Isaiah 2:1-5
Isaiah paints a visual picture of a hope because right now Judah is under threat. There could be an invasion at any time. Israel, the other kingdom, is in bondage to Assyria, has been defeated and distributed around Assyria so there will be no resistance. Yet how do you resist when the picture is awful around you? How do you resist and hold onto faith if you become conquered and led away?
So the prophet Isaiah paints this picture of peace, beauty, longing, and judgement. Why all three?
First we start with beauty. It seems as though any ugly place has had a prophet who can paint the picture of beauty. The beauty of the city as it should be. A place of haven for all, a place of learning about the best things. They have the vision for people to see things not as they are, but as how they could be. It is so important for this perspective to have wings and grow in people who have seen nothing but trouble and strife.
Just say the first few words of a prophets known speeches, poems, writings and you know they are painting a picture. A picture for us to join them on. The picture of wandering in the woods. The picture of coming together as a family. They picture of sitting down in green pastures. There are so many and they are all points of lights for us. A way of seeing the world not as it is right now, but as it should be.
If you asked people what they would like to see in this world they can tell you. Kindness, love, reaching out to each other, finding ways to support one another this is the call to a kinder, gentler place. It is the call of the prophet. The call of Jesus.
Second it starts up a longing within our souls for this change and this in turn changes us. We are lighter, more giving and forgiving. We open ourselves up for a chance to help and participate in this change/dream of the world. We no longer want to just sit on the sidelines and watch, we want to do. We want to know what we can do to be a part of this picture. A part of a solution to all the problems of the world.
We find ourselves singing the songs, joining the tune, rewriting the story which once was to what can be. We make the corners we live in brighter and full of wonder. Instead of cold and dark and lonely. The more separated we become by words the more we need to be brought together by the prophets dream. A dream which contains the unity of all peoples turning towards the light Jerusalem could be. The light each of us can be.
Finally, judgement is mentioned because as with the ultimate dream of care and unity, equity also comes. Fairness, a judgement for things to be made right instead of people taking things into their own hands. It has been said at the time of the prophet Isaiah in ancient Judah people were going to the temple and leaving killing one another outside the temple door. No fairness, no justice, no right thing.
We have been reading through Desmond and Mpho Tutu's The Book of Forgiving in it there are examples of injustice, division, and hatred during apartheid and during other stories from around the globe. Sometimes the justice people seek is not revenge, but to be heard. In being heard there are many stories of wonderful healing because of being able to confront, to tell their story and to heal. It is just an example of what judgement and justice look like. So often we think a judge needs to rule in our favor yet the stories in this book tell of being heard in the midst of awful pain and coming together to create wonderful lights in this dark world.
Can we share in the prophets dream? This is what Advent brings us to each year. Can we see the ways we might become lights in a dark world? Might we plant communities of hope, where we see others want to join in the work because of it's shining example in the dark? The only way we will know is to keep dreaming the dreams. Keep trying to live these words into our lives. So the light of God shines brighter and inspires a hurting world.
Isaiah paints a visual picture of a hope because right now Judah is under threat. There could be an invasion at any time. Israel, the other kingdom, is in bondage to Assyria, has been defeated and distributed around Assyria so there will be no resistance. Yet how do you resist when the picture is awful around you? How do you resist and hold onto faith if you become conquered and led away?
So the prophet Isaiah paints this picture of peace, beauty, longing, and judgement. Why all three?
First we start with beauty. It seems as though any ugly place has had a prophet who can paint the picture of beauty. The beauty of the city as it should be. A place of haven for all, a place of learning about the best things. They have the vision for people to see things not as they are, but as how they could be. It is so important for this perspective to have wings and grow in people who have seen nothing but trouble and strife.
Just say the first few words of a prophets known speeches, poems, writings and you know they are painting a picture. A picture for us to join them on. The picture of wandering in the woods. The picture of coming together as a family. They picture of sitting down in green pastures. There are so many and they are all points of lights for us. A way of seeing the world not as it is right now, but as it should be.
If you asked people what they would like to see in this world they can tell you. Kindness, love, reaching out to each other, finding ways to support one another this is the call to a kinder, gentler place. It is the call of the prophet. The call of Jesus.
Second it starts up a longing within our souls for this change and this in turn changes us. We are lighter, more giving and forgiving. We open ourselves up for a chance to help and participate in this change/dream of the world. We no longer want to just sit on the sidelines and watch, we want to do. We want to know what we can do to be a part of this picture. A part of a solution to all the problems of the world.
We find ourselves singing the songs, joining the tune, rewriting the story which once was to what can be. We make the corners we live in brighter and full of wonder. Instead of cold and dark and lonely. The more separated we become by words the more we need to be brought together by the prophets dream. A dream which contains the unity of all peoples turning towards the light Jerusalem could be. The light each of us can be.
Finally, judgement is mentioned because as with the ultimate dream of care and unity, equity also comes. Fairness, a judgement for things to be made right instead of people taking things into their own hands. It has been said at the time of the prophet Isaiah in ancient Judah people were going to the temple and leaving killing one another outside the temple door. No fairness, no justice, no right thing.
We have been reading through Desmond and Mpho Tutu's The Book of Forgiving in it there are examples of injustice, division, and hatred during apartheid and during other stories from around the globe. Sometimes the justice people seek is not revenge, but to be heard. In being heard there are many stories of wonderful healing because of being able to confront, to tell their story and to heal. It is just an example of what judgement and justice look like. So often we think a judge needs to rule in our favor yet the stories in this book tell of being heard in the midst of awful pain and coming together to create wonderful lights in this dark world.
Can we share in the prophets dream? This is what Advent brings us to each year. Can we see the ways we might become lights in a dark world? Might we plant communities of hope, where we see others want to join in the work because of it's shining example in the dark? The only way we will know is to keep dreaming the dreams. Keep trying to live these words into our lives. So the light of God shines brighter and inspires a hurting world.
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