We open Advent by reflecting on Isaiah 2:4–5, that beautiful vision of God’s future where swords become plowshares and nations learn war no more, reminding us that when God’s reign is fully realized, even the tools of violence will be transformed into tools of life. But instead of treating it as a distant hope, you bring it right into our everyday lives—into family tensions, holiday conversations, and the little conflicts we navigate with our words, tone, and reactions. You challenge us to examine the “weapons” we carry, not swords but sarcasm, sharp comments, and the things we say to win rather than love, and you invite us to turn those weapons into instruments of peace. Even though we can’t solve global conflict in a day, we can choose to cultivate peace in our homes, workplaces, and relationships, walking in the light of the Lord and living out the vision Isaiah paints.

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Good morning, y’all.
It’s good to be with you on this Monday morning. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. I hope you ate way too much, laughed a lot, and enjoyed good time with friends and family. But it’s good to be back together today as we begin the journey of Advent.

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, and now we start walking toward Christmas. And for these next few weeks, I thought we might do something a little different. You know we’ve been working our way through Luke — and don’t worry, we’ll get back there soon — but during Advent at St. Matthew’s, our prayer ministry put out these little UMC Advent devotionals.

Each day has a Scripture reading and a short devotion, and I thought it would be meaningful for us here in Rooted in Christ to reflect on the same passages. So if you’re around St. Matthew’s, come pick one up. But either way, each day I’ll read the passage for us, and at the end I’ll tell you what tomorrow’s passage is in case you want to read ahead.

So today — Monday, December 1 — our passage is Isaiah 2:4–5.
Let’s read it together:

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Isaiah 2:4–5 (NRSV)

*“He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
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 any more.

O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!”*

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Now this is a famous passage — one you’ve probably heard many times. We see almost these same exact words again in Micah 4. It’s a vision of what the world will look like when God’s will is fully done — when the Messiah reigns, when the world is healed and whole.

Isaiah says God will judge between the nations. That doesn’t mean He’s picking favorites. It means He will arbitrate — He’ll bring about justice, fairness, and peace. And then we get one of the most beautiful images in all of Scripture:
swords turned into plows… spears turned into pruning hooks.

The very tools we use for violence and destruction become tools for growth and life.

And then this line:
“Neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Can you imagine that? A world where war isn’t even something we study? A world where violence isn’t our natural instinct?

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” But we live in a world that often celebrates the opposite, don’t we?

We see wars across the globe.
We hear war-language in politics.
We even hear war analogies in sports.
And sometimes, if we’re honest, we see war happening within our own homes, our friendships, our families.

Many of you sat at Thanksgiving tables this week where certain topics were… let’s just say risky. So let me ask you gently:
In those moments of tension, were you a peacemaker?
Did you escalate — or de-escalate?
Did you bring anxiety — or did you bring peace?

Because most of the time, our “weapons of war” aren’t swords. They’re words.
It’s:

• our tone of voice
• our sarcasm
• the one comment we know will push the other person’s button
• the look, the sigh, the jab

When I do premarital counseling, one of the first rules I tell every couple is: don’t hit below the belt.
You know the words that win the fight but wound the heart.
You may win the battle, but you lose the war.

Isaiah shows us a world where those weapons don’t exist anymore — not because God hid them, but because His people have transformed them.
They’ve turned their swords into plows.
They’ve turned their spears into pruning hooks.

So here’s the question for us today:

What are you doing with your sword?

Are you sharpening it — or surrendering it?
Are you using it to cut — or converting it into something that cultivates life?

We may not be able to bring world peace today, but we can bring peace into the places where we live and move and interact.

Today, in your home, your workplace, your text messages, your conversations —
you can choose to be an agent of peace.
You can speak calm where others speak fear.
You can offer grace when others offer anger.
You can plant peace where others plant division.

Isaiah’s vision is not just a far-away hope.
It’s an invitation:
“O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
In other words:
Don’t just admire the vision — live into it.

So today, may you walk in the light of the Lord.
May you choose peace.
May you turn your sword into a plowshare.
And may you trust that the God who promises this future is already at work — right now — shaping us into the kind of people who can live it.

Thanks for being with us today.

Tomorrow’s passage, if you want to read ahead, is Romans 13:11–14.

Have a blessed day, and a blessed Advent.