IS 2:15
PS 122:1-2, 3-4B, 4CD-5, 6-7, 8-9
PS 80:4
MT 8:5-11
The lectionary readings
for today pose the following questions: Will we, in this season of waiting,
prepare for war or peace? And what would this require of us?
The choice seems simple
enough. Few will choose war. And yet, what can it mean to stand for peace in a
society bent on war, a nation constantly preparing for war, and a bellicose
empire with tentacles that reach to every corner of the earth? What can it mean
to choose peace in a country riddled with mass shootings, where students and
teachers go to school wondering if theirs will be the next Columbine, Sandy
Hook, Parkland, or Virginia Tech? What can it mean to decide for peace in a
nation with more guns than people?
The readings from Isaiah
and Matthew invite us to imagine ourselves, and all people, as members of the
household of God, citizen of the kingdom of God. This divine dwelling will draw
all peoples and all nations. All are welcome, not as refugees, but as citizens.
No green-cards, no passports, no visas, no pleas for asylum required. The only condition
is that we say to one another:
"Come, let us
climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
And what is the Lord’s
instruction? What will it mean to walk in God’s path? Isaiah gives us a clue.
We will beat our swords into plowshares, our
spears into pruning hooks, our guns into gardening tools. Many programs in the
U.S. are doing just that. RAWtools is a group that trains inmate volunteers to
forge the metal from guns into garden tools. The point in Isaiah is that the
nations will no longer war with one another. Not only that, they no longer
train for war. They no longer stockpile weapons, or train standing armies in
peacetime. They no longer anticipate war. Instead, they cultivate the land and
dwell in peace.
The centurion in the
gospel reading was no doubt preparing for war—a commander in the Roman army
over one hundred men. He understood how authority works, the power of a
command. But he also knew that his powers were limited, that military strength
cannot heal. For this reason, he turns to Jesus. He pleas, “only say the word
and my servant will be healed.” The Roman commander, like the nations in
Isaiah, had faith in the word of the Lord. Jesus is moved by his faith, a
foretaste or sign of the kingdom of God in his midst. And so Jesus echoes the
vision in Isaiah, “I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and
will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of
heaven."
It is this vision of the
household of God, the banquet feast, peace among nations, for which we long
this Advent season. It is not yet fulfilled. But it is already among us. Will
we, in this season of waiting, prepare for war or peace? May our lives be a
foretaste, a sign of the kingdom in our midst as we say with the Psalmist:
“Come and save us,
LORD our God;
let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved”
let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved”
Emily Dumler-Winckler is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Constructive Theology in the Department of Theological Studies at SLU. Her research interests include modern moral and political theology, philosophy, and virtue ethics.
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