The Peaceable Kingdom

When I moved recently to Newtown, Pennsylvania, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of this little borough's rich history. Among other things, Newtown was the home of Edward Hicks, a Quaker preacher and sign-painter who became a well-known American primitive artist. To be more accurate, I should say Hicks is well-known to some. Not so much to my dad. In a sermon I found in his barrel, Dad wrote, "Last month on vacation I observed some paintings by an early American artist -- Hunter or Harris, I don't remember his name -- whose favorite theme was what he called 'The Peaceable Kingdom,' taken from the great peace text in Isaiah 11:6-8 about the lion and the lamb lying down together. He painted many variations of this theme" -- more than sixty by some counts.  Here's an example from a museum I visited last year, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco:

The Peaceable Kingdom - Edward Hicks

While my dad forgot Mr. Hicks' name, the people of Newtown never did. In fact, they erected a statue in his honor at a local playground, giving three dimensions to Hicks' famously flat depiction of the lion lying down with the lamb:

  

My father was drawn to Hicks' Peaceable Kingdom for a reason that isn't evident in the Newtown statue his paintings inspired. Hicks painted many varied images of this prophetic scene that many Christians associate with the end of time, "but always somewhere on the picture was a minute scene of William Penn signing a treaty with the Indians. Why? Because the artist was absolutely convinced that Penn's Treaty with the Indians marked the beginning of God's reign of peace on earth. ... [P]eople have been making incorrect identifications of [historic] events with Biblical predictions for centuries. ... This kind of [end times] speculation is still going on today, and it is just as spurious. It may seem harmless enough in itself, and it may be an interesting pastime, but the danger in it is the do-nothing attitude it creates as we sit and wait for God to do his thing. This approach [to the notion of peace on earth] has consciously or unconsciously rubbed off on many of us. It claims to be Biblical, but it is not."

"From beginning to end, the Bible sees the people of God as working strenuously to bring reconciliation and peace to the relationships between persons and God, between individual persons, and between groups of persons. In fact, there is a sense in which reconciliation of man to God and man to man is the whole mission and message of the Church. There is no reason for any of us to stand by looking at the terror and destruction in our world with a pious, smug attitude that this is the way it must be. The Bible never counsels this."

"In the Bible, peace, like the Kingdom of God in which it flourishes, is both a present reality and a future hope. When Jesus spoke about the Kingdom, he described it as if it were the early minutes of a beautiful sunrise. The first rays, perhaps even a hint of the sun itself, is clearly visible, but the viewer knows that soon the whole brilliant fiery ball itself will be above the horizon. And so peace is something for the here and now as well as for there and then. We have it here and now within our hearts through knowing God, and we also see it around us in significant islands and pockets, wherever love is being shown person to person."

"With all the hate and degradation there is in the world today, it is truly amazing how much good will and mercy we can see all around us if we are really looking for the Kingdom of God. Look at the lives that are being changed; look at all the many movements there are today promoting freedom and development and human[ dignity.] These are the first rays of the sunrise; the first fruits of the Kingdom. We know not when or how [peace] will finally come in all its glory, but we do know that for now, at least, God chooses to make it happen through us. Whether God continues to use us in this great work will depend on how faithful we will be. We can never rest or withdraw. The People of God, spurred by the first rays of the sun, are committed to action and involved in peacemaking because we believe peace is possible. Yes, even more, we know peace is coming. We know this because we follow the Prince of Peace."  

From "Is Peace Possible?"
Texts: Micah 4:1-4, Isaiah 11:6-8
Preached at Grace UMC, Millersville, PA