"Yearning"

Isaiah 2:1-5

I hadn't seen Beth in a long time, but somehow we figured out over the telephone that we’d be in New York City at the same time during a huge peace rally at Central Park. With as many as a million people in the park it would be hard to find a friend, so we arranged to meet at the United Nations building later in the afternoon. “I’ll wait for you next to the statue at the UN” I suggested, and Beth agreed.

When I got the UN building the place was jammed with people, thousands maybe. I asked the security guard at the entrance, “why so many people here?” “All these people arranged to meet their friends at the statue”. Thousands there were! I never did find Beth, in fact I never saw her again, but I got to spend some time gazing at the statue.

You can see a photo of it in your bulletin. It’s a striking work of art, bringing to life the prophecy of Isaiah, “Swords Into Plowshares”. You can see the man with the sword, its tip is laid to the anvil, and there’s the hammer, held high in the air, ready to pound and pound and pound on that sword. And from the lethal stabbing tip and that sharp cutting edge the pounding hammer will reshape the sword into something else. You can see it: the tip of the sword is turning into a plowshare, a plow blade. When complete, the sword will no longer be a weapon of war designed and used to kill, but a tool of peace, redesigned and transformed to plow the field and grow food for a hungry world. I was deeply moved upon seeing this statue close up, because it captures in such a powerful way our yearning for peace in a fearful, warring world.

But there is something wrong with this picture, something VERY wrong, and you can see it if you take a careful look at the picture of it in your bulletin. Here’s what’s wrong: the hammer is stuck, it’s frozen, it’s not moving. The sword is still mostly a sword, and nothing at all like the plow blade that Isaiah hopes for. It’s stuck, and the frozen, unmoving image is an exact picture of where we are. What should be an image that energizes us to work for peace … we are just left with a mournful sigh.

Who here knows how to sigh? There are several ways. Let's all sigh at once. There is a song that often comes to mind when I think about the birth of Jesus, "Let There Be Peace on Earth." We’ll be singing it to conclude our service this morning. When I hear this song, my reaction is to sigh.

Let there be peace on earth. I think of the promises associated with the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, but then I think of what's actually going on: fear of terrorism, wars that seem to have no end, civil wars in Sudan, and even deep political divisions here at home. It makes me sigh.

Let there be peace in the neighborhood. I had a terrible experience one time visiting an 18 year old boy in jail. His crime? Selling guns, worth 2 to 4 years in a maximum security prison. I wonder how many guns had passed through his hands before he got caught. I wondered how many have been hurt by the guns that he sold. Why had he been doing it? "I was greedy for money," he said to me. He was one of the first to come to the youth program at my church when he was ten years old. I remember how excited I was that he seemed so interested, back then, in what I had to say about war and violence in the world and how kids like him could make a difference. But he went to jail for selling guns. I have no idea what happened to him. It makes me sigh.

Let there be peace in our families. It would be easy to say a lot about the lack of peace in family life. Family arguments, bitterness and anger, even physical violence. We would like to think that in a violent world that the family is a safe place to be, but for many, too many, the family is where the stress and tension are worst. Sigh!

"Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Not with my enemy or my rival, but with me. This is a radical Christian notion: it is always within the power of the Christian to take the first step away from violence toward peace. The opportunities are there. Whether it is war in a far-off country, a kid in jail for selling guns, or family strife, to be a Christian is to want to do something for peace.

What is radical and exciting about Christians is also their downfall, for our first step in enthusiastic faith is frequently the last. Enthusiasm for peace quickly turns to powerlessness and frustration. “What can I do in such a violent world?” It's like being stuck in quicksand. We're afraid to move, because we might sink in even faster. Better not to do anything at all.

This reading from Isaiah is very appropriate for the beginning of Advent. Advent is a time of new beginnings, a time to prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace. Our hopes for peace are inspired by him, as angels sing, shepherds gather and wise men journey. Even the animals in the barn seem to know that change is in the air.

We know that we cannot just be observers of Jesus, it’s a time to get involved with his purpose. So we want to be a part of his peace. We seem ready to accept the prophet of peace as a baby, but we once we leave the barn in Bethlehem we begin to lose the enthusiasm for his peace.

But Jesus loses nothing as he grows up. His peace grows, He begins to teach. So it involves teaching one another. Jesus shows the possibilities of peace to the sick and hungry, to the rulers in Jerusalem. So it involves healing of the sick, and healing of sick societies. His peace is not passive, it is active. He didn't just complain about the rotten things going on in Jerusalem, he went there. It involves being active, peace doesn't just happen. We can't just sigh, we have to go places and do things to get the hammer to move.

To be a disciple of peace in our time involves more than hoping for or wishing for peace, it involves the willingness to ask out loud: "What can I do?" "Show me what I can do."

Peace feels least possible when we feel alone, or too small, or too powerless, or too ignorant to make a difference. To say "what can I do?" is not resignation, it is the place where God's work in us can begin. “What can I do?” means show me what I can do. Peacemaking is everyone's business, and Christians have a special cause for involvement. It's because peacemaking is at the heart of the Gospel.

This is no time for sighing, it is the time for taking a deep breath, because there is a lot ahead of us, as we practice peace in our families, in our neighborhood, and in the world. This is no time for sighing, God is about to act, making the hopes and dreams possible, making them real, for distant nations and for you, in the coming of the Lord. Hey, did you just see that hammer move?