THE KINGDOM OF GOD
ADVENTS WITHIN
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “The
Kingdom of God Advents Within.”
Advent is a time for Jesus to come
to us in a new way.
Each advent, each Christmas,
hopefully, Christ is born anew in us in richer and better ways.
ISAIAH 11
Don’t you love today’s first reading
– Isaiah 11:1-10?
Don’t you love the painting, “The
Peaceable Kingdom” by Edward Hicks?
When I go to see my sister Mary at Doylestown , Pennsylvania ,
I have often gone to the Michener
Art Museum
Edward Hicks was a Quaker and had
deep religious interests – two special interests were Peace and the Inner Light.
He saw good stuff in people – the
light of Christ shining in them. He also saw Quakers in division at times with
one another – the city with the rural, simplicity versus stuff,, etc. If he
heard Isaiah and Jesus correctly, the call is to be peaceful.
We have within us the lamb and the
wolf, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear. We can be catty or calm,
bearish and gentle, lone wolfish or gentle as a lamb. The choice is always
ours.
Edward Hicks, a coach painter,
turned painter, turned farmer, turned back to painter, preached with his
picture – figured things out with his painting.
We look at the scene and we see
ourselves. It’s a mirror. Is there peace in my belly? Is there peace in my
heart? Is there peace in my mind? Is the Kingdom of God
During Advent - in preparation for
Christmas - we bring out the lights - and we light up our homes - inside and
out. During Advent - in preparation for
Christmas we shop for gifts to give each other for Christmas. During Advent -
in preparation for Christmas we set up the manger - along with Mary and Joseph
and the animals - the shepherds - and the kings. Why not step back and wonder how I’m making
all these motions real - not just in symbol - but in reality - that we be
light, gift, and manger to receive Christ the Lord!
Edward Hicks paints a child with the
animals and the people of his day – hopefully working for peace – making the kingdom of God
TODAY’S GOSPEL
The revelation – the message of
today’s gospel – is that we are the lucky ones – the blessed ones – for being
given these revelations from God about the Son.
Listen again to how today’s gospel
ends: Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes
that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings
desired to see
what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear,
but did not hear it.”
“Blessed are the eyes
that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings
desired to see
what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear,
but did not hear it.”
Edward Hicks made Isaiah and the
gospel very personal, very real, very relevant – when he showed faces of people
in his paintings. Some people seem to grow and glow in peace. The light of Christ shines
in their faces. Other people are like some of the animals in later pictures -
animals whose claws that have gotten sharper – and more dangerous looking.
We can change as we get older. Hopefully,
we change for the better and not the worse
– that is, becoming more cynical
and cruel. Hopefully, more and more of the light of Christ advents into us and
we vent the light of Christ out from us more and more.
CONCLUSION.
Obviously, more light, more peace,
the advent of the kingdom, is one of the
key messages of Advent. Amen.
O O O O O O O
Painting on top:
Edward Hicks [1780-1849] - The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1837 - at the Mercer Museum - The Michenor - Doylestown, Pa.
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