12-03-95	Who Knows When?	Isaiah 2:1-5

Return to Sermon Index	Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:36-44

The Bible is full of utopian visions. The prophet Isaiah, had a vision for Jerusalem during a time when things looked very bad for that city of God. Israel and Judah's enemies were all around. Soon, these enemies would overrun the country and the brightest and the best of Israel would be taken into exile. Yet, even in the midst of these dark hours, Isaiah had a vision for Jerusalem. He saw a day when Jerusalem would be considered to be the greatest of all the cities of the world. And in that day all the people of the world would want to visit that city to worship on the Holy Mountain in order to learn the ways of God. And there would be peace among the nations – not because some stronger nation had imposed a peace upon the world, but simply because God would be in the midst of God's people, settling their disputes. And in this marvelous vision that Isaiah had, he saw that nations would take their implements for war and turn them into implements for farming and, as the folksong goes, "study war no more."

There were times in the world's history when there were periods of relative peace. One of those times was when Cyrus, king of Persia finally conquered the Babylonian empire. When that happened he sent the Jewish exiles back home to Judah and Israel. And there were those who believed that Cyrus was the Messiah. And, indeed, what followed was a short period of peace and stability for Israel. But, this was a period of peace created by the Persian Empire. Nations were told not to go to war against each other; and Persia guaranteed that peace. It was peace, or else!

And then after the Persian empire collapsed the Ptolemies came to power, following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Again, for the nation of Israel there was a period of peace, but this time it was a peace that was guaranteed by the City of Alexandria. Again, if someone wanted to wage war against another state they would suffer the wrath of the mighty army of the Ptolemy generals. It was peace, or else!

And after the fall of the Ptolemy Empire, in came the Romans. Again, for Israel, even though they didn't like to be dominated by foreign powers, there was a period of peace. If anyone wanted to wage war, they knew they would be crushed by the Roman army. It was a day wherein Rome guaranteed the peace. "Pax Romana" – "The Peace of Rome," it was called. Again, it was peace, or else!

We live in a day when again the world yearns for peace. And now nations wreathing in the agony of war look to a super power to bring peace, even if it is "peace, or else!" And the question that we are trying to answer right now is, are we going to be that super power? Are we going to be the ones who are going to tell warring parties to cease their hostilities, or else? Are we going to take that place in the history of the world and offer a "Pax Americana?"

Actually, we have been doing it for some time now. That's what the Gulf War was all about. And that's what we sent the Marines to Haiti and Somalia for. And, now Bosnia.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with the altruistic goal of trying to bring peace to the world. Yes, that may be a worthy goal for our nation to pursue. Only time will tell. But, as we consider Isaiah's vision of peace in our Old Testament lesson for today, we know that God's peace is not a peace, or else. Rather, it is a shalom – a peace that comes from God that ensures the wholeness of all. It is a peace that comes because God is in the midst of God's people, teaching God's people God's ways, so that all may walk in the pathways of God.

So, as hard as we try to bring peace to the world, not the United Nations, and not NATO, and not even the good old U.S.A. can bring peace to the world in quite the same way God can and will. God's peace, will not come to the world at the hands of a people who are the champions of drive-by shootings. God's shalom will not come at the hands of a people that allows the export of violent films and pornography. God's wholeness will not come at the hands of a nation whose military has even a few soldiers, even two or three, have been known to rape little girls. Certainly, a strong military can bring a kind of a peace to the world – a peace or else, a Pax Americana, if you will – but it cannot be the kind of peace Isaiah envisioned unless God is walking in our midst, teaching us God's ways, so that we may walk in the pathways of God. So, we may be surprised and disappointed several years from now when the nations of the world do not stream to our holy mountain to offer their thanksgiving – not unless we allow God to truly use us as his instruments of peace. So, as Isaiah says, "Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord!"

Isaiah looked to a day when God would usher in a utopia for the world to enjoy. This hope was shared with the people of Israel and became stronger and stronger as the years went by. In the time of the apostle Paul's writing, the early Christians looked for that day with urgency. And, indeed, Paul encouraged his fellow Christians to believe that they were, indeed, living in the last days. This is why he told them, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here," he told them.

So, perhaps we are also asked to look at our clock to see what time it is! For, if the people of Paul's day were living in the last days, then we must be living in the last of the last days! After all, it has been almost 2,000 years since Paul wrote those words to the Christians living in Rome.

Paul likened the coming of the Kingdom of God to the coming of the dawn, telling his fellow Christians that it was time for them to wake up and get ready for the day. But, then, most of us know how difficult it is to get up in the morning, sometimes. It feels oh-so-much- better just to stay in that nice, cozy bed, tucked underneath that comforter, ignoring the alarm clock, ignoring the first gentle rays of light poking through our window curtains. How often haven't we wanted to pretend that it was still nighttime, long after the sun has come up? And then, alas, once we have gotten up, we wonder where our day has gone!

The same is true for the kingdom of God. As Paul said, we need to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Of course, it was interesting what Paul listed as the deeds of darkness: orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension, and jealousy. According to Paul, these are the things have to avoid in order to be thought of as children of the light.

As we look at this list, the first three don't seem to be so difficult to give up. I mean, orgies, drunkenness, and sexual immorality are pretty standard things to avoid among most Christians. But, what about the other three – debauchery, dissension, and jealousy? How are we doing there? How are we doing when it comes to debauchery, for instance. What is debauchery? Well, just in case you haven't looked it up lately, debauchery is (and I quote), "An extreme indulgence of one's appetites." So, we were involved with debauchery, we would be among those who get what they want when they want it. Do you get what you want when you want it? Or, is there any self denial in our lifestyles? Is Christmas a season for getting Christmas presents or for giving Christmas presents? Do we really believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive? Do we give gifts without expecting anything in return? If not, then perhaps we are more debaucherous than we want to think.

And, maybe the last two things on Paul's list of things to avoid doing are the hardest, especially as we engage in the day to day activities in the Body of Christ. And what are they? Dissension and jealousy. I think Paul listed these last simply because he knew that these were the hardest to avoid, even among the best of Christians. Yet, Paul knew that if we can't control these vices within the life of the church it would be truly impossible to control them out there in the world where our ministry as Christ's disciples is more crucial than ever. Nevertheless, as Christians we are to put aside the deeds of the night and start doing the things of the day! Those who do, really have the power to change the world for the better.

One of the things about the season of Advent that is important is this theme of the return of Christ. And it is amazing how many different scenarios there are as to when and how this is all supposed to happen. In fact, there are those who truly do believe that Christ will return by the year 2,000. I had the TV on a few weeks ago and Pat Robertson was saying that he really believed that Christ was going to return by the year 2,000 and that we should be sending in our cards and letters to support his ministry so that people can get saved before its too late.

It is amazing, though, how people like to be able to predict things that are really unpredictable. I read in the newspaper the other day, for example, that the CIA has just decided to remove the funding from research they had been doing in the use of psychics to gather intelligence data. Evidently, for many years now the CIA has been funding a group of psychics to locate hostages, for instance. However, after all this time the decision has been made that the intelligence gathered from these psychics was so unreliable that it was no better than the kind of guess work that most anyone could do.

But, don't tell that to Diane Warwick on the "Psychic Friends Network," where you can call some very clever people to get a reading on your "future," paying $4 per minute while being put on hold for five minutes. Yes, those "psychics" are clever people, but not in the way we might like to think.

The fact is, however, that Matthew 24 tells us that not even the Son of God can make predictions about the end times. So, how can we? In fact, the Old and New Testaments have scriptures upon scriptures that warn us about trying to predict the future. Instead, we are simply told to be ready at any time. For, if you're always ready for the coming of the Lord, you'll be doing the things that God wants you to do. Always being ready means living ones life as if Christ is here, now, because he is here now! Always being ready means loving your neighbor as yourself, now. Always being ready means loving your enemy, now. Always being ready means going the extra mile for someone, now. Always being ready for the coming of Christ means giving your shirt to someone who needs it, now. We don't have to know when he is coming back. It is not even good to waste our time thinking about it, because there are so many other important things to do as we serve the Lord, today.

The people of Isaiah's day looked forward to a time when all the nations of the world would gather in the city of God, on the holy mountain, to worship God in peace. What a wonderful day that will be. Let me leave you with the words of this poem:

The mountain of the house of God

Shall be the focus of our laud,

And all shall travel to that place

To walk the paths of Love.

Jerusalem shall send the Word

For judgment of the nations, heard;

And peace shall come by heaven's grace

Sent down from God, above.

Each nation shall put down the sword

And plowshares make of one accord;

Their spears will turn to pruning hooks

For war shall be no more.

The night is gone, the day is here,

We'll see the light and cast off fear;

No revelry nor drunken looks

For Christ we shall adore.

We do not know the time or day

When heav'n and earth shall pass away;

Expectantly, we serve God, still,

Like watchers in the night.

The law, through love, shall be fulfilled,

We'll work to do what God has willed,

While keeping watch at every sill

To see the awesome sight.

Amen.