For centuries the church has linked Isaiah 35 with abounding joy. (If searching for a reason to sing “Joy to the World,” the church would put this passage high on the list of reasons why!)
In this episode, I do my best to explain why this poetic vision is cause for rejoicing, how it is that the future is making itself known in the present, and why faith in the goodness of God is a very wise way to live. I also hope is makes you smile.
How does one put words a vision of a world in which peace and compassion had become the truest laws of nature?
That is the work given by God to Isaiah – putting language to the depth of shalom that is coming, a picture of creation as it will be when the project of salvation is complete.
Is. 11:1-9 is an image Isaiah masterfully articulates in his poetic description of a time when the most “natural” of enemies find their rest in each other’s presence, when predator and prey become bedfellows and the most innocent and defenseless have no cause for fear.
In this episode we walk through Isaiah’s oracle of a coming king, reestablished in the line of David, one who will be so aligned with the will of God that his reign will be of justice and peace – to the point that even the “laws of nature” change. Lions lying down the the lambs, bears will graze with the oxen… It is a picture of love becoming entirely the name of the game, and a call to those who have already received some measure of the Spirit to labor presently to bring just justice and love to reign.
By the by, if you are interested in the liturgical seasons or the lectionary (I recommend it), I just discovered some great resources produced by the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library – click here.
And, as the calendar year comes to a close, if you happen to be looking to do charitable giving, one way you can support the podcast is to support Canvas (the church I a privileged to pastor). Everything you give is tax deductible and we’ll give you a contribution receipt. To donate, simply click here.
In this first week of Advent – the season of preparation for Christ’s coming – we turn to an early oracle of the prophet Isaiah in which recounts a vision of God’s coming salvation and the blessings of peace:
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
— Isaiah 2:3b-4 (NRSV)
The vision is one of a God who makes himself approachable to all, and who’s grace is so evident to all that the farthest nations make pilgrimage to his presence. There at his Temple humanity finds true justice, and thus volunteers to turn their instruments of war into the tools of prosperity and harvest.
We who have received this divinely-granted wisdom are called not only to be soothed by it, but to exhibit it in and through our lives. While the kingdom has not yet come in its fullness, we who know how these promises will be fulfilled are to be the embodiment of God’s shalom as we walk the path of Jesus.
