Between all saints Sunday and election Tuesday

May we live for peace, today and every day

Fellow Pilgrims,

Tomorrow is election day in the United States. I’m glad that yesterday was the feast of All Saints, when the church remembers that we’re united as one, the living and the dead, gathered in communion around the throne of the lamb who was slain.

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

In this digital collage, I’ve imagined Isaiah’s vision of a kingdom of peace. Feel free to share this image. If you’d like a hi-res version, without the watermark, you can purchase one here.

I teach a class this Tuesday night. We’ll be talking about the doctrine of creation. We’ll be talking about how God is good and never evil. I’ll be leading my students in prayers for peace. I will never bow before a king Trump or a King Harris. I will hope to continue to live as a free citizen of a free United States. I will not pretend I am not worried, but I know for certain that King Jesus reigns over heaven and earth. The kingdom is not America. It is global. It is all and all.

In the Spirit, could we reach out in peace to that neighbor with the wrong sign in their yard? That Samaritan? I know you don’t understand why they have that sign. I don’t understand it either. I can’t comprehend it. They don’t don’t understand your sign either. That’s what this world will give us. Incommensurability. Mutual incomprehension. Mutual montrosity. Violence. Tribes carved out of neighborhoods, gerrymandering the politicians didn’t even have to make the lines for. But still the King is the King of peace, the Lion of Judah is the Lamb.

And even the language of war is tranfigured in the light of his saints.

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Peaceful Kingdom

Isaiah 11:1-9

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see
    or decide by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
    and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb;
    the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Grace & peace,

BFJ

---

Consider taking a class with me at Northern Seminary, where we talk about theology, doctrine, the bible, and many other wonderful topics.

And check out streaming video courses on theology, church history, biblical studies, and more at Seminary Now. See my course and others from leading authors and professors.

---