Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2:3-4
Attending church on the first day of Advent was a true blessing! Fun fact: Advent means season of waiting (the return of Christ. The Sunday school lesson was entitled Swords into Plowshares. We always have a great Sunday school lesson with lots of heartfelt dialogue but today’s lesson was not only thought provoking but it really motivated us to think about how we could use the gifts and talents that God gave us to do “our Fathers business.”
As a part of the discussion, we talked about some events that happened last week and over the course of the weekend. There were several house fires, various shootings, and other traumatic events that took place. Outside of these horrific incidents, there were also some positive things that happened that are worth mentioning in today’s blog. By having this round table discussion, we saw how our youth are really soaking up the teaching not only from church but from what starts at home and how they take beyond the walls of home or church and into their community and the school house. Believe it or not there is a monumental shift going on in our communities and the initiative is being led by our young people, prayed for by our adult leaders, and being supported in organizations like CBF of South Carolina.
A family consisting of 3 generations had a game plan to support the “unseen population.” If you have ever been to Soda City in downtown Columbia, I’m sure you know that it is jammed packed with people. Amongst the vendors, shoppers, animals, missionaries, you have a growing population of unhomed persons or persons in transition. Often times these people are ignored, overlooked, or simply forgotten. By the grace of God, it was the mission of this precious family to not only allow these folks to know they were seen but that they were loved, children of God, and they too had a bright future!
Not only did they provide physical nourishment but they met other needs as well like providing jackets, blankets, hand written notes of encouragement but they had a time of fellowship and worship. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen done as a family. It wasn’t for the glitz and glam, the hopes of going viral by demeaning the very population they wished to help, or to get a bunch likes on FB…no it was about seeing a need, meeting the need, and using their “sword” to break down negative stereotypes, barriers, and more. I encourage you to look at the featured picture of the day as an example of what this precious did out of pure love. If you take the time to read the handwritten card, you will see the love, compassion, and kindness shown from these young people (simply amazing)!
Or I think about the young man who was so excited to celebrate his birthday with friends at a local trampoline park but due to an unforeseen situation, he found himself on the side of the road in a deserted area looking for help. He could have easily showed his natural brown skinned butt out of frustration for this situation messing up his plans but instead he prayed and trusted God. In the end, the family stumbled upon a park where the young man was able to go fishing. He didn’t have a fishing rod, bait or anything…he walked on the pier with nothing in his hand but he was determined to make the best of the situation. He was content knowing that despite the change of events, he was still going to have a blessed birthday. And so he did! He could have used his “sword” to mock his mom or blame his mom for his misfortune but instead he lightened her load by being content and grateful for the experience God allowed him to have.
My Sunday School book says: Isaiah says God promises not only to instrict humanity in peace and justice but also to redeem all the tools of war and even the knowledge of war. It goes on to say that the tools should be used to growing and harvesting which represents abundance and regeneration verses pain and toil.
These are both perfect examples of how we must turn our weapons into tools that build and not destroy.
As we know or may have experienced, there are folks who have great intentions but don’t feel empowered, they are distracted, or lack the confidence necessary to be set apart.
God designed us to walk on our Christian journey with others. You ever heard that saying,” you can’t do life alone?” Well just like you can’t do life alone, we are not designed to walk alone in our faith. He places people in our lives like Malachi, Elijah, Kami, Jacob, James, and others who allow God’s spirit to flow through them so beautifully. Their servant hearts are courageous.
I’m sure we have all had enough of politics- God wants us to shift our focus on how we can help our sisters and brothers.
There are so many ways we could think of turning our weapons into peaceful tools, could you think of any to share or some type of feedback that will benefit those of us who are wish to cancel out negativity, hate, etc.?
What an inspirational read and Word from God on our Sunday school lesson. As far as my gift, we’ll one of them is encouraging. So turning swords into plowshares for me is getting food out of my freezer that I planned to feed my family and cooking 3 fish and 5 loaves of bread, stretching It feeding 5,000(figuratively speaking) homeless people is turning swords into plowshares. I used to cook for many of my family that is passed on. Now the Lord has provided to where I can cook for many of other families that are less fortunate or fortunate, homeless, hungry, etc. I count it as pure joy as the Bible has instructed. The burning or longing void for my family is now filled with the sound of rumbling tummies longing for a hot hearty meal of children…of men…women…the void is now filled with the relief and satisfaction of knowing children are going to get fed…no one leaves with an empty stomach….The Bible says to love one another…. This event that is coming up on the 20th, Me, You, Tyesha coming together to do our Father’s Business is turning swords into plowshares. I see how so many homeless people are treated like they are not human or people always assume that homeless people all are on drugs or are scary. And truth be told they are our Christian brothers and sisters and they need hope too. Doing this event on the 20th will bring them hope. Madison speaking out on bullying will bring that little girl hope who wants to end it all, Joshua speaking about prayer and saying prayers will motivate our young people to open their Bible and challenge them to memorize scripture. It will hopefully challenge adults who don’t know scripture as well. God gave us all gifts and it is my prayer that we come together to promote peace, humility, and I pray that people have the courage to do so. I pray that people have the faith even if it’s just a mustard seed to show up. God will do the rest. Amen.
Amen.