From Kim Williams
First Congregational Church
Isaiah 11:1–10
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.….and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
This passage from Isaiah starts out with the prophecy that the messiah will come from the branch of Jesse. The Messiah will judge using righteousness alone, and he will kill the wicked. Harsh punishment, but they’re the wicked. This is exactly what we’re hoping to hear that our deliverer-from-evil will do for us. But what about after the wicked are all gone? The rest of the passage goes to talk about the harmony this child of God will lead the righteous into. Which is awesome, but people will still be people, differing opinions and all. Even among the righteous, there’s gonna be dissent.
There’s a drastic shift from “he shall kill the wicked.” to “the leopard shall lie down with the kid”. What happens in the middle while the righteous, but not quite compatible, settle into their new roles as pals? I mean, the wolf and the lamb, the lion eating straw — at one point the lion has to say “Okay. I can do this. I will go against my nature in the name of peace. Pass the Tofurkey.” The lamb, sitting next to his new #bff the wolf, and not wanting to damage their newfound friendship, has to somehow, be less delicious. (Just kidding, Wolf. The onus is on you for this one, no matter how much mint jelly the lamb is wearing). The key to this transition is mutual compromise.
Christmas itself requires compromise — just ask any couple trying to navigate whose mom’s house they’ll be spending Christmas dinner with, and which one gets Christmas Eve — or the dreaded weekend after. Figgy pudding isn’t really a thing anymore, so the raucous bunch of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” fame have to compromise and either accept pumpkin pie and sugar cookies as a suitable replacement, or they’ll have to go before they get some.
Without our understanding that it’ll take discipline on both sides not to hurt or destroy one another, there is no possibility of us allowing ourselves to be led by a child to sit at the table with those who we don’t like, no matter how righteous they are.
Prayer: God of the in between, help us to find peace within the middle-ground, so that our demands are not unreasonable (Figgy pudding, come on!), and so that we are open to the humanity of those we don’t have much in common with, knowing that if we are capable of attempting to coexist, they’re capable of it too. Amen.