Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12; Roman 15:4-13; Psalm 7
One thing that has saddened me deeply as a Christian is the way that Christianity got co-opted by a small group of Christians and used for very specific, very political, very personal gains in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This group was totally obsessed with gaining political power and privilege and didn’t care whose lives were destroyed in the process. Sadly, because they loudly trumpeted their faith, many in our society came to believe over those two decades that that was what Christianity stood for: mean-spiritedness and divisiveness. Thankfully, today’s words from Isaiah remind us that this is NOT what God intended; for the prophet’s words lay out very clearly the sort of effect the promised Messiah would have. God pointed us toward a Messiah whose presence would cause the wolf to lie with the lamb – the leopard with the goat – the calf and the lion and the yearling – the cow with the bear – the infant and the cobra. If Isaiah re-appear and share the effects of the Messiah in our language, I can only envision how that vision might look: the Republican would get along with the Democrat – the straight with the gay – the citizen with the immigrant – the pro-life with the pro-choice... The list of polarzied and hostile camps these days unfortunately could go on and on. Such a vision would be the very embodiment of Good News! This holiday season, my fervent hope and prayer is that each of us will give God the very best Christmas presents possible: peace, harmony, and humility. Til next time.
One thing that has saddened me deeply as a Christian is the way that Christianity got co-opted by a small group of Christians and used for very specific, very political, very personal gains in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This group was totally obsessed with gaining political power and privilege and didn’t care whose lives were destroyed in the process. Sadly, because they loudly trumpeted their faith, many in our society came to believe over those two decades that that was what Christianity stood for: mean-spiritedness and divisiveness. Thankfully, today’s words from Isaiah remind us that this is NOT what God intended; for the prophet’s words lay out very clearly the sort of effect the promised Messiah would have. God pointed us toward a Messiah whose presence would cause the wolf to lie with the lamb – the leopard with the goat – the calf and the lion and the yearling – the cow with the bear – the infant and the cobra. If Isaiah re-appear and share the effects of the Messiah in our language, I can only envision how that vision might look: the Republican would get along with the Democrat – the straight with the gay – the citizen with the immigrant – the pro-life with the pro-choice... The list of polarzied and hostile camps these days unfortunately could go on and on. Such a vision would be the very embodiment of Good News! This holiday season, my fervent hope and prayer is that each of us will give God the very best Christmas presents possible: peace, harmony, and humility. Til next time.
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