Advent 1 sermon notes-Is. 2, Ps. 122 Rom. 13, Mt.24

Is 2:1-5, USSR statue in front of the UN. with Micah the great hope for peace-turning guns into art-East Germany slogan as well

We are far from peace of course, but the vision propels us. We are far  from from inner peace. Violence grips our thoughts and emotions. Violence erupts constantly in homes and neighborhoods. Right now, too many people suffer under brutal violence. We had a shootout on 7th and Spring street as I was taking notes.St Louis is riddled with violence, and Alton has more than the national average of violence. While I was gone, someone was murdered across the street.Many days I cross 7th and Spring where we had a morning shoot out.

Rom. 13 live in the armor of light. What a great image. I think of the beam of light in Lord of the rings when the wizard Gandalf appears with some troops.

The neighbor is always an unexpected appearance in our midst, in the midst of our lives.The neighbor, understood in this way, represents  Christ. And what are we waiting for? Where lies our hope? Christ's advent  perhaps the one whose return comes unexpectedly is precisely the neighbor who encounters us in the street. Perhaps Christ's second coming is this continual return of Christ in and through the neighbor. (WP)

Our enemies are "not flesh and blood." we are to fight against the destructive powers that enslave. That might be a history of mistrust and injustice, addictions, thirst for revenge, prejudice and fear, greed. Paul calls these "the works of darkness," . It is often the petty manifestations of these powers that erode our relationships. Violence  exists against flesh and blood. Peace has to  struggle against the  mind set of war.While we work toward peace and look for a more peaceful time,MT. 24:36-44-being alert and on guard-both do the same things but one gets it and one does not-working for a world of peace (see Parker Palmer on soul change for social change) We work toward God’s vision. We make the world a fit place for God to dwell. Soul change of course is just another version of the the notion that personal repentance  is sufficient to  create social change. Change of collective hearts and minds, a change in mindset in culture is needed as we for peace to occur at long last

Miroslav Volf writes, "Christians have believed that the day is coming on which our past, marred by wrong doing, will be bathed in the warm light of God's truthful grace. ...

-Ps 122 ends with words of peace- I love this vision of the nations, including enemies, being drawn like a magnet to jerusalem. Israel will fulfill the ancient hope of being a blessing to all nations. That is its ancient purpose. Approaching Jerusalem was a march of conquest, now it becomes a peace march of pilgrimage. Wisdom language permeates this passage. The temple stands for justice.Let us walk in the light of the Lord.(Steve Earle song on Jerusalem Well maybe I'm only dreamin' and maybe I'm just a fool/But I don't remember learnin' how to hate in Sunday school/But somewhere along the way I strayed and I never looked back again

But I still find some comfort now and then/Then the storm comes rumblin' in/And I can't lay me down

But I believe there'll come a day when the lion and the lamb/Will lie down in peace together in Jerusalem/And there'll be no barricades then/There'll be no wire or walls/And we can wash all this blood from our hands/And all this hatred from our souls//And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham/Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem