Advent Second Sunday 12/5

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears
 hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide
with equity for the meek 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 and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;
 and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 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 11:4-9

This is one of my favorite Bible verses.  It preaches itself for the most part. 

What I love about this passage is that describes a world that is peace.  I talk a lot about God being a God who created and loves this world but at the same time a God who yearns for this world to be whole again, to be at peace.  

This passage from Isaiah paints a picture of a world that is at peace.  A world that has peace from within (going back to one of my favorite passages from Psalm 122 and my soon to be new tattoo).  This passage paints my deep hope for the world.  This passage paints my prayers for the world, my cries for the world.  This passage not only portrays the way the world should be but it also points that our world has a long way to go in order to be at peace and therefore calls us into action.

This passage gives me hope that wars will cease, that children will be abused no more, that violence will have no place in this world, that oppression will end, and that peace and love will reign.  

Our job is not to sit idle and keep praying for these things, our job is to be peace, to be love, to work as Christ in this world because we are the body of Christ.  The world is a dark place, the world is a broken place, the world needs life and light that Christ brings.  

I long for the day I get to preach on this passage.  I long for the day when this passage is a representation of the world around us.  

Until then...Peace be within you.

KP