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Lectionary Year A-Advent

Adult Object Lesson: Advent Year A-2

monkeysOld and New Testaments
(Old and New Measuring Sticks)

The Old Testament Lesson for the Second Sunday in Advent is Isaiah 11:1-10.

Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 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. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

yardstickIn discussing today’s lesson you might hold a yardstick. You can wield that yardstick like a king’s scepter while you talk.

Isaiah is speaking to people accustomed to monarchies. If the Jews lacked a king, there were plenty kings nearby who could exert power over them. The idea of a benign king was attractive to them, especially when unfriendly kings were always nearby. The desire for a king was how Saul and David came to power. They were hand-chosen by God. Their genetic credentials were a little “iffy.” But you work with what you have!

David was descended from a rich owner of sheep. He was the grandson of Ruth, whose biblical story has her gleaning in the fields. The house of Jesse is a different type of royalty! That’s only the beginning of how things are about to change!

Isaiah again invokes vivid imagery to deliver his message.

The nursing child plays over the nest of the poisonous snake.
Toddlers reach into the adder’s den.

Wow!

It doesn’t make sense to today’s parents who rush to cover all electric outlets in the house before their newborns start crawling.

That’s the point of Isaiah’s message today. What is about to happen is NOT going to make sense.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

What’s coming will make our old ways of viewing the world useless.

Isaiah gets right to the point. The new ruler that is coming from the stump or rod of Jesse will not judge by what he sees or hears.

Wait a minute! Isn’t that what every juror is asked to do? Weigh the evidence that we can see and hear?

No. This new ruler will judge by a different measure.

He will judge with righteousness and faithfulness.

Here you can refer to popular imagery of the three monkeys. Have three members strike the pose!

Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.

Isaiah knows that we can be tricked by what we hear and what we see. We often believe liars and side with them even when all reason tells us “something’s wrong here.” People with evil intent are often masters of deception.

Our visual perceptions can be easily manipulated, as well. I know. I’ve made a living retouching photos!

One of my favorite challenges was to turn a frown upside down. The client wanted to use the image of boy, but he looked downright glum. Cut. Paste, Rotate. Smooth the edges. Voilà!

Isaiah warns us that our system of justice is about to be turned upside down.

There will be a new rule on earth. A child will rule. The mighty (the lions and tigers and bears) will follow. It doesn’t make sense to us when we measure with old yardsticks.  But our new yardsticks—the yardsticks of righteousness and faithfulness—will give us a truer measure.

And it’s all coming soon! Stay tuned.

monkeys photo credit: Kurt Wagner via photopin cc
yardstick photo credit: robertstinnett via photopin cc
08 Nov 2013

Adult Object Lesson: Looking Ahead to Advent A-1

peanutSwords Into Plowshares

Anything Can Be a Weapon
Anything Can Be an Instrument of Peace

Advent is a great season for focusing on the Old Testament.
This year, Lectionary Year A, each Advent Sunday focuses on the prophet Isaiah.

This is the first of four object lessons based on the Isaiah Readings for Lectionary Year A.

Isaiah understood that adults understand object lessons!

The first lesson is the well-known “swords into plowshares” text.

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 plowshares, 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!

Your object can be any or several simple garden tools: a hoe is good. It is used to whack weeds so that good plants can grow.

Or it can be a peanut butter sandwich! (Read on!)

My son went to Quaker school where any reference to weaponry was strongly discouraged. This was a challenge for teachers working with young boys who wanted to dress up as superheroes at Halloween.

What’s a superhero without a weapon?

My son had two kindergarten teachers: a zealous young gal in her first years of teaching and a seasoned teacher in her last year of teaching before retiring. While the young teacher fervently and repeatedly discouraged five-year-old boys from thinking about weapons, the older teacher sighed. “They are boys. They will make weapons out of a peanut butter sandwich!”

Boys, men, adults of any gender . . . . we all have ways of manufacturing weapons.

Talk about how the hoe is tool of peace. Its purpose is to rid the garden of nutrient-sapping weeds so that life-sustaining plants can grow. Still, even the garden hoe can be a weapon. I was chopping away at weeds one summer day when I realized I had chopped a garter snake in two!

The difference between a sword and a plowshare is often in how we look at the world. That’s Isaiah’s mission in today’s passage—to change our point of view.

Words can be weapons. “It takes a thousand ‘attaboys’ to erase one ‘You idiot!’” Doctor Phil regularly tells his audience. Yet the “You idiot” slips out so much more easily.

Money is a favorite weapon. “Do as I say or you will lose my support!” Children learn this early when their parents withhold allowance! Adults often weigh it every day at work and even in church!

You want support? You listen and you listen good!

Rules, meant to keep order, can be used to force will and submission. Words and rules are actually favorite “weapons” of the Church through the ages and even today. You want an upper hand, keep that constitution within reach! (American nuns, get in line or face sanctions!)

Love can be a weapon, too. We are approaching the celebration of love coming from heaven to our doorstep! Yet it, in our hands, it often becomes a weapon.

Just as almost anything can be a weapon, anything can be a plowshare.

The gun in the hands of a hunter can feed the family. The knife can divide fruits and vegetables so that more people can share in God’s bounty.

The challenge of this passage is not so much to address physical tools but to change our mindset— to begin to see our possessions and talents as instruments of peace rather than weapons of war.

A little baby is coming. He will be an instrument of peace even when we are tempted to use Him to fuel our warlike ways!

This Advent: Watch our words. Watch how we use our power and influence. Put love to work. Look at our possessions as tools to spread the goodness of God’s creation.

Turn all those peanut butter sandwich weapons back into sandwiches.

(Why didn’t Isaiah think of that!)

photo credit: boodoo via photopin cc

07 Nov 2013