A Vision that Captures the Imagination

Isaiah 2:1-5

Jim Davis

The Hope Health Letter (10/95) included this story: Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife, two small children, and his elderly parents in a tiny hut. He tried to be patient and gracious, but the noise and crowded conditions wore him down. 

In desperation, he consulted the village wise man. "Do you have a rooster?" asked the wise man. 

"Yes," he replied. 

"Keep the rooster in the hut with your family, and come see me again next week." 
The next week, the man returned and told the wise elder that living conditions were worse than ever, with the rooster crowing and making a mess of the hut. "Do you have a cow?" asked the wise elder. The man nodded fearfully. "Take your cow into the hut as well, and come see me in a week." 

Over the next several weeks, the man--on the advice of the wise elder--made room for a goat, two dogs, and his brother's children. 

Finally, he could take no more, and in a fit of anger, kicked out all the animals and guests, leaving only his wife, his children, and his parents. The home suddenly became spacious and quiet, and everyone lived happily ever after. (Citation: Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 1) 

Peace, reconciliation, serenity, harmony, tranquility describe worlds each of us would be overjoyed to discover. These words describe how the world ought to be. You can’t dream of such a world without thinking of the conflict in this world. Just thinking of the concepts reveals the obvious road blocks to such a world. 

Our experience of late in world peace, reminds us there is no easy peace. No easy solutions. We may bring world leaders to the table, but replacing the fear, hatred, and self-interest with real solutions is seemingly impossible. Such a world only seems possible in our in our wildest imagination. And surprisingly this is where it must begin. God wants us to imagine such a world. It was a world Isaiah imagined with the help of God.

Isaiah 2:1-5
2:1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 

2 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. 

3 Many peoples 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."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
4 He 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. 

5 Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD. NIV

Isaiah prophetically envisions a new world order for the Jews, and for us, where God reigns supreme. I can hardly imagine Isaiah writing this passage without thinking about the kingdom of Israel under the reign of Solomon. It was a time of peace. Kings, queens, and powerful people from all over the world visited Jerusalem to behold the wisdom and luxury God had given Solomon. The Queen of Sheba came saying the half had not been told. 

Isaiah’s vision is reminiscent of the Edenic paradise. Isaiah writes, “The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD” (Isaiah 51:3 NIV). Throughout Isaiah’s prophecies he envisions a new world order for the Jews. An order brought about by the reign of God over the hearts of the peoples of the earth. It is the kind of vision John had about a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21:1-2
21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. NIV

What a beautiful world God envisions. There is only one problem. How do you get the peoples of the world to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks?

God’s Vision Must Capture Our Imagination

God’s vision must capture our imagination. God’s plan throughout the Old Testament was to bring all men and nations to himself through the seed of Abraham. Many of the Old Testament prophets preached to the nations. God sought to make himself known to a lost world when Moses led Israel out of Egypt. Jonah preached to Nineveh. Daniel was in Babylon making God known to the rulers of Babylon. God’s dream wasn’t exclusive for the Jews. Isaiah’s vision held out a great dream for Israel; the dream remains a reality for each of us today. 

Hebrews 4:1-3
4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.  3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 

"So I declared on oath in my anger, 
'They shall never enter my rest.'" NIV

Isaiah’s vision can only be realized as men and nations combine God’s vision with faith. Isaiah prophesied what life would be like if God fully reigned upon the earth. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the essence of Isaiah’s vision. It is the essence of Christianity. This is the goal of the gospel message. It is the essence of my life. It is not only something to be hoped for in the future. It must begin now. 

Isaiah foresaw a great dream not only for Israel, but for peoples of all times. It was initially given to the Jews. The dream extends to the Lord’s church today through Christ. It is extended to the world through the great commission. It never happened in Israel because it was contingent upon Israel coming to God for direction. Today it is contingent upon the world coming to Christ. It is dependent upon the Christians sharing God’s dream with the world.

Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV

Jesus’ plea is come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest. There is no other way. Jesus cries out, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus is the only way to world peace. 

We have great visions of what the world ought to be, and what the church ought to be. We look to men to find peace. We devise human plans to make it happen. On a national scale we look to the courts, the government, capitalism, human philosophies, political ideologies, etc. Internationally we look to the United Nations. Many within the church are searching for human answers for the church’s division. We look to the restoration leaders, or we look to newly devised plans for our modern age. Isaiah focused on restoring God’s paths to lead us to such a world. 

The world must see the church seeking God’s ways and then “Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths.”  It begins with the call of God’s people to follow the will of God as we preach Christ’s message of peace to a troubled world.

God’s Vision Is Realized Through His Word

There are those today who believe it must begin in Jerusalem. They hold to the idea that the temple must be rebuilt before the world can come to the mountain of the Lord, the house of the God of Jacob. In a very real sense it began for Christians in Jerusalem when Christ died upon the cross. So much of our theology is confined to the future, or the past. The Bible is to be applied to the present. The message is viable today. Isaiah’s vision is the gospel’s vision. It is a vision that seeks to eradicate the barriers between men and God.

A new world order begins with the word of God. Isaiah proclaims the reason for coming to the house of God, “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." Seeking God’s paths is the only way to discover peace.

Tyndale House Publishers found evidence that reading the Bible promotes a positive outlook. According to a study they commissioned with the Barna Research Group:
Eighty-two percent of regular Bible readers described themselves as "at peace" compared to 58 percent of those who said they never read the Bible. 
Seventy-eight percent of regular Bible readers said they felt "happy" all or most of the time compared to 67 percent of nonreaders. 
Sixty-eight percent of regular Bible readers said they were "full of joy" compared to 44 percent who said they never read the Bible. (The Southeast Outlook (11-22-01); researchers interviewed 1,004 adults chosen to reflect the U.S.'s regional and ethnic makeup, with a sampling error of plus/minus 3 percent; submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky, via http://preachingtoday.com.)
Nowhere does this survey suggest peace is the absence of problems. Peace comes as we find God in our brokenness, in the mist of heartache, in the rough and tumble of a family crisis or shameful failure. It is in these times we find God mysteriously at work. It is during these times we find God working through us in spite of us.  

Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the result of the presence of God. (Adapted from: J. Oswald Sanders. Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart.")

Our dreams may lead us to believe Isaiah’s world vision comes without struggle or fear. Nothing is more threatening than God calling us to confront ourselves. Too often, the threat drives us away in fear.

A Franciscan blessing brings the point home for each of us. “May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.” (A Franciscan blessing, quoted by Gordon MacDonald in Leadership Weekly (3-31-03) Via http://preachingtoday.com illustration data base.)

Isaiah’s vision begins with those of us in this auditorium. It begins in our hearts, spreads to our families as we become living instruments directed by God to change our world.

When the world comes to the house of God, they come to be taught God’s ways. In Isaiah’s vision the people come to the house of God saying, “’He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

God’s Vision Must Reign In Our Lives

It is amazing how many of God’s own people can’t find a solution to their problems in his word. It’s because we are afraid to allow God’s word to enter our lives for the purpose of settling disputes. Isaiah writes, “He 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.” 

Why are we afraid to allow God to begin his dream in our heart? We look beyond ourselves to solve the strife of the world. The challenge is personal. It is easier to pin our problems on something or somebody than it is to face them head on. It seems easier to fight for our rights, than it does to surrender to God’s will. 

It begins in our homes. Today’s homes are so divided. Single parent homes are becoming more and more prevalent. Why? People find it difficult to live together in peace. It is the battle for personal rights. It is the battle of the sexes. It is a battle of selfishness. This is why we can’t agree on how to raise the kids, spend the money, or where we want to eat out without making somebody mad. Ultimately, it is a battle with self. Only God’s word can teach us how to live together in a family as one.

It's a paradox of marriage that the strongest ones are those in which partners are simultaneously able to change to accommodate one another in some areas, and able to live with unchangeability in others. ... On the whole each spouse has made a separate peace with the imperfect other. (Citation: Francine Klagsbrun, Marriage Partnership, Vol. 7, no. 1.)

Isaiah’s vision comes to those in which Christ reigns. We can’t imagine someone reigning over our lives. We can’t even imagine giving in to one another. Conflict arises in our hearts the moment we think about letting God confront our inner selves with his ways. 

Christianity is a threat to the status quo. It questions the order of things, questions our understanding as well as our misunderstandings. It threatens our personal rights and individuality. It threatens our good traditions and bad ones. It censors our lives, and more often than not calls upon us to suppress our rights for the liberty of others. 

Christianity “calls upon us to confront things in ourselves that threaten the whole order of our existence—feelings we cannot manage, fears we cannot conquer but try to ignore or suppress, hurts we try to forget, [longing and desires] that do not fit our normal way of life.” (Dr. Gary A Furr, Finding A Place, The Library of Distinctive Sermons, Questar Publishers, Inc, Sisters, Oregon.)

Conclusion:

God’s dream challenges each of us to the core of all we hold sacred and dear. The vision calls on us to live beyond the limits of the world; to live beyond our personal limitations; to live beyond ourselves. If God didn’t call us beyond all that we hold sacred, his dreams wouldn’t be worth pursuing. 

Jesus invites us to allow him to rule our lives.

Matthew 16:24-28
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." NIV

Do you have a soul shaking dream for your earthly life? God has such a vision for your life. It begins with a willingness to die to self. It couldn’t be more earth shaking. It is realized as you allow God to reign in your life as he reigns in heaven. It begins with following Christ. It sounds scary, but there is no other way.

The nature of this world is such that there can be no world peace without God. God designed it this way. The United Nations has failed miserably. Our efforts in the world are failing. Even the church’s efforts at unity and peace have failed. The world can have no peace without God. Isaiah writes, "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21 NIV).