Isaiah 2:1-5   First Sunday of Advent

Advent begins today and (spoiler alert!) we’re waiting for something that’s already here.  As Christians we proclaim Jesus as the Prince of Peace, and yet we seem surrounded by war and conflict and oppression.  We live in this constant and difficult tension – some call it, “already and not yet.”  We claim that through Jesus God’s realm of peace for all nations has already begun, even while we are mindful that not everyone believes or is willing to participate.

Our beliefs empower our actions.  Our actions can initiate change.  Peter Drucker once said that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.”  Our lives will fundamentally change as we engender a culture of faith and community among ourselves and begin to share that culture with others around us.  The more we make ploughshares from swords, the more people will see, learn, and join our way of living in the world.