"To Dream the Impossible Dream"
Sermon Presented December 5, 2004
Advent II
Isaiah 11:1-10
The Man of La Mancha is a 1960's musical based on Cervante's novel Don Quixote. Most who saw the production proclaimed it to be a religious experience. This song sung by the character Don Quixote is titled: "To Dream the Impossible Dream."
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong,
To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause!And I know, if I'll only be true to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars.
Quixote is a hopeless idealist in a pessimistic world. He sees only good in everyone, much to the amusement and disgust of the whore, Aldonza. Aldonza speaks her pessimism with these words: "The world's a dung heap and we are maggots that crawl on it!" Isaiah is the Don Quixote of 8th century BCE when he speaks his message of optimism into a pessimistic world.
Isaiah 11:1-10 (read text)
This familiar text is most often read during the Advent season. The passage articulates the deep human hope for justice and peace, and it seems natural that the early Christian church saw in this text the promise of a Messiah who would establish peace on earth. It seems perfect for the Sunday we light the Advent candle of Peace.
The unifying theme of the text is the coming reign of God that is understood in two ways. The first part concerns God's reign in the sociopolitical arena by means of the birth or ascension of a new and ideal king from the line of David. The second element promises the reign of God in the order of creation with the establishment of peace and tranquillity among creatures, including predators and their prey. The vision of the peaceable kingdom is distinctly related to the promise of a Davidic king.
The peaceable kingdom presented here is Mt. Zion - possibly Jerusalem or Israel, but not the entire world. It's a particular sacred territory. The imagery characterizes peace and security under the ideal ruler. Such an image of peace can fuel people's hopes for a just and secure existence.
But for most of us, we see this peaceable kingdom as an impossible dream, a description of utopia. It speaks of perfect peace between people and carnivorous beasts. Why is this kingdom peaceful? The prophet says that it's peaceful because the earth is full of the knowledge of God.
We don't live in a utopia and we see no signs of peace, so what does this message from Isaiah say to us? How can we appropriate this metaphorical "impossible" dream of wolves and lambs; calves and lions; cows and bears living peacefully together? How can we imagine children living safely with poisonous snakes? (It's easier for me to imagine this than to imagine children being safe from abusers - modern-day vipers!) How can we live with hope and not with the pessimism of the reality that continues to confront us with life as a dung heap crawling with maggots? How can we be a Don Quixote and not an Aldonza? How can this perfect peace become reality in God's arena?
According to Isaiah, in order for peace to be possible, there must be righteous leadership. Isaiah speaks of a shoot coming from the stump of Jesse - the lineage of David, a stump that for all practical purposes appears to be dead. This shoot is to become a powerful instrument of God.
According to the prophet, David's lineage isn't dead. The wind of God's spirit will blow over this new shoot creating new possibilities for peace and justice. This seemingly insignificant branch will be transformed by the wind of the Spirit of God and will lead with righteousness and a concern for the poor. These aren't the kind of characteristics that bring a person to power or keep him or her in power. These are the characteristics that bring a person to a cross.
Reinhold Niebuhr, a 20th century theologian, said: "If you want peace, work for justice." Justice takes time and effort. And sometimes, progress isn't evident because it occurs in minute increments. Just look at the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, and Sojourner Truth to see what can be accomplished by plugging away - but still isn't completely realized. The impact of what we do is usually realized after we are gone.
The unqualified good news of Isaiah is that the Messiah will work for justice for the poor and disadvantaged. The good news of the gospel is that Christ is in us and we are commissioned to carry on his work of justice for those in need.
Before Jesus was born, Luke tells us that an angel appeared to Mary and said: "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." The angel announced that Jesus was the one to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah and there would be no end to his reign! But if Christ is to reign, we must give him authority in our lives.
Let's look at Jesus' reign while on earth. At his baptism, the Spirit of God - the Holy Spirit - rested on him and empowered him. Unlike most kings, he didn't have a throne. He didn't judge as the law prescribed, but he saw beneath the surface of the senses. As people gathered to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus invited anyone without sin to cast the first stone. He physically drove the moneychangers from the temple. He told people that when they entertain, to invite the poor - those who couldn't repay the favor. He said the poor are blessed and they receive the Kingdom of Heaven. He told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had and to give the money to the poor. He challenged the popular idea that the wealthy are those truly blessed by God. He said that those who seek peace would be called children of God. This isn't the ordinary kingly reign.
But there's a price to pay for seeking justice because injustice benefits powerful people. Economic benefits to landowners caused slavery. Economic benefits exist for employers who pay low wages in sweatshops and for manufacturers who send dangerous gasses into the atmosphere. So when people work for justice, the peace will be shattered and some will be martyred.
Isaiah's theme of righteousness and peace was spoken during a time of despair. Hope for anything better was like Don Quixote's unreachable star. And yet in the midst of wickedness and despair, God desired to save the people God loves - all people. God's hope sees beyond the human mess and calls out for us to grasp hope and pursue the impossible dream.
Pursuit of this dream won't bring us wealth or popularity. Dreamers are assassinated or disdained. But God's kingdom needs dreamers! God's kingdom needs those who will be faithful to a seemingly impossible dream, and when we model God's kingdom, others will notice and hopefully seek the peace we live. We can change because God is at work and desires to make all things new.
As followers of Jesus, we should desire a pervasive peace rooted in justice and righteousness, but we don't. We don't allow ourselves to even entertain the possibility of its reality. It takes effort and focus and dedication to achieve such godly goals.
Isaiah invites us to take the risk and dream God's own dream for the world, for our community and for ourselves. In that divine dream all of our own longings are articulated. Justice, equality, righteousness, harmony and knowledge of God are all present in the 10 verses of our text. And things weren't any better then than now. The monarchy was weak, the nation was at war, and moral degradation was prevalent. But in the midst of this chaos, Isaiah shared God's own dream in order to defeat hopelessness and empower action.
The peaceful kingdom of God is rooted in Jesus, the Messiah who is the righteous branch. However, the message Jesus spoke seems as ridiculous today as when originally spoken. In a world with self-gratification as the number one goal, Jesus' message to love God and love others - even our enemies - as we love ourselves is a message that brings scorn. In the face of scorn, we often fail to take a stand for righteousness and love of all people, and we perpetuate injustice and unrighteousness by our silence.
The wonderful peace described metaphorically by Isaiah is possible when, as verse 9 says, the earth is full of the knowledge of God. When people truly know God, not intellectually but with a deep personal knowledge and understanding, the world will be different because we are different.
The season of Advent is a time for renewal. It's a time set aside to nurture our own growth in the deep quiet of our internal preparation. Let's use this time to allow God to give us a vision of peace for our lives and for the world and then let's ask God to give us direction for its fulfillment. In the stillness, as we listen, may we too hear the message of God and take up the quest to pursue the seemingly impossible dream of peace. Nothing will happen unless we dream!
