Scripture Text
Isaiah 11, Luke 2:1-20
Sermon
Many of you have probably seen at least one of the famous series of paintings on the Peaceable Kingdom by the colonial folk artist Edward Hicks. But it would be a rare person who would know much about his life and beliefs which were totally connected to the images of his paintings. Edward Hicks was a Quaker who was born in Pennsylvania in 1780. He tried his hand at the respectable vocation of being a farmer but when that failed he finally pursued his true vocation as a painter. In his famous series of paintings on the peaceable kingdom we can see all the characters from Isaiah 11, the wolf and the lamb, the ox and the lion, and the little child. In some paintings the words of Isaiah are actually written around the perimeter of the painting.
Some think of Hicks as an untrained, simplistic folk artist and his vision of the peaceable kingdom romantic, perhaps even innocent or naïve. But there is so much more going on here. Edward Hicks and the Quaker communities of Pennsylvania struggled mightily to realize the vision of the peaceable kingdom in their relationships to one another, to the Indians and to the land itself. In addition to being a painter Hicks was also a preacher who believed in the inner light, of the ability of every faithful person to have direct access to the wisdom of the scriptures. The paintings of Edward Hicks have helped to make scripture come alive. Hick’s paintings have made Isaiah’s vision of the peaceable kingdom a tangible vision within American culture. Edward Hicks paintings of the Peaceable Kingdom have allowed many to see the Divine Light that shines in all God’s creatures.
Isaiah’s prophecy of the peaceable kingdom finds its fulfillment in our Gospel reading from Luke 2: "And the shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And the angel of the lord appeared to them and the glory of the lord shown all around them, And the angel said, be not afraid, for behold I bring you good news of a great joy, which will come to all the people, for to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord, And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe lying in a manger". A babe lying in a manger.
Is there any symbol of the Christian faith that is more common and familiar to us than the manger scene of Christ’s nativity? Many of us have grown up with nativity scenes as one of many Christmas traditions practiced by our families. Some of us have even had the experience of being a part of a living nativity scene. In the home church of my growing up, I was always cast in the role of the shepherd. But how many of us know where this church tradition of enacting Christ’s nativity began?
The founder of the Christmas Nativity tradition was none other than St. Francis of Assisi. Francis thought Christmas was the feast day of all feast days. We know of his great love for animals and Francis always asked that during Christmas, extra hay be given to the oxen and asses. He said that if he could speak to the emperor he would ask that a general law be passed that extra grain be scattered along the roads so that the birds might have an abundance of food.
Two weeks before Christmas in 1223 Francis was staying in the little hillside hermitage near the town of Greccio. Francis called his friend Giovanni to help him in preparing a special celebration for the forthcoming Christmas feast. Francis asked that animals and hay be brought to a cave at the hermitage so that a scene could be prepared to show the people of the town, and his own brothers the physical conditions of the birth of Jesus. He wanted the people to be able to experience what it was like for the Son of God to be born in a stable, surrounded by the ox and the ass, straw and the cold.
Francis’ brothers and the people of the town of Greccio gathered in the cave on Christmas eve , lighting up the night with torches, singing hymns, and celebrating mass on an alter arranged over the manger. Francis himself chanted the gospel reading of Luke 2 in a beautiful voice and preached a sermon that stirred the hearts of everyone. And it seemed to one eyewitness that the infant Jesus long forgotten in the hearts of the people came to life that night. And all of creation, the trees and stones of the surrounding mountainside echoed the praises sung by the people.
St. Francis was drawn to the birth of Christ for its simplicity, humility and poverty. But beyond this St. Francis understood that even animals have a role to play in the drama of Christ’s birth. In the symbol of the child lying in a manger, Francis understood and celebrated the Good news of Christ’s birth that embraces all living creatures, indeed all of creation. I must say that in my celebration of Christmas over 53 years, it has never occurred to me until this moment to actually wonder: what is the manger a sign of?
We know that a manger is a wooden trough or box made of stones that were used to hold the food for animals in a stable; but in what way is the manger a divine sign? All the times I was a shepherd in a living nativity scene, all the many years that we pulled out the nativity scene and put it on the coffee table or on the mantel piece. All the times that I have read this story and it has never occurred to me until now to wonder what kind of divine sign is this manger?
It seems to me that this manger that holds the Christ child is a sign of God’s peaceable kingdom in which the natural world offers hospitality to the Christ child. The manger is a sign that the animal world indeed all of nature participates in welcoming the Christ child who brings peace to all the earth. Yes, this year I am hearing the old familiar story of Christmas in new and fresh ways. "And this shall be a sign to you, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among all with whom God is pleased". When the angels sing peace on earth: what comes to your mind?
What comes to your mind when I say the word peace? Perhaps you think of a feeling of serenity, the absence of anxiety and fear. Or perhaps you think of peace as the cessation of hostilities and conflict. And you would be right. But the Biblical understanding of peace is far more expansive than even this. Biblical Peace or Shalom signifies a state of wholeness that includes security, prosperity and health. The biblical understanding of shalom includes right relationships because peace is not just the health and well-being of the individual but the harmonious interrelationships of the family, the community, and the nation.
Finally Biblical understanding of peace includes the harmonious interconnectedness of human society as a whole with the natural world. God’s peace includes the earth; God’s peace embraces the well-being of all of creation. God’s peace is ecological. It is only when the heavenly realm comes to earth through the birth of God’s beloved Child is the land soaked in peace. The earth awaits the birth so that the vision of the peaceable kingdom is realized. Only then can the rest of creation, including human beings –rejoice. The Good news of Christmas has its roots in Isaiah’s vision of the peaceable kingdom. Clearly for Luke the birth of Jesus is the source of the earth’s transformation.
This week former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace prize. And in his acceptance speech he said, "Without realizing it, we have begun to wage war on the earth itself. Now, we and the earth’s climate are locked in a relationship familiar to war planners: ‘Mutually assured destruction’....It is time to make peace with the planet". VP Gore’s Nobel peace prize speech also invoked Isaiah’s vision of swords into plowshares. "We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war.
These prior struggles for survival were won when leaders found words at the 11th hour that released a mighty surge of courage, hope and readiness to sacrifice for a protracted and mortal challenge." Gore challenged the entire world to in effect embrace Isaiah’s vision of swords into plowshares by undergoing the conversion of our global economy from one that wages war on the planet to one that enacts peace. In Al Gore’s acceptance speech he quoted the great Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen who wrote that "One of these days, the younger generation will come knocking at my door" The future is knocking at our door right now.
Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: "what were you thinking; why didn’t you act?" Or they will ask instead: "how did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?" When my grandchildren come to me I want them to ask me the second question: "how did you find the moral courage to rise and to successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible?" And I will tell them that it was my faith that helped me do this. It was our faith that helped all of us rise up in hope and take on the impossible. It was our faith that gave us a vision of the peaceable kingdom. It was our faith in the Good news of Christ’s birth in the world that presents humanity with a renewed possibility for peace and justice.
We will tell our grandchildren that in the story of Christ’s birth we have been given a vision of peace, of social harmony linked to a renewal of the land. We will tell our grandchildren that faithful people of our generation rose up in courage and hope to face the impossible task of saving the planet, because we knew we were not alone. The Creator, the Powerful God of all creation was with us and is with us now. God is Immanuel God with us, born in the form of a child lying in a manger, God with us and with all living creatures bringing peace into the world.
The theologian Stanley Hauerwas has written that "The Christ child is the embodiment of God’s peaceable kingdom. God’s favorable peace is poured out on all those who have found the confidence through the life of Jesus, to make their lives a constant worship of the Creator. We are a movement of people who are learning to rest peacefully in God because we are no longer driven by the assumption that we must be in control of history; that it is up to us to make it right". In the birth of the Christ child, God has enacted cosmic peace. Such a peace is not just between people but between people and the natural world. "It is the renewal of the peace of paradise where humans and animals do not depend on one another’s destruction for their own survival.
As citizens of God’s peaceable kingdom we are pledged to extend God’s peace through the care and protection of God’s creation". We know that this human generation faces monumental challenges of bringing peace to the earth. But here is what we will tell our grandchildren was the secret behind our faithful action. We were able to do our part because our true hope lies not in what we can do but in the God who brings peace on earth, the all powerful Creator who is revealed to us in a child lying in a manger.