Calling us to Peace, Harmony, and Service

I wish to begin with the story of Isaiah, the prophet. He was living in Jerusalem at a time when many countries were at war. But not his country. The People of God were not at war and things were going along quite nicely until the king of Israel said to Isaiah, “I have decided to go to war.” Isaiah said to the king, “You shouldn’t do that. You should put your trust in God and God will continue to grant us peace.” The king said, “Too late. My mind is made up. We are going to war.” Then Isaiah went to the people and said, “Well, folks, it’s time to look for a new king. I am convinced that God is going to give us a new king. The new king will work for justice. He will not put his energy into war. He will put his energy into justice and when justice rules the land we will have a lasting peace. And during the time of peace the children will be safe again. The children will go back to playing with the young calves in the fields and the lions in the desert—and not one will be injured.” When we listen to that promise from Isaiah, we know that Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. Jesus is the new king who brings the kingdom of peace into the world.

Jesus creates a world in which the wolf and the lamb are friends and the babies play by the cobra’s den and no one gets hurt. Jesus himself goes into the wilderness for prayer. And many beasts are there and they try to hurt him. These beasts are not lions and bears but personal demons such as pride and envy and selfishness. These personal demons attack him with all their power but Jesus will not give in to them. Nor does he fight with them. He turns his back on them and keeps his eyes fixed on his heavenly Father. He comes into the world as the Prince of Peace and he establishes peace by first making peace within himself. And today I wish to recommend that we do as Jesus did. Let’s remember to go off by ourselves for prayer each day. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on our heavenly Father and in that way not give in to our pride and envy and selfishness and any other personal demons that we might have.

Now let’s turn to our second reading. When St. Paul was writing to the people of Rome he was writing to a congregation that was split in half. Some of the Romans were Jewish before they became Christian. And some were pagan before they became Christian. They were supposed to form one Christian community after they were baptized. But they preferred to pick on each other and alienate each other. So Paul said to them, “Don’t you know that Jesus wants harmony in the house?” “How do you know that?” they asked. And Paul replied, “Look at his life. Look at his table fellowship. Jesus welcomed everyone to his table… The Pharisees, the Samaritans, the sinners and the tax collectors. His enemies criticized him for doing that but that did not stop him. His goal was to have harmony in the house. He wanted everyone at the same table.”

Now let’s ask ourselves: where did Jesus get this from? Where did he get his desire to live in harmony with everyone? I believe that it came from his childhood. His parents held before him the vision of the prophet Isaiah: the vision found in today’s first reading. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors. The leopard shall lie down with the baby goat. Jesus went from village to village calling people to work for harmony in the house. And today we hear Jesus knocking at our door. He continues to call us for work for harmony in the house. The goal remains the same. We are being called to live in harmony with everyone.

We turn now to today’s gospel. We hear John the Baptist talking about his ministry. John says, “I have come to call you to reform your lives. I am baptizing you with water and calling you to cleanse yourselves of your spiritual impurities. Soon Jesus will come to you with an even deeper call. He will call you to reform your lives and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus will come to you with great energy and enthusiasm because he is filled with the Holy Spirit.” And today we know that John’s prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus taught with so much energy and enthusiasm that the crowds said, “This teacher is different. He is teaching with authority.” The crowds could not resist his teaching and many became his disciples.

Now let’s think about ourselves. We should remember that Jesus has baptized us and given us a share in His Spirit. We should do as He did. We should serve others with enthusiasm and zeal and deep personal conviction.

I will close with a brief summary. I believe that we are called to imitate Christ and follow him as modern day disciples. And that means three things. Number One: He is calling us to spend some time in prayer each and every day. Secondly: He is calling us to work for harmony no matter what kind of community we live in. And thirdly, He is calling us to serve others with a loving and compassionate spirit. He is calling to serve others without counting the cost or seeking reward. We pray now for the grace that we need to be faithful disciples of Christ.