November 16, 2025: Peace-able Kindom

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 65: 17-25
The Gospel: Luke 21: 5-19      

In some ways our scriptures today seem to be opposites. Isaiah talks of a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more weeping, no deaths of infants, no invaders taking land and homes, where the span of life is over 100 years and even the wolf and lamb will feed together while the lion eats straw, rather than other animals. Whereas in the Luke scripture Jesus warns of wars, insurrection and destruction where nation rises against nation, and earthquakes, famine and plagues occur. He even tells his disciples that BEFORE that happens, they will be arrested and persecuted because of their connection to him. 

And yet, Jesus tells them, “This will give you an opportunity to testify” to your faith and assures them that they do not have to think of what to say ahead of time because “I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” Even though Jesus is telling them that their very families will turn on them because of him, he assures them that “Not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance, you will gain your souls.” 

Although from a very different perspective, that last line harkens back to the final line of the Isaiah text, “They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.” 

The faithful from Isaiah’s time and those from Jesus’ are just in different stages of the life cycle. Isaiah is writing in the 8th Century BCE at a time when Israel and Judah had been attacked by the Assyrians, the portion of the text we read today gives them hope for restoration, a return to a time of peace and prosperity. Jesus is speaking at a time when they are living under Roman rule knowing that this new religion that he is starting and they will spread, will bring his followers persecution from the Romans and, sometimes, fellow Jews. 

Yet in each case, the faithful are assured that they are on the right path and that they do not walk alone. God will be there to keep them from being destroyed, to give them the very words they need to fight against injustice and to show them that there is a future path where enemies will coexist in peace. 

It is this idea that Painter and Quaker Minister Edward Hicks tried to capture in his many Peaceable Kingdom paintings. 

Hicks began his career as a coach painter in an apprenticeship at the age of 13 in 1793. He became a Quaker in 1803 and by 1812 he is listed as a Quaker Minister. With a growing family, he still paid the bills through painting, branching out on his own and adding more decorative painting, household objects and tavern signs. However, the Quakers, advocating simple lives, did not like this, so he stepped away from this painting for a while, returning later as it best supported his large family. 

Ultimately, Hicks’ folk paintings became expressive of his faith. Wikipedia reminds us that “Hicks' work was influenced by a specific Quaker belief referred to as the 'Inner Light'. George Fox and other founding Quakers had established and preached the Inner Light doctrine. Fox explained that along with scriptural knowledge, many individuals achieve salvation by yielding one's self-will to the divine power of Christ and the "Christ within". This "Christ in You" concept was derived from the Bible's Colossians 1:27.  ‘27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’  Hicks depicted humans and animals to represent the Inner Light's idea of breaking physical barriers (of difference…) to working and living together in peace.” 

He painted somewhere between 50-100 versions of Peaceable Kingdom, 25 of which remain. Although not exactly alike, they all share images of Isaiah’s text of predator and prey lying peacefully together. Hicks added a contemporary twist by relating the idea of a peaceable kingdom to his beloved Pennsylvania - sometimes including William Penn making a treaty with Native Americans. He saw Penn as a peacemaker and reformer.  

Let’s imagine what Hicks would paint today if he was contemporizing his Peaceable Kingdom paintings for our times. Instead of the Native Americans signing a treaty with William Penn, maybe it would be the Ukranians and Russians or the Palestinians and Israelis or even Democrats and Republicans.
Maybe they would show immigrants living and working together in harmony with citizens in different countries, maybe they would show people who have extra sharing food, clean water and other resources with those in need. Maybe there would be an image of solar and wind farms balanced with clean rivers, forests, cities, and crop land. 

The idea of what a peaceable kindom is  (we call it kindom to show our democratic human connection) has changed but the need for it is still here and Jesus reminds us that we have an opportunity to testify to what is needed to lead with love and live in peace with our neighbors, our enemies, and all on our planet. Remember, Jesus said, “So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you the words and a wisdom that none of our opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” God is still creating within each of us, creating the words and the actions that will help bring that peaceable kindom where we remember that we are all a part of this interconnected, interdependent web of life that God created. We need to be patient and listen. 

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, peaceable means disposed to peace, not contentious or quarrelsome. And while I acknowledge that some people are more inclined to practice peace rather than arguments, I am guessing that none of us are peaceable all of the time. However, I would argue, ironically, that we are all Peace-able - meaning we are capable of leading with peace, if we just work at it. 

Think about it, no one runs a marathon or skis a double black diamond trail without some level of training. We are all peace-able but we can’t be peaceable unless we train as peacemakers. 

So how do we train? First we acknowledge that peace is possible. Like Hicks, we look at these scriptures as inspiration and we imagine the world at peace: where former enemies can share peaceful borders and can trade for their mutual benefit, where all people are safe with a roof over their heads, food, clean water and life supporting work, where humanity lives in harmony with the environment sowing only what is needed and respecting the land, creatures, and waters that support it. 

This may sound like a fantasy, but those things should actually be easier to attain, in theory, than the wolf and the lamb, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear living peaceably together. We humans have the capacity to compromise, the intellect to understand why we need to work together, the compassion to help others, and a God who will support us in the process. 

Once we know that peace is possible, we change to a growth mindset. We don’t say, “this will never happen” we say, “this hasn’t happened yet” and consider what we can do to make a difference. Think of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. and others who fought peacefully to bring a new earth for their people - one where they could be seen as equally human and worthy of the same respect and opportunities. 

We may not be peacemakers on that scale, but we can still lead by example, reaching out to those in need, even if they are different from us. We can reach out to others with power to try to work together to bring about positive change. It might start with smiling towards people more, making donations, writing letters to the editor, or volunteering. 

Each of us is peace-able. We have the capacity to be peacemakers and are supported by a God who will give us the words and the means to do so. We just need to start training; let’s make a workout schedule. Amen

Pastor Michelle Fountain