The first thing to note is that while the text includes images of a time when all of creation is affected by a new and more just reign, these

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1 What to Do with the Lion and the Lamb in the Real World Isaiah 11:1-10 Dr. Christopher C. F. Chapman First Baptist Church, Raleigh December 4, 2016 A Presbyterian minister tells a story about a children s sermon based upon today s reading from Isaiah 11. She showed the children a statue of a lion lying down. In his paws rested a lamb. Then, she asked them what they thought of this. One of the church s youngest theologians, as she calls him, a boy named Jack, said, Well, in the Bible it says they will rest together. But in real life the lion would eat him! Well, children are honest and they know how to get to the heart of the matter. They know something about the wonderful images the Bible has of a world where all things dwell together in peace. But they also know something about the real world where people are not always nice to each other and lions and lambs do not hold paws and sing Kum Ba Yah. But the truth is we are all children at this point. We know something about the biblical images of peace, but we are not confused about what kind of world we live in; we know that peace is a future hope; we realize that we live in an unsettled and often dangerous world. The question is how are we to live in light of these realities? What are we to do with the lion and the lamb in the real world? Are we called to pursue the biblical images regardless of the consequences, live with our heads in the clouds? Are we called to take into account the harsh realities of this world, make certain we keep our feet on the ground? Or is there some space in between the ideal and the real, a way to keep our heads in the clouds and our feet on the ground? I would suggest that, before we attempt to answer these questions, we examine a bit more carefully the text itself, the familiar reading from Isaiah 11 that has inspired great music and visual art as well as many acts of faith. What exactly does this text say? The first thing to note is that while the text includes images of a time when all of creation is affected by a new and more just reign, these 1

2 images are not to be taken literally. They are metaphorical snapshots of an altered world where peace and harmony reign, idyllic images meant to conjure up a sense of hopefulness for a better day. Taken literally, they assume that the animals listed will have to change their basic nature as God has made them. For leopards do not lie down with kids. This I know from personal experience. As a part of the first partnership mission work I did in Kenya, our group spent a day in a national park to get a sense of the land in which we were working, and while we were there, we saw two leopards. One was sunning himself. The other was not living by the teaching of Isaiah 11. She was stalking a herd of impala. It was an incredible experience because the leopard began the hunt just a few feet away from our vehicle, and a member of our group provided commentary mimicking the old Mutual of Omaha s Wild Kingdom television show. I confess I was pulling for the impala, though the leopard had to eat. But such is the real world. Such is the way of nature, the way of creation, the way God has made the world. If the leopard is to lie down with the kid, the lion with the lamb, God will have to change the basic nature of these creatures, and this is possible. It just isn t Isaiah s point. The point of the imagery is not to provide a literal description of the ideal future, but rather to say through these images that even nature will be affected by the new things that are going to happen. What are these new things? Judgments will be fair and the poor will be treated rightly. The meek will be judged with equity, the wicked will be dealt with appropriately and peace will prevail. How will things come to be? God will pour out the spirit upon a new kind of leader, a messiah, and give him wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and a healthy fear of God. All is not well in Zion, this is not the current state of affairs, and thus the prophet dreams of a better day. Two things merit attention here. First, notice that this new era of peacefulness is made possible by an array of gifts including might. Some view all efforts in the realm of peace as inherently weak and passive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Second, notice that peace hinges upon everyone being treated fairly, especially the poor and the meek. Peace and justice go together. 2

3 This is the vision Isaiah has and, though he does not have in mind a person named Jesus who lives seven hundred years after he dies, the early church interprets these words as applying to the child who is born in a manger. The spirit is poured out upon Jesus and he is given wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and a love of God. He is just and righteous in all of his dealings and he holds a special place in his heart for the poor and the meek. And yet, the vision of peace is not completely fulfilled in Jesus earthly ministry. The kingdom or reign of God has come in Christ and is yet to come. Not all judgments are just; not all of the poor of this country, much less the poor of the world, receive fair treatment to this day; and nature is not dwelling in harmony. The author of the children s sermon to which I referred puts it this way. The vision is glorious. Real life is something else. In Christ, God has come to close the gap between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven (Kimberly Clayton Richter, Journal for Preachers, Advent 2004). In Christ, God has come to close the gap between the vision and reality, but the task is not yet complete. That is where we come in. Our calling is to continue closing the gap. This question is how do we do that? With the guidance of the same spirit who comes upon Jesus. With full benefit of the gifts of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and a healthy fear of God. But beyond these things, how do we do it? How do we get the lion to lay down with the lamb in the real world? And how far do we go in regard to this matter of peace? One option is to pursue peace boldly, without hesitation, and without regard to consequences. I can think of many examples of faithful people who have done this and, though I am not ready to recommend this path, I have tremendous respect for those who travel it. For example, Rachel Corrie was a twenty-three-old senior at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington who decided to travel to Palestine in March of 2003 to work as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (Peacework, Numbers 5/6 2004). She worked with children in a refugee camp in Gaza where she gained much love and respect. 3

4 One day an Israeli bulldozer came to destroy a Palestinian home. She pleaded with the driver to stop. When he refused, she stood between him and the home, wearing a neon orange jacket to make herself visible. The driver drove over her. Was Rachel a pathetic, naïve soul with her head in the clouds, someone who did not realize that lions eat lambs in the real world? Or was she a young woman of courage who acted upon her beliefs, a follower of Jesus who helped close the gap between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven? I think of people like Clarence Jordan who sacrificed much for the cause of integration. I think of Ghandi and King who gave their lives for peace and justice. Were they all naïve? Did they fail to count the cost? Or did they count it and decide that they would rather risk the loss of status or career or life itself before risking the loss of soul? As I say, I have a hard time recommending unqualified boldness with regard to peacemaking in a hostile world. But every time I am tempted to name such an approach as naïve, I remember Jesus. He too was bold seemingly without counting the consequences. He too discovered what happens to lambs before lions. Who among us would call him naïve? Another option is to say that we must keep our feet on the ground at all costs, we must be realistic, we must realize that the world is not a safe place. Jesus may be called the Prince of Peace, he may indeed say, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God, but in the real world, peace lovers don t make much headway. In the real world, the lion eats the lamb every time! I understand this response all the way from the level of personal relationships to international affairs. I recall an old cartoon where the meek inherit the earth, but then the aggressive take it right back from them! Do we really want our children to grow up with such gentle dispositions that they are taken advantage of by others? Do we want our nation to concede military strength in order to pursue peace or would we not prefer a certain show of force to help preserve peace? Edward Hicks experience illustrates the struggle many of us have. Hicks was a nineteenth-century artist who painted over eighty versions of The Peaceable Kingdom. Each painting includes images of animals dwelling together peacefully as in the Isaiah image, Native Americans 4

5 and settlers making peace, and a small child leading the whole scene. They are wonderful images of the text s vision of a time when peace and harmony rule human affairs and the whole of creation. Yet, as Paul Duke notes in a sermon on this text (Lectionary Homiletics, December, 2001), over the years Hicks became discouraged with the state of affairs in the world, and as he did, the predators in his paintings came to look more ferocious. So it goes with us. We would like to embrace the vision of peace and live accordingly, but when all we see is conflict and violence, we have difficulty believing in the vision. So, what do we do? How do we pursue peace? I don t have an easy answer, but giving up on the vision is not an option. We are called to close the gap between the heavenly vision of peace and the earthly reality of violence. Perhaps we cannot change the actions of nations, perhaps we need not sacrifice our lives, but there are things we can do. For example, when we build relationships with people of other faiths, including Jews and Muslims, we are pursuing peace. When we serve the poor through our clothing ministry or backpack buddies, we are pursuing peace. When we welcome immigrants and refugees directly or through CBF field personnel Marc and Kim Wyatt, we are pursuing peace. When we decide to forgive those who have hurt us, we are pursuing peace. When we say a prayer or sing a carol, simply hold onto our hope in Isaiah s vision, we are pursuing peace. We do a lot already. It s just a matter of doing more. And the natural tendency is to add that we should teach our children to act in peaceful ways, and we should; but the truth is our children often teach us. Isaiah does say that a little child shall lead them. CBF field personnel Bob and Janice Newell tell the story of two children in Tirana, Albania who led the way for many adults (Newell Post, January, 2005). The father of one of the boys was killed by the other s father and then, pursuant to obligations of the Balkan blood feud tradition, the uncle of the boy whose father was killed, killed the other s father, leaving both boys fatherless. The tradition of vengeance called for an ongoing cycle of hatred, but the boys decided to stop it. They developed a covenant of 5

6 forgiveness through which they declared a willingness to forgive those who did not give us the possibility to be like all the others those who do not know what it means to forgive because we know what it means to lose parent, family, precious life, school Very often children lead the way in the realm of peace, if only we are willing to follow them. A Methodist minister who served a church in Richmond had a brother who ran a circus. Every Advent this text from Isaiah was read, he would bring a lion and a lamb to that lovely Methodist sanctuary and place them, with trainers and restraints, at opposite ends of the dais. It was better than a power point presentation! I m not sure we have room on this dais to pull it off and I m not sure it s a great idea anyway. The point is not for the literal lion and lamb in this world to become pals. But would it be any easier to put an Israeli and a Palestinian up here, a Sunni and Shia, a fundamentalist and a liberal, a republican and a democrat right after this election, two church members who have been at odds, two family members who have hurt each other? The thing is - this is the point of Isaiah s prophesy and Jesus life. The question is what are we willing to do about it? We are the lion and the lamb in this very real world. Are we willing to live in the ways of peace? 6