The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isaiah 11:6-7 NRSV
Isaiah 11:1-10 tells of a peaceable kingdom that is described in many ways. It is a passage of scripture that has often entered my mind, and has been the primary scripture of two sermons I have prepared. It is a passage that I find comfort, hope and peace in. It is also a passage that cries out and calls out to me to act and respond.
Perhaps it is not strange that this passage is one that I frequent, particularly the 6th and 7th verses, for it is from this imagery that a symbol of peace, hope, and home is derived, which is an extremely important symbol to me. The symbol is Community of Christ’s church seal of lion, lamb, and child. A symbol that represents that peaceable kingdom that Isaiah dreamed and spoke of, that Community of Christ has always been called to work toward, to live as, and to further the cause of.
That dream gives me so much hope. Can you just imagine it, a day when all are treated equally and justly? A day when former adversaries come together in peace and friendship? A day when all peoples, of all faiths, of all cultures, of all nations, of all genders, of all ways of living, of… are united in their diversity and lead by those who are often the most vulnerable of society? Can you imagine it? Can you!? The day when all of creation, yes ALL, not just us humans, but ALL of it is healed and restored to that which it is created to be?
If Community of Christ truly embraces their eternal call. If we truly respond to this vision of long ago. If we truly respond to the call to be a people of healing, reconciliation, and restoration, a people of temple who actively respond to the cries of the world, who actively share the Eternal Loving One’s love, hope, and peace and reach out in understanding to one an another. If we truly embrace this call for the peaceable community and work with all of creation toward that restoring goal. Then, yes then, amazing things can and will happen.
We must live as the peaceable community, we must further the cause of the peaceable community, we must work with all to establish peaceable community throughout creation. We must be will to step out in faith and embrace our eternal call as a people.
It is not going to be easy, it is going to be full of challenges and struggles, but it is worth it, the joy we will experience, the peace we will feel. The healing we will encounter, that all of creation will experience and encounter will be beyond words. So let us go forth and be the peaceable community, let us live as the peaceable community, let us proclaime and share the hope of that peaceable community. Let us work together with all of creation so that that peaceable community which is, will be once more…
So that one day the poor will be treated justly, the meek equally and:
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isaiah 11:6-7 NRSV
No part of creation will hurt nor destroy, but will sustain one another in peace and be filled of the the joy, hope, love, and peace of the Eternal One and be restored to what they are created and called to be.
Peace
— Lyle II
May 3rd, 2007 @ 12:30 pm
During my first year of mission service in Brazil, one of my Brazilian co-workers brought up this verse. He was an avid student of Scripture and had attended a Bible training program, but wasn’t satisfied with answers he’d gotten about this passage. Some said it referred to the restoration from exile, but that didn’t make sense. The return from captivity wasn’t as great as this description. Others said it refers to the current church age, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense either. I didn’t have a good answer either.
Now I believe it is talking about the ultimate hope, the resurrection hope all Christians share, the hope of New Heavens and New Earth. 1 Corinthians 15 guides my thinking strongly on this. The Community of Christ view in its present form resonates strongly with this Scriptural hope, dream and challenge.