Advent 2: A Renewed Vision
We often think of the prophets as these strange folks who see visions. And this makes it hard to identify with them - and difficult to hear their message as relevant to us.
But what if we see them instead as leaders engaging in turnaround work? That's essentially what the job of the prophets is: to inspire change and turn around a failing situation.
If prophets are turnaround leaders, then their visions take on new meaning. In management, "A vision is a picture of a better place," says Claire Lew. "A vision," she explains, "answers the question, 'What world do you want to create?'"
I thought about Lew's definition of vision when the image of the Peaceable Kingdom that Isaiah paints of the wolf living with the lamb came to mind as I read this week's text (11.1-10). What an incredible vision!
And then I turned to the gospel reading this week (Matthew 3.1-12), to John the Baptizer, the prophet who appears in the desert, announcing: "Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!"
John is not announcing a new vision. Billed as The New Elijah, he comes from a long line of Hebrew prophets. When he proclaims, "Here comes the kingdom of heaven," we should imagine Isaiah's peaceable kingdom, which itself should remind us of the garden in Eden painted by the author of Genesis.
And so, while Advent is all about vision, the world we want to create, it's not a new vision. Rather, it's a renewed vision that calls us to remember the original creation, even as we look towards the kingdom of re-creation.
Vision is important because it motivates us. People journeyed out to the desert to hear the Baptizer because his vision of the kingdom was exciting and inspiring.
We often imagine ourselves as responsible for making the kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. And we rightly see that as impossible. As a result, we throw our hands up in despair.
In his commentary on Matthew, though, Stanley Hauerwas argues that the "kingdom does not come through our trying to be better people." It's not our responsibility to usher in the kingdom.
The kingdom comes, period, end of story. Of that, John, like Isaiah before him, is certain. And the expectancy of the kingdom fills us, fuels us, with a hope that energizes.
Vision is also important because it gives direction. When the people come to John, the vision he paints of the kingdom also includes marching orders: "Change your hearts and lives."
The kingdom requires a certain type of living and being. Repentance is about living into the kingdom that is coming, living as if the kingdom were already here. Hauerwas explains:
John's call for Israel to repent is not a prophetic call for those who repent to change the world, but rather he calls for repentance because the world is being and will be changed by the one whom John knows will come.Repentance is not about guilt, and it's sure as hell not about avoiding hell. Repentance is about anticipating the kingdom that is to come.
Isaiah's vision of the peaceable kingdom is, necessarily, one that rejects violence. And if we're excited about that kind of kingdom, then we don't need any hellfire and brimstone preacher to threaten us with damnation to live more peacefully. We don't need to debate whether violence is acceptable. If the wolf can live with the lamb without eating it, then we can safely assume that violence between humans is unacceptable.
In this way, vision gives us direction.
Advent is a time for renewing our vision, for remembering the peaceable kingdom that is to come. Advent should energize and motivate you. Advent should get you excited.
Advent is also a time for preparing for that vision to become reality. If the peaceable kingdom is to come, and we know it will come, then what changes do we need to make in order to be a citizen of that kingdom? And what can we do to start living into that vision, here and now?
Nicely said!
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