Down By The Riverside

A Reflection on the First Reading for December 1st, 2019:
First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 2.1-5

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

​In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.

Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

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When I read Isaiah’s book, I feel Advent pressing into the Ordinary. His words, when they are collected and seen from a distance, show a vein — a stream of gold running through the rough rock. These glimpses of a Messiah coming. Images of meekness and suffering, of majesty and splendour. The virgin shall bear a child. Unto us a Son is given. The Prince of Peace. A Light in the darkness. A Stone that makes people stumble. A Lamb to the slaughter. Root of Jesse. Jesus. He comes.


The word Isaiah was given was so vivid that it couldn’t be limited to something heard — ‘The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw…’ It was a word seen, not heard. And what a sight.


A mountain with the Lord’s house built into the side of its summit, pushes and rises above the rest. All nations stream to it, forming a reverse river wending its way up the mount’s slope toward the city on a hill. 


They come, that He may teach them His ways
They come, that they may walk in His paths
The nations are stepping in the route marked and made by the crush of His feet. They are going where He goes. It’s not a list of rules, it’s a lived relationship.


And where does He go? In the diversity of nations coming, He makes community. As they move toward Him uphill, He flows downhill out of His house to meet them — a River moving between the nations, filling the spaces between them. The Word of the Lord coming. The Living Water. And as they are standing in the same Water, something changes. 

"When I read Isaiah’s book, I feel Advent pressing into the Ordinary. His words, when they are collected and seen from a distance, show a vein — a stream of gold running through the rough rock. These glimpses of a Messiah coming."

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What were implements of destruction become implements of production. Blades carried in conflict are reshaped into blades carried by a plow to gather in the harvest. And then Isaiah lets out that part of his word that settles in me beyond hearing and seeing into a weight I can feel in my hands, ‘…neither shall they learn war any more.’


How did I not know that the lyric ‘Ain’t gonna study war no more’ was quoting Isaiah!? Part of a  song that was used as a pruning hook instead of a spear in the progression of the promise.

We won’t do things to tear one another apart anymore; we will do things to feed each other. At least it’s possible. This promise of peace as part of His coming requires our participation. My participation. Even in this vision where God is moving among the stream of people coming to Him, Isaiah sees that these people are part of the process. They have to drop their sword while standing next to an adversary, pick up a hammer and start beating their weapon into a new shape.   


Help me to do that too, Jesus. As I get ready for Your coming, Your advent, help me to take what I’ve shaped to protect myself or hurt others and to reshape it into something that breaks up the ground, readying it to receive Peace on Earth, Goodwill to ALL. And thank you for coming for us, Root, Lamb, Stone, Light, Prince, Son of Mary. Jesus. 


​
Noreen Smith

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