A DIFFERENT HOPE (1 OF 52)
Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-11
This content is part of a series.
A Different Hope (1 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Isaiah 2:1-11
There is much we anticipate this time of year. There is the hope of family and friends gathering to celebrate. Decorations and holiday displays will battle bleak wintry backgrounds with the challenge of hope in spring with life's return. We anticipate a break from work, school, and preparations for holiday festivities. Do we hope for any real difference in the world? What lasting change can our faith deliver that is worthy of the investment of our resources amid our coming celebrations? Are we prepared to live into the challenges our faith brings?
Isaiah's words announce hope while also heralding disaster's approach. This news was neither simply good or bad. It was both. It recognized that doom, victory, disaster, and blessing can all be part of the same package, different aspects of life's reality. We yearn with Isaiah for Yahweh's reign to be firmly established around us, while dreading that the same would impact our own priorities, habits, and routines of living. We want God's will and blessing, even as we strive against letting Yahweh work out the realities of that will in our lives, relationships, and our social institutions. We want God's will, but we want it on our own terms, interpreted by our traditions, and limited by our preferences.
The vision we read today begins by painting a marvelous picture of idyllic peace. It is the fullness of the hope we express in prayers for world peace, security, and life with nothing to fear. It is the picture of Jerusalem as a city on a hill, the centerpiece of the world, the crown jewel of Yahweh. It is the image of what people the world over yearn to experience while settling for so much less as all that is attainable. It is not that we do not relish the vision before us. It is that we find it too far removed from the reality we experience. Whether as pessimists or realists, we hear Isaiah's words and go on with our li ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Isaiah 2:1-11
There is much we anticipate this time of year. There is the hope of family and friends gathering to celebrate. Decorations and holiday displays will battle bleak wintry backgrounds with the challenge of hope in spring with life's return. We anticipate a break from work, school, and preparations for holiday festivities. Do we hope for any real difference in the world? What lasting change can our faith deliver that is worthy of the investment of our resources amid our coming celebrations? Are we prepared to live into the challenges our faith brings?
Isaiah's words announce hope while also heralding disaster's approach. This news was neither simply good or bad. It was both. It recognized that doom, victory, disaster, and blessing can all be part of the same package, different aspects of life's reality. We yearn with Isaiah for Yahweh's reign to be firmly established around us, while dreading that the same would impact our own priorities, habits, and routines of living. We want God's will and blessing, even as we strive against letting Yahweh work out the realities of that will in our lives, relationships, and our social institutions. We want God's will, but we want it on our own terms, interpreted by our traditions, and limited by our preferences.
The vision we read today begins by painting a marvelous picture of idyllic peace. It is the fullness of the hope we express in prayers for world peace, security, and life with nothing to fear. It is the picture of Jerusalem as a city on a hill, the centerpiece of the world, the crown jewel of Yahweh. It is the image of what people the world over yearn to experience while settling for so much less as all that is attainable. It is not that we do not relish the vision before us. It is that we find it too far removed from the reality we experience. Whether as pessimists or realists, we hear Isaiah's words and go on with our li ...
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