What Good are Prophets?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 5th 2010
Communion Meditation/ Second Sunday in Advent
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:2-10
“What Good are Prophets?”

These visions form Isaiah come as a part of a warning and challenge to the people of Israel. Israel had fallen prey to the notion that more chariots, spears and swords would bring ultimate security. They were trapped by the belief that imitating the world powers of Egypt and Assyria would bring security to the homeland. When a people or nations are trapped by this way of thinking, there is no argument or persuasive speech that can set them free. When people are caught in the continuing cycle of violence, only strange visions and imaginative poetry will do. That may sound strange but the message from God in the bible is exactly that.
The vision and poetry in Isaiah is often lost on the very people it is intended to engage. So what is happening? In the passage Libby read for us this morning, the message points to a future time. It is Gods’ intended future that carries a message for the present time. In the future, the knowledge of God is going to be in every place and nations. When that happens, people will cease to participate in the continuing cycle of violence. On that day, the pentagon will be home to the department of agriculture. Swords and spears will be turned into tools for feeding the hungry. God wants our war technology to be used to feed people.
It is a lovely vision. But it seems remote and mostly foolish and idealistic. How could Israel even consider such a vision while the great nations are still threatening war? While that question is clearly ignored by the prophet what is clear is that the people of God cannot act as if God’s intended future has no bearing on the present. The final words of the passage make that clear: “Let us walk in the Lords way.” It is a call for the people of God to take the lead in the meantime. But when faced with this choice the leaders of Israel trusted in spears and swords. The cycle of violence continued.
The second vision of Isaiah is even stranger. It is a word to the people who are hungry for a leader who will make things right, or bring about Gods promised vision. The king in this vision is a clear contrast to the current king who favors the rich and powerful. The king to come will be one who knows justice and righteousness. This new king will be filled with the spirit of God and will treat the poor fairly. The laws for the poor and meek will be the same for the powerful. Not only will they be the same laws, but they will be enforced equally.
If this seems unusual in our time it was even more so in ancient Israel. We live in a time where drugs laws unfairly target the poor and black men. Some will even notice something is wrong when there is plenty of money for banks but nothing for the middle class and poor. Hearing the words from Isaiah can be a welcome sound in our own day in age. But in ancient Israel, a king who cared for the poor and meek is one that they had never seen. As a result, it took a radically strange image to help the hearers of the prophetic oracle to help them grasp the message.
For a people who lived in or near the wilderness, the image in the second scripture makes sense. But in their world, wolves, leopards and lions were to be feared. They were the predators. So Isaiah shows what God intends. No longer will the calves, lambs and children have to fear the hunger of the lions. A boy king will lead a new world. Predators will no longer live off the blood of their neighbors. The prey will no longer play the victim. When the knowledge of God permeates the earth, the new reality will emerge.
But even this vision is strange. It is not that we cannot grasp that the wolves and lambs represent people and nations. It is more of an issue that our society is exactly the opposite. The powerful take what they want, often at the expense of those who less likely to fight back. The meet get run over in our world and are blamed for being week. And yet, here we sit, once again on this Sunday and proclaim peace. Are we crazy? Or, have we decided this vision is simply too radical for our world of lions?
This week I asked the participants in the youth bible study what they thought about this passage. My favorite answer was that we are all the lambs. And what we need to do is joining with other lambs to stand against the lions. And in doing so we can make sure the lions get what they deserve. While I relate to the impulse I mentioned that it was partially correct. The power of this vision is that it is about ending the continuing cycle of violence. I believe it is true that the lambs of this world need to join together.
When lambs joined together India gained its independence without continuing the cycle of violence. When lambs joined together the apartheid regime in South Africa was brought down without furthering the cycle of violence. And when lambs joined together the civil rights movement brought an end to legalized segregation without continuing the cycle of violence. In fact, this vision is not foolish at all; it is simply too often dismissed as such. When the knowledge of God was brought to light in each of these instances, we saw a glimpse of that promised day.
We are indeed lambs who worship the lamb on the throne. The prince of peace who will bring this new day is the one who we are preparing for during this season. As such, we can never give ourselves over to the continuing cycle of violence. This year, let us seek to be a witness in following God’s way. Let us be counted with those who took the first steps to bring light to the new day. Let us claim the mantle of lambs in our homes, in our neighbors, our city, not as victims but as those who have chosen to end the cycle of violence. And who knows what story will be told about the people who had a hand in changing the most violent city in the nation. Amen?