The Old Testament reading for the second Sunday of Advent comes from an Isaiah passage that is worn out with human hoping. It speaks of a time not yet come, but one for which we hope. It is a passage of powerful images, "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid...the cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together....the nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp...They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain..." (Isaiah 11:6-9). It creates images idyllic enough for Camelot and perfect enough for Utopia, but the images of Isaiah go far beyond what mortals can comprehend to speak of the Kingdom of God.
We can sense something of how extraordinarily different the Kingdom of God is and will be as we contemplate our existence in the here and now. As Tess of Hardy's novel would say, we live on a blighted star. We live where the devil lurks like a roaring lion. We live in times so darkened by evil that it seems foolish to even hope for light. Martin Luther had it right as he penned that hymn of the church which causes us to sing, "but still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe, his craft and power are great, and harmed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal."
Advent is a season within the life of the church which causes us to express our longing for a new world, a world where love and peace and good will does indeed prevail, but we know that despite all our best efforts, the world of our hope will not come completely among us until Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom upon the earth. It is for this reason that the cry of the church is always, "Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)
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