"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid,…"

I suspect that all of you have heard this very old saying. The saying goes as follows: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" A very observant gentleman and dog lover named Norman Leblanc carried this thought a step further when he said, " A dog a day keeps the doctor away!" It seems to me, however, in looking at what is happening around us in the world today that it is going to take a lot more than an apple or a dog to cure what ails us. Perhaps some of you have reached this same conclusion.

Among the ailments I see around us are the hurts, the pain, the suffering, and even the deaths caused by our prejudices. The prejudices I see are those of individuals, groups, and nations against those who are different. These prejudices are usually directed towards people who are different in race, color, creed, religion, political affiliation, economic status or sexual orientation. I see wars taking place between and within nations. I see conflicts between people of different religious faiths.

In many of these wars and conflicts people use their differing beliefs about God along with their differing ideas about what God expects from us as the reason for these wars and conflicts. I often wonder what God thinks about such wars fought on his behalf. Do you think that God wants or needs wars to be fought by any of us about who is right in their beliefs about God? Such reasoning puzzles me. Perhaps it is the same for you.

I also see women being treated as second-class citizens in many nations around the world. In some societies women are still treated as property. Even in our own magnificent country discrimination against women still occurs. The discrimination here occurs to a lesser extent than elsewhere, but it still occurs, even after many have struggled for decades to change this reality.

Along with you I have seen discrimination against those of color, against immigrants, and against those whose sexual orientation is different from ours. These prejudices against such others often results in mistreatment of them socially, in the workplace, as well as in the military service. Sometimes these kinds of prejudices end up in violence against the victims and in the worst cases their deaths.

Against this background of pain and suffering in the world, however, we heard good news this morning. We heard this good news about our future here in our Old Testament bible reading. We heard a message from God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah.

We heard that our world is not going to be forever as it is today. We heard through Isaiah that a time is coming, "When the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling 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." Such words as these are signs from God that a better world is coming in which there will be peace and harmony. This better world will be void of the pain, the hurts and the suffering caused by the prejudices mentioned previously.

We also heard that a person sent by God, a shoot from the stump of Jesse, would initiate these vital changes for the better in our world. This prophecy, spoken by Isaiah, foretold the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world to begin the work needed here.,/P>

There are those around us who will say that this prophecy is pie in the sky thinking and talking. There are those who will say that the world has gone too far down its destructive and hurtful paths for the world to be made into the kind of paradise described by Isaiah. There are those who will say that all of the different kinds and groups of people on earth will never be able to get along in peace and harmony.

What do you think? Do you agree that these statements are true or do you believe that there is hope for us and for our offspring as described by Isaiah?

In searching for answers to these questions I looked for evidence to see which way our world seems to be headed. Are we coming closer to becoming the paradise described by Isaiah, or are we moving closer to becoming what could be called "hell on earth"?

I looked first at the life of Jesus. For me Jesus could be called the great includer. Jesus spent his whole life reaching out to include and care for those who were different. Jesus reached out to include in his community those who were excluded from the society of his day. Jesus reached out in love to include sinners, lepers, women, outcasts, tax collectors, foreigners, the poor and even those who persecuted and later crucified him. Jesus reached out to all to heal them, feed them, love them, forgive them and teach them how to live in love, peace and harmony. Jesus showed us in his life how to change the world for the better.

I also looked at the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi brought about major changes for the better to people who had few rights and who were discriminated against in both South Africa and India. In South Africa, Indians as well Blacks were treated as second-class citizens. Gandhi worked to change for the better the way Indians were treated in South Africa. In India Gandhi led the Indians to freedom from British rule. Gandhi also did much to change the evil caste system prevalent in India for centuries. But above all Gandhi showed us a new way to bring about major changes in societies and in the way people treat each other. Gandhi was a pioneer in the use of non-violent resistance as a way to bring about change. Many groups have used this method successfully since Gandhi to bring about needed social changes. Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu continued the work of Gandhi in South Africa to end the Apartheid system there.

I also looked at recent history in our own Country. I looked especially at the life of Martin Luther King. King followed many of the same methods used by Gandhi to help end discrimination against African Americans in America. Because of the brave work done by King and his many followers discrimination here against African Americans has been drastically reduced in our lifetime. For me the accomplishments of these great men in making our world a better place to live seem miraculous.

On a more personal level, I reflected on my own life. I thought about how my views have changed over time about those who are different from me. As most of you know I grew up in the southeastern part of our Country. My early years spent in the South were the 30's and 40's when full segregation of African Americans was still in effect. This discrimination manifested itself in many ways. African Americans had to use separate water fountains and toilets. They had to ride on the back of public buses and streetcars. They had to eat in separate restaurants and stay in separate hotels. They attended separate and inferior schools. I learned from my elders and from my peers that this is the way things were supposed to me. In my ignorance, I blindly accepted these ways and did nothing or said nothing to change these injustices.

I also heard from my elders and peers that additional other people and groups who were different were suspect and were not to be welcomed into our community. Theses others included, Jews, Yankees, Foreigners, Catholics, and even Baptists. I heard very little talk about homosexuals until much later in my life, but what I heard was not good.

It was not until I moved away from the South that my views towards those who were different from me began to change. A main factor influencing these changes in my attitudes towards others was my regular opportunity to work with and interact with many different kinds of people on a daily basis. I discovered over time that all people at the deepest levels are not that much different from me and that different from others. I discovered that the wants and needs of all people are basically the same. I discovered that indeed we are all children of God. I owe much to the members of this congregation for educating me thoroughly and bringing about my changed views towards those who are different. Truly this congregation does welcome and include all just as they are. You have taken to heart the words of Jesus when he said, "Come unto me all of you who are heavily laden, and I will refresh you."

In conclusion I would like to share with you an experience my wife Pat had with the risen Jesus. I tell you this with her permission. This experience of hers occurred partially in a dream. In this dream Pat described how she was in great pain and was very upset by the way things were in the world around her. She was upset by all the pain and suffering that she saw in the world. And she was most upset by the fact that she could do so little to reduce the pain and suffering that she saw. It was at this point in the dream that Jesus appeared to Pat and touched her on the arm. Jesus comforted her first by his loving presence and then by what He said to her. Jesus said, "Pat, it is not your job to remove all the pain and suffering that you see in the world. Just do what you can. Let others do their part as well." It was at this point in the dream that Pat awakened and noticed that her arm was still warm and aglow where Jesus had touched her.

After considering all of this evidence of change for the better in our world I am convinced that we are slowly moving towards the paradise that was described by Isaiah. Perhaps you have reached the same conclusion. I am encouraged that my prejudices towards others have been changed in my lifetime. If this is so, the same can occur in any other person. Few of us will be called to bring about miraculous changes in the way we treat each other as it was with Jesus, Gandhi, King, Mandela and Tutu. But I believe that each of us is called to do our part, just as it was with Pat. And based upon such loving and caring actions by all of us towards others, surely someday in the future, "The wolf will live with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid."

Amen.