Peace in the midst of turmoil
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 11:6
What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘World Peace’? In my kindergarten days, I remember seeing crayon cartoons of children from every country, holding hands all the way around the world. To many today, the dream of world peace seems as realistic as a child’s dream of growing up to become a dinosaur or a butterfly.
It’s hard not to become cynical. Most adults would settle for peace within their own lives. The Australian dream of owning a home becomes more dreamlike every day. Those who do have houses struggle to maintain peace between the people who live inside them. We find similar conflicts within our minds and hearts as we try to navigate the whole rotten mess. A distinct lack of peace marks our entire lives. We even feel it in our bones, which ache as we approach the final defeat of our bodies. All of human experience would seem to tell us that peace is no more than an impossible dream.
Our Old Testament reading for this Sunday, Isaiah 11:1–10, paints a picture of peace which seems just as impossible and dreamy. Wolves and lambs dwelling together, lions eating hay alongside big, juicy cows. Such starry-eyed visions of world peace seem naïve, childish and downright irresponsible to our mature and jaded eyes. Yet the ‘little Child’ who leads this animal circus in Isaiah’s vision is the same Babe who calls us to become like little children, if we would enter his kingdom.
The opening verses of Isaiah 11 describe the Christ Child as a ‘shoot from the stump of Jesse’ in whom the Spirit of the Lord dwells richly. Jesse’s son David famously slew the giant Goliath when he was only a child. The king had urged him not to fight because he was just a kid, but David replied, ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine’ (1 Samuel 17:37). David’s boyish confidence comes from knowing that his Father in heaven has his back. He doesn’t judge on the outward appearance but relies on the faithfulness of his Father to do what is right.
As David grew up, he knew danger and defeat, but he never lost this childlike faith. We see in his prayers how he found peace by trusting in God’s righteousness, even in the midst of deadly dangers: ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies’ (Psalm 23:5). ‘In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ (Psalm 56:11) ‘In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by’ (Psalm 57:1).
David found peace, not by his cleverness, strength and cunning (of which he had plenty), but by exercising his faith through hope. In times of trouble, we often pray for strength and insight, thinking that if we could get rid of our problems by our own power, then we would have peace. But often, the Lord wants to build in us a faith which looks, not to our own power, but to God for our deliverance from evil. He wants us to look for the peace from above, and not the peace from within.
In Advent, we look up, waiting for the day when Christ will come again on clouds descending to establish his kingdom, not with military might or a clever trade deal, but ‘with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips’ (Isaiah 11:4). Jesus rules and defends his kingdom by his Word, which is being fulfilled as the Father gives us the Spirit so that we believe his Word. In this kingdom, we enjoy peace with God through the forgiveness of our sins, and, as we begin to live God-pleasing lives, we may even find peace with our enemies (Proverbs 16:7).
The peace of God’s kingdom is here among us, if we have the eyes to see it. Seeing what Isaiah sees is not easy, though. We often lack the faith to believe that God will accomplish the things he has spoken, things that are beyond our experience or understanding. Yet God grows in us the gift of faith, by showing us his own faithfulness . As we meditate on the miracles of Christmas, we see that God is faithful to His Word to achieve the impossible. When we believe these things are true, we can recover the childlike joy of knowing that the Christ Child does indeed play over the den of the cobra and will lead the lions and lambs to live in peace.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding… keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 KJV)