Walking in the Light of the Lord – Isaiah 2:1-5

The prophet Isaiah lived through some of the most turbulent times in the history of the people of Israel. He was alive when the Assyrians conquered the nation of Israel in 721 BC, and the people were sent into exile - an event that led many of them to believe that they had lost favour with God and that their life with God was over. The land was the promised inheritance of the people, and they believed its loss meant the loss of all that they hoped for and lived for.

But while this was a traumatic event, the prophet Isaiah had a message about the future. The chosen people of God were now to be a light to the nations. God was revealing to the people the real reason why they had been chosen – not because they were superior to other nations but because they were to be the servants of the Most High God who were to lead the other nations of the world to the God they had served for generations.

Isaiah saw the nations of the world coming to the realization that all their attempts to bring peace and order to their peoples have failed. They see only one path now and that is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, the God of the ancestors of the Hebrew people.  The other nations would make the decision to go up to the place where God would be revealed - the mount of Zion - that they might be taught the ways of God and learn to walk in his paths; and they would allow God to pronounce judgments between their nations and decide contentious issues. They would recognize that the justice given by God would be a justice that none could contest for it would be fair and equitable and lead to real peace among the nations. There would no longer be a need for weapons of destruction. Swords and spears would be turned from the taking of life to implements designed to foster and sustain life.

That is the future Isaiah saw. And it is that vision that he encouraged the people to embrace. “Come and walk in the light of the Lord,” he says. This is the future that was always in the mind of God, and it is one that the people can still have a place in.

They needed to show the world that to walk in the light of the Lord was to come to a place not of condemnation and hopelessness but to a place of reconciliation, peace and hope. They needed to lead by example that others might be encouraged to hear and learn the ways of God that they too might live lives of peace and hope. Moving toward the light would bring the nations to a place where the shadows of war and contention would dissipate and the light of God’s peace, mercy and forgiveness would shine.

Today we are able to celebrate the greatest sign of peace and hope as we remember the sacrifice of the Lamb of God whose teaching and leading brought light to the world. As we approach this table, may we recognize that we have been called by faith to fulfil our covenant with God by the light we shed in the world – a reflection of the light that is in Christ.   This Advent, let us come and walk in the light of the Lord!

AMEN