Peace Be With Us

Being the first week of Advent with our thoughts beginning to turn to gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, other gifts may come to mind: gifts of the Holy Spirit.  When were they made known to us?  Today’s first reading from Isaiah gives us a clue (IS 11:1-10).   It reads: “…On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD…”  There they are from the Old Testament, not the New.  This just goes to show how much of the Old we drawn upon to understand the Holy Spirit and Jesus, our Christ.

Our first reading then gives us a splendid visual of what Jesus’ arrival will cause through our interpretation of Isaiah’s meaning: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea…”  

This is some dream, but for much of our world’s history since Jesus’ time, it has been a nightmare especially in the Middle East where wars continue to be waged and religious factions view the other as the enemy.   And, the United States is not immune with anger and hate on display with the election campaign and outcome continuing to give evidence.

Yet, especially during Advent, we keep hoping and praying that the Holy Spirit will guide us all so the wolves, leopards, lions, bears, cobras, and adders within us all will give way to the lambs, kids, calves, cow, oxen, babies, and children – our peaceful side that listens to Jesus and promotes God’s kingdom among us.  

Deacon David Pierce