God’s Vision
 
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2:2-4
 
One of the gifts of the season of Advent is that we humans are given a glimpse of God’s vision for creation. Yes, the definitive image of that vision is the birth of God’s Son, the Word made flesh, in Jesus of Nazareth, but there are many other signals of God’s ultimate design and many of which seem to come from the writings attributed to the prophet Isaiah.
 
The passage above is included in the lectionary readings for the First Sunday in Advent. I find it puzzling that this Scripture has been around for thousands of years and yet, we humans continue to fail to notice that God’s “plan” is for “all the nations” to come to Him, He who makes His home on the “highest of mountains,” higher than any other hill that some lesser gods may inhabit. Throughout history and to this day, many have believed that they have exclusive rights to a privileged relationship with the Lord. I will confess that I have likely been one of those people for most of my life. Yet lately, I read passages such as this with what seems like new eyes. Maybe it’s just old age …
 
Isaiah doesn’t speak of beliefs or actions the nations must embrace to be able to respond to this divine invitation. Instead, what sounds like an irresistible magnetic attraction draws everyone toward Zion to learn of God’s ways and to be taught to walk in “his paths.” As God arbitrates among them, the people of the Earth will learn of peace and set aside their warring nature for good.
 
This year, I have found myself longing for this vision of God to come into existence like no other time in which I’ve lived. With our country becoming increasingly polarized, there seems to be no effort to find a compromise or identify those things in which we share or have in agreement. And with the international backdrop of the war in Ukraine with targeted destruction and where innocents are being slaughtered, it seems we humans are growing more skillful in our warring ways and failing to attune our ears to the clarion call coming from on high.
 
Yet, the baby whose birth we prepare for and celebrate every year during this Holy season of expectation and longing is evidence that God still calls and waits for us in Zion. How can we continue to resist that inexorable call to dwell with God and learn of God’s ways? What “lesser gods” are we settling for? Perhaps those followers of that same baby are being called to leave those lesser gods behind and lead the nations in learning the ways of God.
The Rev. Sharron L. Cox
Associate for Outreach, Pastoral Care and Women's Ministries
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