The Peaceful Kingdom – December 11, 2022, Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-9, Luke 1:39-56
December 11, 2022

“The Peaceful Kingdom.”  That’s the heading in my Bible for this passage from Isaiah 11.  As I’ve said before, those little paragraph headings, and even the headings at the top of the pages, are really helpful in finding and understanding the scriptures.

“The Peaceful Kingdom” is also the name of a painting by pastor and painter Edward Hicks in 1833, although he called his work “The Peaceable Kingdom.”  “Peaceable” was a little more archaic term for the word “Peaceful.”  Maybe you’ve seen that painting.  It’s a literal interpretation of this passage, with and all the animals living “peaceably” together.  The wolf is there with the lamb, the leopard is with the kid, and the calf the lion and the fatling are all together.

That’s the description of the peaceful kingdom, the kingdom of our Lord.  And it’s seen as one of the important prophecies of Advent.  It’s a picture that describes the justice and equity that the Messiah would bring.  And of course, the Messianic figure is depicted here in the words, “and a little child shall lead them.”

I think there are also hints of that in the words of Mary in our reading from Luke’s Gospel.  This is where we hear her words of exaltation and praise, having been chosen by God be the mother of the Savior.  We have come to know these words over the years as “The Magnificat.”  Maybe you’ve heard that term before.  It’s called that because her first words here are, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  Hence the name “Magnificat.”  And if you know the music world, you know that those words have been set to music over the years by some of the greatest composers in history.

Listen again to her description of the justice and equity of God’s kingdom.  “He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”  I think you’ll agree that she personally knew of the “exaltation of those of low degree!”  That was her!

As I said, both of these passages are descriptions of the peace and justice and equity of God’s kingdom.  And I think they give us a foretaste of Jesus’ words, when he told his disciples that, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first, and whoever would be great in my kingdom must be a servant.”

That’s the world of the Messiah, according to prophecy.  “With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”  “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and leopard shall lie down with the kid…”  “And a little child shall lead them.”  “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.”

We love those images of the Christmas story, don’t we?  We love the peaceful manger scene with the holy family and the shepherds and the animals, maybe a wise man.. or three.  Christmas is all of that.  “Silent night, Holy night, all is calm all is bright round yon virgin mother and child.”  We love that!

And yet, too often the harsh realities of our world intrude on that “Peaceful Kingdom,” don’t they?  Even at Christmas time – and seemingly especially at Christmas time – our news is filled with stories of school shootings, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the political struggles around sensitive and volatile issues.

We see those kinds of things at this time of year, and we seem to have them all this year!  And we can’t ignore them.  We can’t pretend they aren’t happening.  And I believe we have to come to grips with that contrast between the turmoil in the world around us, and the peace and goodwill of the Christmas.

And that’s not easy, is it?  We long for the peaceful kingdom, don’t we?  We pray for it.  We ache for it!  We’re weary of the violence and chaos of our world that intrudes on our Christmas celebration.  And we long to sing “Silent night” here on Christmas Eve!

I’m very taken again this year by the story of our last hymn for today.  And, as with other hymns you’ve heard me talk about, I can’t believe this one is not in our hymnbook!  (Ugh!)  I’ve always liked “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” but until recent years, I never knew that there was a story behind those words.  Let me remind you of that story – before we sing it.

“I Heard the Bells” was originally a poem written by american poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It was later set to music by Jean Baptiste Calkin.  It was written in 1863, at the height of the Civil War.  And the poem speaks of the darkness and despair of those days, in contrast to the message of the peace and goodwill at Christmas.  Does that sound familiar?

You may recall the words, and we’re going to sing them in just a bit.  But before we do, I’d like you to hear a couple of the stanzas that were not included when the hymn was written.  I suspect they were not included because people don’t like to sing hymns that have 7 stanzas!  Right?

Listen to the contrast here!  After introducing the idea of the Christmas bells tolling peace and goodwill, which the angels told the Christmas shepherds, Longfellow wrote these words.

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannons thundered in the South, 
And with the sound, the carols drowned,
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent,
The hearth stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born,
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
That is quite a contrast to the Christmas message, isn’t it?  But then, at the end of the poem, as if to reaffirm the Christmas message, Longfellow wrote:

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does he sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Longfellow was struggling with the same things we are struggling with today.  In our world “hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men.”  That’s our struggle this time of year, isn’t it?  And we can’t ignore it.  Like those thundering cannons of Longfellow’s poem, the turmoil of our world reminds us, throughout this time, that we don’t yet live in God’s “Peaceful kingdom.”

But!  We have hope.  That’s the first candle we light on the Advent wreath.  It reminds us that the Christ child did not come into a world of peace and goodwill.  At the time, there was a conquering empire.  There was subjugation of many people.  And there was inequity and division that our world can’t comprehend!

Mary knew all of that.  She was from a lowly family, perhaps the lowliest in her world.  And yet she was chosen to be the mother of our Lord!  That’s why she was filled with such joy.  That’s why her soul “magnified the Lord.”  And it wasn’t that the darkness was ended in her world, but that the light has come into it!

That has always been the message of Christmas.  That the light of Christ has come into a world of darkness, and it still does.  And, as John assures us, the darkness has never conquered it!  The darkness can never conquer it!  And, though there is darkness in this world, there is still hope.  And, as Andy told Red in the movie  “The Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.”  Because, without hope, there is despair.  Despair is what we have when there seems to be no light at the end of that dark tunnel.

But there is!  We have that light!  We have that hope!  And, though we have tribulation in this world, as Jesus said, we can be of good cheer, for he has overcome the world.

So, even in a world of darkness, we look forward with hope to that time when the Peaceful Kingdom comes, when, as Isaiah tells us, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and leopard shall lie down with the kid…”  “And a little child shall lead them.”  “And they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.”

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to know your peace and goodwill this Advent season.  Help us to know the hope we have in the holy child of Bethlehem.  Help us to know, even in the midst of the tribulation of this world, that he has truly overcome the world.  May we know his peace and joy, no matter what the circumstances, in this holy time of the year and always.  For we pray in his name, Amen.