An Impossible Vision?

Today’s image from the Old Testament reading of a world at peace—a peace so full and universal that it extends to every living creature—may feel as comforting as it does unbelievable, at least by our logic (Isaiah 11:1-10). Wolves and lambs aren’t friends. Lions don’t eat straw. Children should not play with snakes. In the animal kingdom—and we are animals—there are predators and prey. Whether we take it literally or metaphorically, “Eat or be eaten” is how we’ve been taught to survive in the wilderness.

And yet here, on this wilderness morning, we hear the prophet telling us that it does not have to be this way—indeed, that it will not be this way forever. In the new world God is coming to bring, we won’t need to tear each other apart just to survive. Somehow we will be able to live together in peace.

No wonder that of all the ways God could have revealed the depths of holy love and brought reconciliation to the world, God chose to come as a little child, a child no one thought possible, a branch from a tree that was seemingly long dead.

Beholding this child moves us to repentance, turning us from all the ways we demonize and hurt each other, and calling us instead to offer peace. Rather than taking the bait set to keep us fighting, we come together to eat the bread and drink from the cup set at the Lord’s table.

In the new creation, our identity is no longer defined by our lineage or status, as those who came to be baptized by John imagined, or by being enemies, prey, or predator. Instead, in Christ’s baptismal waters we are given a new life as beloved kin. With God all things are possible!

Devotional message and art based on the readings for December 4th, reprinted from sundaysandseasons.com.