Living in Harmony - December 21
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 61, 62; PM Psalm 112, 115; Isa. 11:1-9; Rev. 20:1-10; John 5:30-47
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died a few months ago, one of the most popular stories shared on social media was about her deep and abiding friendship with fellow Supreme Court justice, Anthony Scalia. I remember one of the headlines in USA Today, which included the phrase, “the unlikely friendship.” The article, and many others, assumed that in this time of bitter partisan hostility, that people with drastically competing views shouldn’t (or couldn’t) be friends. I’ll admit, I found this story especially comforting as well, a reminder that humanity is not held by an ideological silo.
One of the views that I struggle with is advocating for our wonderful nation to be specifically a Christian nation. Many people refer to this as Christian nationalism. This might seem odd as a priest. It is my identity to not only follow Jesus but to lead people to God’s radical way of love in Jesus Christ. And I do believe that if more people committed themselves to the life-giving way of Jesus Christ, our country would be an infinitely more loving and whole place. But I struggle with the notion that we must universally conform to that character or ideal. That should instead be the individual work of all of us who have proclaimed in our Baptism to commit to sharing by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
In today’s Old Testament passage, we hear the famous lines from Isaiah of the promise of the reign of God. Isaiah uses some powerful imagery when he writes, “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie die down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them” (11:6). My favorite reminder continues in verse 9, “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” It’s not surprising that Isaiah doesn’t imagine the kingdom of heaven as a place filled only with lambs and kids. Instead, it is a place where the cow and bear, the nursing child and the asp can live in harmony.
The real Gift that we come to expect at Christmas is the mystery of God’s incarnation being recognized in all of creation. Just as Isaiah writes, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD. The God that dwells with us, is still here among us, in a person and creature we meet. We just need to learn how to see it (knowledge). If Isaiah’s prophecy is to be fulfilled, all then that is necessary for the reign of God is learning to live together in harmony. This year (and arguably every other year) has taught us just how difficult that can be. There will always be lions and calves, wolves and lambs, leopards and kids. There will always be humans who see the world differently, but we are all children of God, and the kingdom invites us into living in harmony together. Could it really be a simple as seeing God’s Incarnation in each other?
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: Who do you struggle to imagine living in harmony with? What steps could you take to change that? Who do you identify within the passage from Isaiah?
Daily Challenge: Go deeper by researching stories of radical forgiveness. One incredible account has been the people of Rwanda choosing radical forgiveness after the genocide against the Tutsi’s 26 years ago. Here is a starting place.