Show Notes
In this episode of Peaceable & Kind, Derek Vreeland reflects on the prophetic vision of Isaiah 2:1–5 and what it means for Christians to “play war no more.” Through scripture, personal reflection, and current events, Derek explores the way of Jesus as a call to nonviolence, patience, and peacemaking in a world marked by conflict and division. Key Takeaways
War is impatience. Fighting often stems from restless, hurried lives that resist waiting on God.
Jesus is the answer. He embodies God’s covenant faithfulness and calls us to love our enemies.
Nonviolence is a habit. Like fighting, it can shape us—this time into the image of Christ.
We can start now. The vision of peace in Isaiah is not only for the future; it begins with us today.
Scriptures mentioned in this episode:
Genesis 12:1-3
Isaiah 2:1-4
Books mentioned in this podcast:
Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us by Derek Vreeland
Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza edited by Bruce Fisk and J. Ross Wagner
Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggman
_A Field Guild to Christian Nonviolence by_David Cramer and Myles Werntz
Order Derek’s new book, Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us, here: https://amzn.to/42jSZAs
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Get to know the host: https://derekvreeland.com
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Transcript
Narrator: Welcome back. To another episode of Peaceable and Kind. I am your one-man host, Derek Vreeland, and we are here producing podcast episodes that plant seeds of peaceable. And kindness in our world. I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but things remain tense in our world, things remain anxious and angry There’s a lot of acrimony, and what we’re trying to do here is follow the footsteps of Jesus. and being the children of God by creating peace, making peace. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called the sons of God. And so on this episode, we’re going to dive deep into that theme of peace over war And I bet that this episode will not only be encouraging to you, but perhaps it’ll challenge you a bit. And I’m fine with that. Peacemaking in the way of Jesus is not always playing nice. Peacemaking in the way of Jesus is not trying to make people always feel comfortable Jesus in his teaching didn’t do that. If you follow Jesus in the Gospels, it didn’t take long before people were trying to kill him And ultimately, Jesus was executed, not because he was trying to start a new religion, but because he was proclaiming the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God will always challenge the kingdoms of men. And so before we get started with this episode, let me encourage you to subscribe if you haven’t already. Share this episode or a previous episode. And if you like what we’re doing here at Peaceable and Kind, leave a rating and review. I would appreciate that. Well, we’re a couple weeks into the launch of my new Bible study, Incarnation, and it’s been a whirlwind, but I’m excited that the book is out there. that people are getting it in their hands and they are using it. I wrote this Bible study for small groups to use and discuss or it can be used by individuals as a personal devotional. It has Advent and Christmas themes. So if you’ve gotten hold of Incarnation, find a group and read and study and discuss things together or use it. during the season of Advent and Christmide to grow in your faith. I wrote questions in every chapter or every lesson, and I call them reflection questions. In fact, there are 10 questions per chapter. And there’s lots of space for you to jot down your own thoughts, or if you’re in dialogue with other people, you can jot down notes from your conversation. But I wrote this with individuals and groups in mind. This is not just a book to read, but this is a way to explore the scriptures. And it is the first book in a three-book series. We’re calling the series God in the Neighborhood. And book one, Incarnation, which is already out, has that Advent Christmas theme Book two and three, these two books get released in February next year. Book two is crucifixion, it has a Linton theme. Book three, Resurrection, of course, has an Easter theme. So I’m looking forward to the complete series being out there, but what we have right now is book one. And so on this episode, I want to take some themes from chapter two or lesson to entitled Playing War No More, which is a reflection on Isaiah chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. I chose this passage for the Incarnation Bible study because I was thinking about Advent. Now we’re still weeks and weeks away. The first Sunday of Advent is November 30th, so we still have some time before Advent rolls around. But the season of Advent is how the Christian calendar, how the church calendar gets started. And Advent is all about waiting We all love Christmas, right? The joy that comes with Christmas. I mean, who doesn’t like Christmas? We all love Christmas But for Christians, we don’t want to rush too quickly to Christmas joy. First, we want to wait. And that’s what Advent is about. It’s marked by this four Sundays before Christmas. And it helps us to slow down and to be patient. And anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not by nature a patient person. My children will be the first to testify of that. My oldest son is ten years older than my youngest, and you can definitely see Different parenting styles. I’ve apologized to my oldest son saying, please forgive me. I made lots of mistakes. But my youngest son, 10 years later, got a much more patient father than my first two kids did. I’m not by nature patient. I love speed and efficiency. I like getting things done. I like getting things done quickly. So waiting and patience, these are not things that I naturally have, but I can say that waiting comes easier for me these days. And one of the reasons is for well over 10, maybe 12 years now, I’ve really been entering into the season of Advent. Learning to wait before the Christmas celebration has certainly made me a more patient person, but I’m not yet perfected. I haven’t arrived As I compare my tendencies even today to want to push forward and hurry up, and I compare that to the person and work of Jesus, I know I have a long way to go. I recognize that my my struggle with patience, it really is a deficiency. Because if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s that a rushed An impatient life is not good. It’s nothing to celebrate. A rushed decision is normally a wrong one What I have found is that folly usually follows right behind impatience. And so fighting is always an act of impatience. So fighting, whether between nations or family members, fighting or arguments often erupt because we are Impatient. I certainly have not been the best version of myself when I am restless and sped up and hurried. And so Advent has been given to us, and I’ve received it personally, it’s been given to me to grow in the grace of patience. So Advent beginning November 30th is that season when we can slow down. when we can reflect, when we can remind ourselves that we still need a savior to come and rescue us. In this regard, Advent gives us time to lament that all is not well with God’s world. War is an example of everything gone wrong in God’s good world. War is impatience. Recently, I started reading Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza. It’s a collection of essays edited by Bruce Frisk and J. Ross Wagner on the Christian response. to what has become an absolute massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. And it is absolutely heartbreaking A May 2025 report from UNICEF notes that more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza. since October 2023, and I’m sure that that number has grown. Again, I I want to sow seeds of peaceableness and kindness, but We cannot avoid tragedies that are happening in God’s good world Now, I’m not a just war theorist, but even if you hold to just war theory, what Israel is doing, their ongoing assault on Gaza, doesn’t even fit that criteria. Now, if you’re not familiar with just war theory, it has been one way that Christians have grappled with how and when war is necessary, how and when war is justifiable. The groundwork was laid by Augustine and Aquinas And it has become the default position of evangelicals in the United States. It has simply become an assumption that if you’re a Christian, well, of course, you believe in just war theory I’m not a just war theorist because of the weakness of the argument theologically speaking, but because the history of the theory is being used to promote more and more violence. That’s what history has shown. For just war theory to say that there is justifiable war always keeps war on the table. And if war is always on the table, guess what mighty nations are gonna do? They’re gonna go to war. So I’m not a just war theorist, but neither am I a pacifist either. When people have heard me critique just war theory, which I have done over the years, they will assume that I I’m a pacifist, and I’m not a pacifist either. Pacifism is another theory in how Christians have grappled with why we should not engage in warfare But I’m not a pacifist. I’m a follower of Jesus who teaches us to love our enemies and resist retaliation. So I do subscribe to Christian nonviolence, non-retaliation, and enemy love because this is what Jesus taught. And I would rather start from a position of peacemaking and then consider what concessions need to be made towards constraining evil. whether that includes violent acts or not. I’d rather be in that position rather than starting from a position of just war and then considering what concessions need to be made in order to see peace. I would rather start from the place of peacemaking. Stanley Howard was said it best Christians are called to nonviolence not because we think nonviolence is a strategy to rid the world of war, but rather in a world of war. As faithful followers of Christ, we cannot imagine being anything other than nonviolent. I heard Howard Watt say that in a lecture. probably fifteen, maybe twenty years ago, and I believe that to be true. So I don’t have it all figured out. All that I know is that I am following in the footsteps of Jesus. And as a faithful follower of Jesus, I can’t imagine being anything other than nonviolent. So for me to bring up the destruction of Gaza is not to point the finger of blame in the direction of Israel. Antisemitism is a deadly virus that the Western world cannot seem to shake. I recognize that the Jewish people are created in the image of God with worth and dignity, and they have the right to exist. I love Jewish people as much as I love Palestinians. I deeply lament the violence that has occurred in Israel most recently. The 251 hostages taken. On October 7th, 2023, is something I deeply lament. And I cry out, Lord, have mercy I cannot imagine being a a Jewish person with children or friends who were who were taken away violently as hostages. I don’t have all the answers. I just continue to cry out, Lord, have mercy. And so I do pray regularly for the peace of Jerusalem. I also pray for the peace of Gaza. And I do not pretend that I have any answers. I’m not here to offer answers. I’m here to offer a reflection of what I see. and to point you to Jesus. I don’t have all the geopolitical answers in how Israelis and Palestinians can live together But I do know that Jesus is the answer. Recently I’ve been singing in my head or out loud if I’m alone that old Andre Crouch song, Jesus is the answer. for the world today, above him there is no other. Jesus is the way. But before we get to Isaiah two, I wanted some reflection on war, because War is impatience, and patience is necessary for a peaceable life So, if that is true, and I believe that it is, all that we can do as followers of Jesus is look to Jesus and imitate Jesus. Now, we can look in the Old Testament, and we did that in a few episodes back. We were looking in the Old Testament, why the Old Testament is necessary. And wrestling somewhat with the violence that we see. So if you’re looking in the scriptures in the Old Testament, where do we find hope for peace? I mean, people will often say to me, the Old Testament is so violent, there’s so much bloodshed and war, even war commanded by God. So where do we look? We look to the prophets. One of the reasons that I love reading and studying and teaching the scriptures is because all the peaks and valleys There’s places in the Old Testament, I’m thinking, like judges in particular, all the warfare of David, and then the divided kingdom. These are all low points. But for me, when I get to the prophets, particularly Isaiah, we start to reach some of those, those peaks I love looking into the scripture because of that dynamism. It’s such a fantastic story. And so we love the Old Testament and read the Old Testament, but we recognize that’s not the end. of the story. The story finds its fulfillment in Jesus. But I love the prophet Isaiah. And often during Advent and Christmas time, I’m reading through Isaiah, even if it’s not The passages from the Old Testament given to me. In the lectionary, I still love reading through Isaiah I gotta jump into this podcast episode to let you know I have a new book that’s out. Incarnation. Eight lessons on how God meets us is available now. Go order it. Link is in the show notes. The prophets give us hope. Walter Brugeman, in his book Prophetic Imagination said that the role of the Old Testament prophets was to both energize Israel with fresh imagination on what it looked like to be faithful to God. But also the prophets criticized Israel, warned Israel that if they continue to practice idolatry and injustice, that judgment was coming. So, what we see in Isaiah, particularly in Isaiah chapter 2, is the prophet energizing Israel, giving them hope and fresh imagination. regarding what was going to happen when the Messiah would come. And for Christians, we believe Israel’s Messiah is King Jesus, who is the King not only of Israel, but the King of the world. And so let’s look at a couple of verses in Isaiah chapter 2, and I’m going to be reading these from the message translation. This is from lesson two in my Bible study incarnation And the entire God in the Neighborhood Bible study series is a Bible study using the message translation by Eugene Peterson. So again, in reading through the message, it might sound a little different than what you’re used to, but I encourage you to allow those differences to inspire your imagination. So let’s look. Isaiah chapter 2, just the first two verses to begin. Isaiah 2, 1 and 2. The message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem. There’s a day coming when the mountain of God’s house will be the mountain, solid, towering over all mountains. All nations will river towards it. People from all over set out for it God has always wanted to be a father with a big multi-ethnic family The Bible shows us this clearly in the call of Abram in Genesis chapter twelve There God is calling Abram, and changes the name ultimately to Abraham, calling him, saying, I will make you great, and from you will be this great nation. And that blessing is not just for you, but through Abraham and Abraham’s descendants, according to Genesis 12, all the families of the earth will be blessed. And by the way, this is how election works, particularly in a in a Jewish context. In Jewish election, the Hebrew People were elected and chosen to be the chosen people of God. Not so much that God would save one group of people and discard the rest. Rather, God chose Abraham and his descendants to be his own people, his special people, so that through them God could open the road to the mountain of God’s house for all people, all ethnic groups, not just Jews, but Gentiles as well. Let’s move on. Look at verse 3. They’ll say, come, let’s climb God’s mountain. Go to the house of the God of Jacob. He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made. Zion’s the source of the revelation. I love this image of God’s house, God’s family, as being a mountain. And not only will God open the road to all nations to come to the mountain of God, but also the nations will put forth the effort. To climb that mountain, to draw near to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one true God of creation. If you’ve ever spent any time in the mountains, you know the effort necessary in ascending a mountain. I was in Colorado a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to do that. And when you’re not acclimated to elevation, we were climbing up over 10,000 feet. If you’re not acclimated, I mean for me, I take a couple of steps and then I gotta stop and catch my breath. It requires some work in climbing and ascending that mountain. And so, in this beautiful picture in Isaiah 2, it says, all the nations will come to learn the ways of God. The way God works in the world, so that they can say, we can live the way we’re made. Now, this is one of the uniquenesses of the message translation Most English translations render this verse something like this: There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. That’s the New Living translation of Isaiah 2. 3. And again, that’s helpful, but the message goes deeper, capturing the heart of what it means to walk in God’s paths In walking God’s way, we can live the way we were made because we were made in God’s image. We were created by the God who is love to walk in the ways of love. When we walk on another path, we’re not being true to who God has made us to be. But when we are putting forth the effort to ascend the mountain of God, when we are learning his ways, we’re becoming who we were made to be. And we were made to be people who love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves, even loving our enemies. Now we’ll get to that in just a moment, but let’s move on to verse 4, Isaiah 2, 4. He’ll settle things fairly between nations. He’ll make things right between many peoples. They’ll turn their swords into shovels, their spears into hose. No more will nation fight nation. They won’t play war anymore. So How is God going to have all of these nations, all of these different ethnic groups living together on God’s mountain? Well, he’s going to teach them to play war no more. God will settle their disputes fairly. and teach them how to turn weapons of fighting into implements of farming. Again, Isaiah 2. 4 has a beautiful image there, beating their swords into plowshares, as most English translations render it. Or, as we see here in the message, they’ll turn their swords into shovels, their spears into gardening hose. We cannot accomplish this peaceful coexistence on our own Not with the current state of our divided people and divided neighborhoods and our very fractured world. We need God’s help. If we’re going to climb the mountain of the Lord and learn war no more, we need God. to come in human form, in human flesh, and show us how to live without fighting, how to play war no more. We need God to come and to move into our neighborhood. And demonstrate the way of forgiveness and compassion and peacemaking and mercy giving. And this is what has happened in and through Jesus The incarnation is the eternal Son of God taking on flesh. It is the image of God coming to us. to rescue us, to save us, to heal us, and to show us how to live the way we were made. Now some would claim that this will happen when Jesus returns. But I always want to respond: why can’t we start living that way now? The story of Israel and Judah is this cyclic story of Faithfulness to God, temptation, sin, judgment, repentance, and then back to faithfulness. If you read through the story of Israel in the Old Testament, you see that cycle repeated over and over and over The people of God are faithful to God, they get tempted to worship idols, false gods, they fall into temptation, and idolatry always leads to immorality and injustice. They begin to sin, God judges them, not to simply punish them as wrongdoers, but God punishes them so that they will repent and return to covenant faithfulness, which they do. So this story is repeated again and again in the Old Testament, and Jesus brings the long-awaited conclusion to that story. Jesus comes to put an end to that cycle of faithfulness, temptation, sin, judgment, repentance, and back to faithfulness. Jesus embodies God’s covenant faithfulness. And Jesus proclaims, this was in John 8. 12, I am the world’s light No one who follows me stumbles around in darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in. Jesus comes as the light of the world shining that light into dark places. War is a dark place. And Jesus wants to shine the love of peacemaking into that world. And so I agree with David Kramer and Miles Wirtz in their book, A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence. that nonviolence is a virtue. It is a habit that we practice now that forms us into people of peace. Now, we do believe that Jesus is going to return, that Jesus is going to come again and ultimately set right everything that’s gone wrong. He will judge all peoples, all nations at the end. We know that is coming. But because we know that the future is going to be peace and justice, And that sort of Hebrew sense of shalom and well-being and flourishing. Because we know that’s the future, we can start practicing that now. And so Kramer and Wernz are right that the practice of nonviolence is a habit that forms and shapes us Because fighting is a habit too, whether we are fighting and arguing with our neighbors where we live, or fighting people constantly on the internet, or even nations waging war against one another. Fighting and arguing and warfare can become a habit that forms us into a fighting people. And it does seem that these days, politically, the rhetoric has been so ratcheted up. that people on either side of the political spectrum see their goal as fighting the other side When Jesus wants to show us a better way. The way of mercy, the way of compassion, the way of understanding, the way of living together in peace. And so if you are in the habit of just constantly fighting, if you have that combative kind of spirit, It’s going to misform you, malform you. So if fighting can be a habit, then the practice of Christian nonviolence can also be a habit. It is a true virtue The more that we practice nonviolence, the more we become a nonviolent people. The more we make it an intentional practice that we’re not gonna fight, that we’re gonna listen, that we’re not gonna Go to war with our neighbors. We’re gonna try to find a way to live together. The more that we practice that, it begins to form and shape our character. We become a peaceable people. If we practice fighting in warfare, then we become a fighting and war-making people. But if we practice nonviolence and learn war no more, then we can become a true peaceable people, a a peaceable and kind people. Let me share a little bit more from their book, A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence, Kramer and Werntz Write. First, Christian nonviolence as imitation of Jesus becomes a practice by which we are formed into the image of Christ Not only are nonviolent Christians trained to be virtuous people, courageous in the face of danger, for example, But through habits of nonviolence, their natural passions and desires are refocused to Christ Second, if action is what displays the full range of the virtues, then Christian nonviolence shows the world what it means to be fully human. I love that so much because it resonates with Isaiah 2 here in the message that by the practice of Christian nonviolence by choosing not to fight and argue and blame and accuse and defeat our enemies. When we reject all that and choose to practice Christian nonviolence, We are more focused on Jesus. We’re becoming the way we were made to be, and that is fully human. So perhaps you have just assumed that the just war theory is the only Christian response to war in the world. Uh maybe you spend some time with that. Maybe submit that theory to Jesus and see what Jesus has to say about it I prefer to look to the scriptures, to look to the prophets, who tell us that there is coming a time when all the nations will climb God’s mountain and learn war no more. I believe Jesus has come. I believe Jesus has opened up the way to God’s mountain, and now we have the opportunity to learn war no more. So I do hope that this episode was both encouraging and challenging. If you feel challenged by parts of this Feel free to reach out to me. I am at Derek Vreeland on Facebook, on Blue Sky, on Threads, on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Reach out to me. Let me know what you’re thinking and how you’re being. challenged. Well that’s all that we have for today. Thank you for joining me for this episode.
Derek Vreeland: Go in peace and be kind.
This transcript was generated with AI and may contain errors.