The Lamb and the Lion

During the Christian season of Advent and in the month of December,  I find myself reading the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah.    While I read them other times a year, they seem to have more meaning this time of year.   The other day, I re-read this passage from Isaiah that says:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.---    Isaiah 11:  1-6

The words that jump out in this passage in these days for me are those words about the wolf living with the lamb and the leopard lying down with the goat.   In the animal kingdom, I suppose it is fair to say that they are enemies.   The wolf is commonly known to want to eat the lamb for lunch instead of living with them.  The goat would be timid about lying down with the leopard knowing  that it had other things in mind.  Isaiah is saying to us that the coming Messiah  brings peace between enemies. 

I find myself longing for those words of Isaiah to be a reality not just in the animal kingdom, but in the human kingdom.    It seems that too often we label a person who thinks, looks, or believes differently than us as the enemy.   In my heart,  I continue to grieve shootings that left dead congregants in a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Charleston church Bible study because a shooter saw them as the enemy.  I long for a day when Republicans can live with Democrats, when anti-Trump folks can share time with the Trump supporters,  and white supremacists can get along with the ones they say they despise.   Come, Lord Jesus.  Come quickly,  Change us, and change me.   Have a joy-filled week.  -  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  who came  long ago as a fulfillment of prophecies:  come again among us in these days.  We yearn for you to come into our broken world and to heal our broken lives.  Come quickly, Lord, and heal us;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.