Please read the passage before the commentary.

This passage from the prophet Isaiah starts out, “On that day.”  Let me start out “In the beginning,” when God created everything out of nothing.  Everything has one common origin, made out of nothing and created by the one God.  There is, therefore, a unity in creation involving the solar systems, planets, rocks, rivers, living things, animals and humans.

Then sin entered into the world.  People broke their covenant with God.  Because of this, the rest of creation rebelled against us humans.  The thought was that if people could revolt against God, then the rest of creation can rebel against people.

However, on that day, “when a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb and there shall be no harm or ruin on God’s holy mountain.”  In other words, there shall be a return to the original unity of creation with God.

The rupture with creation was the state of affairs in the time of Isaiah.  That was the same state of affairs in the time of John the Baptist.  That is the same state of affairs in our time.

Isaiah answered the call in his time.  John the Baptist answered the call in his time.  It is up to us to answer the call in our time.  Isaiah was a prophet.  John the Baptist was a prophet.  We are prophets also.  We may not be dressed like Isaiah, like Elijah, or like John the Baptist, but we are prophets for our time.

We have a task, to be a force restoring unity to creation and God.  Our conflicts in Congress, our behaviors with others closer to home, our negative attitudes towards other people and countries are not from God and are not Christian.  They are from the Devil.  Our conflict with nature is a losing battle because nature will win in the end.  We have only to repent of our sins.  Then the wolf will lie down with the lamb and there will be no hurt or ruin on God’s holy mountain.