A World Without Trauma (2nd Advent A)

A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Rincon, GA, on Sunday, December 7, 2025, the 2nd Sunday Advent (Year A).

Image Credits: https://www.acatholic.org/tuesday-december-1-from-the-stump-of-jesse/

Primary Bible Reading(s)

(Click on December 7, 2025, to see all of the Lectionary Texts)

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)

1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow[a] out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

A World Without Trauma

By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA

A few weeks ago, I was driving to my gym for a workout in the afternoon. It was some time after school had gotten out but before the sun went down. I was driving on Eisenhower Drive near Abercorn Street in Savannah, where it is a four-lane road with the occasional turning lane or median. That’s why I was surprised to see two children ahead of me waiting in the median to cross the street. There’s not a lot of foot traffic on that road to begin with, and not a crosswalk in sight. They looked like two brothers, one about 10 years old and the other about 6. 

I was in the right lane with nobody close to me in front, behind, or to my left. The boys waited patiently in the middle of the road, and the older brother seemed to make eye contact with me to indicate that he saw me and that they were going to cross after I passed by. I was going under the speed limit and maintained speed just to be safe. But then suddenly, the younger brother darted across the street, right in front of my vehicle. The older brother called out his name in frustration and fear. I slammed on the breaks! I felt the tires skid to a halt just a few feet in front of the boy, who looked stunned, like a deer in the headlights. Everyone was safe, but my heart was pounding. The older brother ran across the street to meet the younger one, certain to scold and lecture him about how dangerous it was to run out in front of traffic. 

I wondered why the smaller child decided to cross then and there. I wondered why the older brother wasn’t holding the younger’s hand. I wondered why they were crossing the street alone in the first place. More troublingly, I wondered what would have happened if I weren’t paying careful attention to my surroundings, or if my feet hadn’t reacted quickly enough, or if my brakes failed. My adrenaline remained spiked, and my head kept spinning. My workout performance was predictably blah.

That rush of fear, anger, and anxiety is what psychologists call trauma responses, better known as “fight or flight.” It is our body’s natural response to perceived danger. Like all animals, we human beings prepare to defend ourselves when something threatens us. And despite all the negative press about the health risks associated with trauma and high anxiety, at its core, this is a healthy, beneficial biological function. We need this anxious response in order to survive the real dangers out there, whether in the form of oncoming traffic, aggressive people, or predators in the wild.

And this prophecy from Isaiah 11 flips all these trauma responses on their heads. The portion that caught my eye and connected to this recent driving incident begins in verse 8: “The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den” (Isaiah 11:8). In case you don’t know, “asp” and “adder” are old words for snakes, specifically venomous vipers. And I don’t know about you, but if I saw any child, especially one I love, playing with snakes, I would flip out. It’s the ancient equivalent of kids playing in traffic and running out into the middle of the street. You should never do it.

So why does Isaiah use this striking image? This prophecy is helping us to imagine what the world will be like when God sets everything right. When Jesus Christ comes again to remake the world and rule it in perfect righteousness, all of creation will be transformed. On that day, wolves will lie down with baby sheep, leopards with baby goats, and lions with baby cows (Isaiah 11:6). The predators and their prey will become friends instead of enemies. Today, when sheep, goats, and cows see fierce predators like wolves, leopards, and lions, they run. They get that same trauma response that sends them into flight. But in the future Reign of God, they don’t. They are no longer in danger because the lions have become herbivores — “the lion shall eat straw like an ox” (Isaiah 11:7).

Imagine feeling completely safe no matter who or what you encounter. Imagine letting your baby play with lions, wolves, and snakes, or letting them run into the street with no care in the world. “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). That is God’s dream for us. That is the Kingdom of God that Jesus preaches about (in continuity with the Hebrew prophets like Isaiah). That’s what we mean when we talk about “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). God’s Reign will completely upend the natural order of things and transform our relationships so that we truly live in peace and harmony with one another. It will be a world without trauma.

But for that to happen, again, the predators need to change. They can’t go on devouring the young and the weak. There cannot be peace if the predators keep on hunting and killing. They have to start eating grass. There cannot be peace if the vipers keep biting. They need to welcome human children into their homes, not attack them at the door. There cannot be peace if we who are powerful misuse and abuse our power. We need to break the cycles and stop traumatizing each other.

In Advent, we spend time listening to stories and images from scripture about the coming Reign of God, the future that God promises for us. That’s because Advent is about waiting for Jesus’ second coming as much or more than it is about the anniversary of his birth on Christmas. And our waiting is not passive. We don’t just sit back and relax. Our waiting is an active practice of discipleship. Our waiting happens through following Jesus daily, praying and meditating on scripture, worshiping and fellowshiping in our community, works of mercy to people in need, and, yes, turning away from sin that harms our neighbors. In Advent we wait by practicing mercy and forgiveness, the kind that makes it possible for lambs and wolves to snuggle together in a field. We wait by giving up dangerous but routine habits, like lions eating straw instead of oxen. We wait by creating safe spaces where people can let go of their anxiety and trauma and receive God’s boundless love. 

Let us pray…