Pruning for Peace

I chose the Old Testament scriptures for Advent because I wanted to go back generations and try to understand what was written and hoped for as the Hebrew people waited for the coming of a Messiah. We read the stories of the prophets that are filled with the heartache and promise of generations of waiting. As we light the candle of Peace, we remember that the peace of God is inside of us. I usually say that we have to embrace and to live out that peace in our attitudes, words, and actions toward one another. But today’s scriptures call us to expand our understanding of God’s peace.

Micah begins with the call: “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.”

The mountain in scripture is the meeting point between heaven and earth. It is where Abram was called to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Issac and another way was provided, Elijah went to Mount Horeb to meet God. Moses was given the commandments on Mount Sinai, Jesus, Moses and Elijah met on Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration of Jesus occurs. The point is that the mountain is where we connect with God, where we have our anchor. Peace begins with our relationship with God that is enhanced, grown, developed and grounded on the mountain.

Where is our mountain? Where is the place we come from our daily routine to meet God? The people in today’s scripture came up to the mountain leaving their homes and daily lives behind. There they were taught God’s ways and learned to walk in his path.

The scripture says that God sought justice between many peoples, and arbitrated between strong nations. People came to the mountain to learn the ways of peace. The people took God’s peace into their hearts so that they could beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

We might miss the metaphor of the plowshare and the pruning hook. A plowshare is the part of the plow that cuts the ground at the bottom of the furrow. It is where the planting begins. The plowshare is a creative tool that benefits humankind. The pruning hook is a knife for pruning the vine and used to remove unnecessary twigs and shoots. It stands for peace and prosperity. The plowshare and pruning hooks have been converted from weapons of war.

Our scriptures from Micah and Isaiah continue, “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away” We think of war as something beyond ourselves that we are helpless to solve. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes suggested that war is the natural state of the human mind. We see on the news everyday the violent destruction of war between nations, however at its core, war is a view of the world that sees every other human being as a competitor to be feared or a resource to be exploited. War is who we are when the only question we ask is, “what about me?”

Now that we’ve made it personal, what would happen if we as people of faith sought to listen and seek compromise about any number of issues? How can God’s will for goodness be taken seriously and the weapons of hostility be made into tools that build a peaceable kingdom in our common life together?

Walter Brueggemman writes that Micah suggests two conditions that are necessary for the transformation of weapons into tools for peace. The first is that we must lower expectations, the recognition that we can not have all that we want when our own interests are our highest goal. Micah puts it this way: “but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

Micah anticipates neighbours enjoying a very modest kind of life; one vine and one fig tree, not great vineyards or groves of fruit trees. This modesty is important on two counts: first it is a drastic contrast to the elite in Jerusalem who thought they had to have great wealth to enjoy life.

The second condition is even more startling: “For all the people walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” Micah’s statement about religious loyalties proposes that those who live peaceably, live and let others live their own lives. War comes among nations, in churches and in families when we think there is only one way and everyone must conform or be coerced to conform. Peace means giving people room for alternatives, being clear on our own commitments but open at the same time to others doing their life and faith differently.

We come to John and Jesus’ farewell discourse. In one of his last teaching moments with the disciples Jesus said, ”Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

John’s gospel was written when the early church was being evicted from the synagogue. Hostility was high and suspicion reigned. Conflict sharpened their differences.

In John’s gospel, the anecdote to a troubled heart is peace planted within us that God has already made available. It is not something we create. We lit the candle of peace because of what Jesus did and is doing inside of us, and sometimes in spite of us.

Anxiety, fear and troubled hearts were on Jesus’ mind. Many people yearn for peace in the world's terms: cessation of conflict, whether psychological tension or warfare, or a sense of calm or serenity of spirit. The peace that Jesus promises might include such things, however, the peace that Jesus gives is the assurance of the presence of God.

What is your response to the prophets' invitation to go to the Lord’s mountain that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths? What would beating “swords into plowshares” and “spears into pruning hooks” look like in your life? What weapons– words, facial expressions, sighs of disgust, that you sometimes wield could be changed into tools of peace?

How do we turn our barbs into blessings? How do we create growth in relationships rather than division? What relationships need to be replanted and pruned?

As I am challenged by one of my favourite folk singers, Carrie Newcomer,

I can't change the whole world

But I can change the world I know

What's within three feet or so.