you had to go to war. You couldn’t do both.
It seems to me that those were times when the consequences of our choices were clear and immediate. To choose one thing is to give up on something else. As the monks say, every choice is a renunciation. If I choose to do this, I have chosen not to do these other things. If I choose to spend my time here, I have renounced spending time anywhere else. To choose war is to give up on growing food, and to grow food is to give up on going to war. It seems to me that such a choice would affect our judgement about when war is necessary.
I think we have lost something that they had. They understood that you have to choose one or the other. We have forgotten that; we think that we can have everything. We think that we can go to war at the same time that we eat our fill and prosper. We think that we can increase our national spending on things like defense and care for the disadvantaged and at the same time reduce our taxes. We think that we can enjoy our vices and be healthy. I have seen advertisements that promise losing weight without effort, making money from the comfort of your home, five easy steps toward a better life. We can have our swords and our plowshares, because this is the age of plenty. But I believe that this is an illusion. Trying to choose everything costs us deeply, but the costs are hidden from us, as if in darkness, and we are not at peace. Sometimes the darkness is comfortable, because it hides the things to which we would rather not pay attention. If a room is a bit dirty, we turn off the overhead light and just light the lamp on the end table. Deficit spending, personal credit debt, long-term health risks, the gradual alteration of our atmosphere: these are costs that are easy to hide, to push off into the darkness of some future day. We don’t see them anymore, and we think that we can choose everything. But the light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think of that in terms of your lives in these next weeks. We are told that while we carry on with our normal work and school and responsibilities, we can also give lots and lots of great gifts to many people, send cards, bake sweets, host grand dinners, throw parties, or go out to restaurants, parties, and concerts, pack, travel, return, unpack, hosts guests, change sheets, entertain, and sing carols. We can do all these things, and more that you might be thinking about right now, and we can also receive the gift of Christmas, the peace of the presence of God. Do we really have the energy for all that? Or is it like the swords and plowshares, must we choose one or the other? The light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
We think that we can fill our lives with pleasure and comfort, and also with depth and meaning at the same time. I think that all the time! I think that I can balance both of those, but if I am honest, then I know that happiness cannot be sought directly. We don’t become happy because of the nice things we get, which is an odd thing to say at this time of year, especially when I’m adding things to my wish list. We can’t package happiness. Happiness only comes to us indirectly while we are pursuing meaning in relationships with family, friends, neighbors, with God. Happiness sneaks in the back door when we have given our lives and our resources away in service to others. Remember it was Jesus who said that those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who give their lives away will save them. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think about swords and plowshares in reference to the Middle East. This week we followed as peace talks began again between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis. I must say that I have read the news with hope tempered by skepticism. Both parties come to the talks with contradictory demands, which they cling to so tightly. It seems that all the world can clearly see the basic idea that for these people to find a way toward peace will demand that both sides will have to give something up. But it’s easier for me to say that than for them, who are holding onto the things that their ancestors have held dear for centuries. Instead of judging them for their stubbornness, I should ask myself, “what am I clinging to so tightly that keeps me from knowing the peace of God?”
What must we give up in order for God’s peace to reign?
You probably don’t know this, but you and the rest of the Christian church recently received an open letter from this Islamic world. It was signed by 138 Muslim clerics, intellectuals and scholars, representing all branches within Islam, and it was titled, "A Common Word Between Us and You.”[2] It is a letter written to initiate important dialogue between our faiths, and it comes not with demands or criticism, but with an emphasis on two things: our common faith in one God, and the centrality of the commandment to love thy neighbor. In November, a response was written by Christian leaders in this country, including John Thomas, the General Minister of the United Church of Christ. They wrote, “We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians worldwide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors.”
Establishing strong relationships among our faiths will require that we give up stances of superiority or exclusive claims to righteousness. We will have to make difficult choices and sacrifices. But isn’t it better to have our plowshares than our swords? Instead of staking our interests by the sword, we could put our plowshares to work and raise a crop of understanding, service, and peace. Let us walk in the light of the world.
Isaiah’s words paint for us the vision and hope of the Christ child, the prince of peace. Isaiah says:
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Amen
[1] Joel 3:9-10
[2] See http://www.acommonword.com/ for the letter and Christian responses.
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