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Isaiah 2: 1-5
“In days to come,
The mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“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.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the LORD!”
The Word of the Lord.
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Over the last century, more than 100 million people have died in war. If only we would drop our weapons.
But there are currently 40 armed conflicts raging across the world as people fight over politics, theology, and access to scarce resources like land, water, and food.
Even in our own families, we can argue over things like: who gets the inheritance, who keeps the kids, whose fault it was that the marriage ended.
Conflict, it seems, is written into our DNA.
Yet, the prophet Isaiah foretells in our first reading: “One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again…They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
“Swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.”
That’s God’s promise to us: global peace.
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Advent is a time for us to help make that dream a reality by considering where we need to beat our own swords into plowshares.
For example, maybe we’ve become short-tempered; we need the Lord to transform our words of anger into words of comfort.
Or maybe we need to wield a grudge into an act of forgiveness. Or selfishness into selflessness.
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This is a season of grace, a time to beat swords into plowshares.
May it begin with us.
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Image credits: (1) Sergey Ivanov, Fine Art America (2) Reluctant Xtian (3) Anglican Compass