ISAIAH 2:1-5
“THERE IS PEACE”
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
Will there ever be peace?
Right now, America and much of the world is at war.
But this is not the only kind of war that is going on--the conventional war that we keep
hearing about on television and reading about in the newspapers.
There are men, woman and children who are at war within their own bodies due to lack
of food, while some of us are forced not only to count our own calories, but also to buy diet food
for our dogs and cats.
Nation is rising against nation, and at the same time families are rising against families as
children are becoming more rebellous, more disobedient, and more out of control.
And their is war within our souls as we are bombarded daily with high-tech gagetry and
new forms of entertainment that are just calling out our names....tempting us, diverting our
attention, and wasting our time.
Yes, there are wars being fought all around us.
In hospital beds as people are racked with pain.
In our streets as gang members protect their turf like a pack of dogs.
And in our homes as mommy and daddy fight, as son and daughter disobey, and as we all
try to scratch and claw our ways to some grand illusion called the American Dream.
It’s amazing that any of us are even sane at all, and sometimes I even wonder if we are,
but in our Scripture lesson for today we see a prophecy of hope.
We see that some day, the instruments which cause destruction will be turned into
instruments of construction and there will be no more war.
When will this happen?
How will this happen?
And will we be the ones who will experience this?
In verse two of our Scripture lesson, the Prophet Isaiah declares, “In the last days the
mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised
above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.”
Okay, this will happen in the last days, but what are the last days?
Well, in a very real sense, the last days began with the first coming of Christ which we
will be celebrating in 23 days.
God came to earth in the form of a human being, and was tempted in every way that we
are tempted, but never gave in....never sinned.
He felt all the cravings of the flesh, and proved it possible to overcome them.
He taught us how to live through His teachings and His actions, and then He was
slaughtered as an innocent offering for our sins so that we might have a way to be reconciled to
God.
Then He was resurrected, proving that death has no hold on Him, and that death has no
hold on anyone who is in Him.
This was first realized at Pentacost when the Holy Spirit came down from heaven like
tongues of fire and completely filled the first apostles.
And a crowd gathered, and they were amazed, and they asked one another: “What does
this mean?”, and some of them said that they had had too much wine.
But Peter stood up and told the crowd that they were not drunk, but that this was the
beginning of what had been prophesied that “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my
Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see
visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
So the partial fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy began with the first coming of Christ, with
those who first believed in Him...the fishermen who became His disciples, those who were
healed because of their faith, the woman at the well who became a believer, and her entire town
which converted because of her testimony and witness.
And we must not forget those who repented, believed, and were baptized at Pentacost.
Yes, these people became the Church, and ever since, over the past two thousand years
people have been flocking to this Church and finding....peace!
But this is a spiritual peace, a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that is able to
take over the human heart in the face of all the craziness that is going on in the world.
Back to our Scripture lesson, what is “the mountain of the Lord’s temple....” that will “be
raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it?”
It is the Church, the Church of Jesus Christ.
What Isaiah was prophesying was that one day it would become clear to many people
that Jesus is the Messiah and that the Church of Jesus Christ would be the way to find peace.
In verse 3 of our Scripture it says, “Many people will come and say, “Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
And isn’t this what people have been saying and doing for the past two thousand years?
The Church of Jesus Christ started with just a few, but now there are and have been
millions and millions.
Those whose primary concern is to find peace, to discover the will of God and to do it are
those who are saying “Come let us go.”
Those who have found this peace by having a personal relationship with God through
Jesus Christ are the ones who are saying, “Come, let us go.”
They are the ones who are eager to have others share in the blessing of peace with God.
They exhort and encourage one another to come to God, and they seek to learn God’s
ways and to walk in His paths of holiness.
The Church of Jesus Christ turns war-mongers into peace-makers, and those with internal
turmoil and strife into people who are able to face the trouble of this age with confidence,
courage, and hope.
As we see in verse 4 of our Scripture lesson, “He (Christ) will judge between the
nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
The warfare, the manipulation, the injustice, and the actions of the mighty that is going
on all around us are all the result of humanity’s refusal to submit our desires to God.
Because true peace only comes from the recognition that God is the source of everything
that is good, that He can provide all of our needs and necessities, and that He does all things
well.
And the people who have expereinced this truth and are walking in this truth can know
peace....right here....right now....in these last days.
And when people are walking in this truth together, submitting their needs to God rather
than trying to satisfy them by force....they are living together as the Church.
And until all persons and nations have come to God to learn His ways and walk in them,
ultimate peace is an illusion.
That is why the prophesy of Isaiah has is only partially complete.
Because not all people have come to God, and sin still runs rampant in this world.
The final judgement has not yet come, and so we must look to the time of Christ’s second
coming, which is at the end of this present age, for the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy!
And when this does occur, there will be no more violence because we will all be
governed by Christ.
The weapons of war will be converted into tools of peace, and we will live in a warless
society.
Now we see in verse 5 of our Scripture lesson that Isaiah declares, “Come, O house of
Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
And he says this because there is peace in these last days for those of us who walk in
God’s light.
He also says this because as Jesus declared in our Gospel lesson, “No one knows about
that day or hour” when Christ will return.
But when Christ does return it will be like it was in the days of Noah.
People will be going about there own business.....having been warned....but having
ignored the warning.
But at the same time there will be the Church, those who are walking in the light of the
Lord....those who have heard of the warning, those who have sought to live in peace by coming
to Christ, and have found peace in these last days.
And so, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.”
“Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”
And those who are walking in the light, those who have been keeping watch, those who
have been faithful and wise by allowing Christ to be their King, and the ruler of their lives those
who have found peace on this earth will be ready when Christ returns!
So to answer my initial question: “Will there ever be peace?”
Yes, there is Peace!
There is peace because we are living in the last days!
Christ has come....and for those who seek Him, and decide to walk in His light there
is peace....
Right here and right now.
Have you experienced this peace?
