December 1, 2019
Isaiah 2:1-5
Almost from the moment we stepped foot into Mike & Bobbie Queen’s (Amy’s parents) house in Wilmington for our Thanksgiving holiday the conversation centered on college football bowl games, or more specifically, which bowl game will Wake Forest be playing in this year. Amy’s dad had even taken time to create a spreadsheet of sorts which contained all of the options. The excitement was clear as there was such positive anticipation in the voices as the options were being discussed. Would it be the Orange Bowl? How about the Belk Bowl? The Music City Bowl sounds like it would be fun. Please don’t let it be the Sun Bowl because that game is played in El Paso, Texas and who really wants to go to El Paso, Texas. The Camping World Bowl would be fun because that’s in Orlando, and whenever we are in Orlando there is always a chance of going to Disney. Even if it is for just a day. What about the Pinstripe Bowl? That’s the one played in New York, which is when Emma Grace joined in. “Oh, that would be so much fun” she said. I love New York.
Emma Grace is right, though, we really do love New York. I love the energy of a big city like that and when I’m there, one of the things I love to do the most is simply walk. The energy I feel in those moments is wonderful. I don’t need, nor do I really want a pre-determined destination, I just like being outside and walking up and down the streets observing. Amy and I have been there a number of times. We even took all three of our children there for their 10th birthdays.
The last time I was in the City was February of 2014. I was in my first year of Divinity School and was fortunate to take an urban ministry immersion class which spent around ten days there. We made numerous stops each day and met with numerous people who are “doing ministry” in the urban setting of New York City. We also got to see a number of monuments and memorials. One that will always stay with me was the National 911 Memorial and Museum. I remember quite vividly standing in front of Sandra Bradshaw’s name etched in stone and weeping. Lucky for others around me it was really cold that day so most of my face was covered. I didn’t know her and to my knowledge never met her, but her name has stayed with me since that fateful day. She lived in Greensboro and was a flight attendant for United Airlines and on that day was working on United flight 93.
There is one monument, though, in all my years and all my visits to New York that I didn’t even know was there until a few days ago. This monument is located at the corner of 1st Avenue and 43rd Street and sits across the street from the headquarters of the United Nations. It is actually part of a Ralph Bunche Park, a small municipal park named after the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. To see it you have to walk down the granite staircase known as Sharansky Steps, named after the soviet dissident Natan Sharansky. And once you get to the bottom you turn to your left and you will see “The Isaiah Wall.” This wall was built and dedicated in 1948 during the construction of the United Nations Headquarters.
Now, I don’t know the exact reason as to why this monument was built when and where it was built, but I can assume it was to serve as a daily reminder of hope for the future, at least to those who have dedicated their lives to the peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations. Hope that the world seen and lived in back in the 1940’s, a world ravaged by oppression, racism, destruction and war, was not the end of the story.
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It seems these words from the Prophet Isaiah are just that – words of hope. Hope for a day when the world will look different than it does in the present. Hope for a future world that in verse 1 Isaiah actually says he sees. And he sees it even though the world currently surrounding him doesn’t give him any reason. Isaiah sees this promised new world, a world he is not yet experiencing, but a world that is to come. He sees it.
What Isaiah sees is what we all should be striving to realize – a world where all people, everywhere, live together in justice and compassion and peace. A world where all people, God’s people, seek justice, offer compassion, and Love. The fact that this world may not be the world of the now shouldn’t stop God’s people from pursuing it because to stop the pursuit means to lose hope, and hope should never be lost.
That is one reason I believe Advent is so important. You see, every year Advent calls us to renew our pursuit of those certain. Advent, this period of expectant waiting, calls us to focus on those certain things so that when the new year comes, that new year might look different. embrace a new year with a focus on certain things – HOPE, PEACE, LOVE and JOY. The Advent Theme of Hope – hope for a better world, hope for a new world, a world put right, a world as God created it to be, is a gift for each and every one of us, and this gift comes in the period of expectant waiting. Advent calls us to this hope every year because Advent hope will not and cannot be silenced. Advent hope shines bright in the darkness. To better understand who we are called to be is to better understand the gift of hope that Advent provides because the hope of Advent is at the heart of faith.
**************************************
I love New York. In fact, I wish I would have had the opportunity to live there when Amy & I were younger. There is so much life buzzing in that city and that life always energizes me. Now I don’t have a clue what bowl game the Wake Forest Demon Deacon football team will be playing in this year. I also don’t know if I will be able to go to the game no matter when and where it is. However, if they are invited to play in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York and I somehow am able to attend, I want to make sure I stand in front of and experience “The Isaiah Wall” in person. I don’t want to miss that monument anymore. I want to feel those words etched in that granite.
More than anything I want to be reminded of the hope Isaiah saw for he saw a vision of something that wasn’t there yet. He saw an alternative vision of God’s creation. He saw a vision of creation as God intended: healed, mended, reconciled, peaceful. I want to be reminded because I can then make sure I take ownership of fulfilling my role – justice seeker, peacemaker, lover. I believe this type of reminder is critically important, but easily forgotten and I don’t want to forget so easily anymore.
The thing is this isn’t just my call. The call to be the justice seeker, the peacemaker, the lover is for everyone. It is for all of God’s people. Which is precisely why my prayer during this Advent Season is for all of us to be reminded of our roles and then claim them.
[PRAYER]
Amen!
Isaiah 2:1-5
Almost from the moment we stepped foot into Mike & Bobbie Queen’s (Amy’s parents) house in Wilmington for our Thanksgiving holiday the conversation centered on college football bowl games, or more specifically, which bowl game will Wake Forest be playing in this year. Amy’s dad had even taken time to create a spreadsheet of sorts which contained all of the options. The excitement was clear as there was such positive anticipation in the voices as the options were being discussed. Would it be the Orange Bowl? How about the Belk Bowl? The Music City Bowl sounds like it would be fun. Please don’t let it be the Sun Bowl because that game is played in El Paso, Texas and who really wants to go to El Paso, Texas. The Camping World Bowl would be fun because that’s in Orlando, and whenever we are in Orlando there is always a chance of going to Disney. Even if it is for just a day. What about the Pinstripe Bowl? That’s the one played in New York, which is when Emma Grace joined in. “Oh, that would be so much fun” she said. I love New York.
Emma Grace is right, though, we really do love New York. I love the energy of a big city like that and when I’m there, one of the things I love to do the most is simply walk. The energy I feel in those moments is wonderful. I don’t need, nor do I really want a pre-determined destination, I just like being outside and walking up and down the streets observing. Amy and I have been there a number of times. We even took all three of our children there for their 10th birthdays.
The last time I was in the City was February of 2014. I was in my first year of Divinity School and was fortunate to take an urban ministry immersion class which spent around ten days there. We made numerous stops each day and met with numerous people who are “doing ministry” in the urban setting of New York City. We also got to see a number of monuments and memorials. One that will always stay with me was the National 911 Memorial and Museum. I remember quite vividly standing in front of Sandra Bradshaw’s name etched in stone and weeping. Lucky for others around me it was really cold that day so most of my face was covered. I didn’t know her and to my knowledge never met her, but her name has stayed with me since that fateful day. She lived in Greensboro and was a flight attendant for United Airlines and on that day was working on United flight 93.
There is one monument, though, in all my years and all my visits to New York that I didn’t even know was there until a few days ago. This monument is located at the corner of 1st Avenue and 43rd Street and sits across the street from the headquarters of the United Nations. It is actually part of a Ralph Bunche Park, a small municipal park named after the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. To see it you have to walk down the granite staircase known as Sharansky Steps, named after the soviet dissident Natan Sharansky. And once you get to the bottom you turn to your left and you will see “The Isaiah Wall.” This wall was built and dedicated in 1948 during the construction of the United Nations Headquarters.
Now, I don’t know the exact reason as to why this monument was built when and where it was built, but I can assume it was to serve as a daily reminder of hope for the future, at least to those who have dedicated their lives to the peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations. Hope that the world seen and lived in back in the 1940’s, a world ravaged by oppression, racism, destruction and war, was not the end of the story.
*************************************
It seems these words from the Prophet Isaiah are just that – words of hope. Hope for a day when the world will look different than it does in the present. Hope for a future world that in verse 1 Isaiah actually says he sees. And he sees it even though the world currently surrounding him doesn’t give him any reason. Isaiah sees this promised new world, a world he is not yet experiencing, but a world that is to come. He sees it.
What Isaiah sees is what we all should be striving to realize – a world where all people, everywhere, live together in justice and compassion and peace. A world where all people, God’s people, seek justice, offer compassion, and Love. The fact that this world may not be the world of the now shouldn’t stop God’s people from pursuing it because to stop the pursuit means to lose hope, and hope should never be lost.
That is one reason I believe Advent is so important. You see, every year Advent calls us to renew our pursuit of those certain. Advent, this period of expectant waiting, calls us to focus on those certain things so that when the new year comes, that new year might look different. embrace a new year with a focus on certain things – HOPE, PEACE, LOVE and JOY. The Advent Theme of Hope – hope for a better world, hope for a new world, a world put right, a world as God created it to be, is a gift for each and every one of us, and this gift comes in the period of expectant waiting. Advent calls us to this hope every year because Advent hope will not and cannot be silenced. Advent hope shines bright in the darkness. To better understand who we are called to be is to better understand the gift of hope that Advent provides because the hope of Advent is at the heart of faith.
**************************************
I love New York. In fact, I wish I would have had the opportunity to live there when Amy & I were younger. There is so much life buzzing in that city and that life always energizes me. Now I don’t have a clue what bowl game the Wake Forest Demon Deacon football team will be playing in this year. I also don’t know if I will be able to go to the game no matter when and where it is. However, if they are invited to play in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York and I somehow am able to attend, I want to make sure I stand in front of and experience “The Isaiah Wall” in person. I don’t want to miss that monument anymore. I want to feel those words etched in that granite.
More than anything I want to be reminded of the hope Isaiah saw for he saw a vision of something that wasn’t there yet. He saw an alternative vision of God’s creation. He saw a vision of creation as God intended: healed, mended, reconciled, peaceful. I want to be reminded because I can then make sure I take ownership of fulfilling my role – justice seeker, peacemaker, lover. I believe this type of reminder is critically important, but easily forgotten and I don’t want to forget so easily anymore.
The thing is this isn’t just my call. The call to be the justice seeker, the peacemaker, the lover is for everyone. It is for all of God’s people. Which is precisely why my prayer during this Advent Season is for all of us to be reminded of our roles and then claim them.
[PRAYER]
Amen!
