Discovery Island is your \u201cmagical departure point\u201d for excursions into the different realms of the Animal Kingdom, says Disney. \u201cThe vibrant centerpiece of the park, Discovery Island, is adorned with colorful buildings that rise from the cool shadows of the Tree of Life.\u201d Hmm . . . the Tree of Life. It seems I\u2019ve heard of that somewhere before.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike Cinderella\u2019s Castle in the Magic Kingdom park, the Tree of Life is the icon of Disney\u2019s Animal Kingdom.\u201d Oh yes . . . Genesis! The creation story. The Tree of Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowering 14 stories and encompassing 50 feet at its base, it is a powerful symbol representing the interconnected nature of all living things.\u201d Let\u2019s see . . . in Genesis 3:24 the Lord God \u201cdrove out the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.\u201d It seems that God does not want people to take from this tree.
\nBut Disney sure makes it sound good: \u201cCarved into the gnarled roots, enormous trunk, and uplifted branches are the twisted, turning shapes of more than 300 animal forms. And the entire tree is surrounded by shimmering pools and grass filled with a host of birds and small mammals.\u201d Ah . . . paradise.<\/p>\n

Just watch out for that flaming sword!<\/p>\n

The fact is that God\u2019s peaceful kingdom has not fully come to earth, neither in Florida nor anywhere else on the face of the planet. Don\u2019t be fooled by the Tree of Life \u2013 it\u2019s a 14-story fake, although a beautiful one! And don\u2019t be tricked by the apparent harmony of the Animal Kingdom \u2013 it\u2019s a high-tech theme park!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the fake mist, which comes out of a spigot. Then, as if on cue, the fake gorilla that\u2019s perched a few feet away begins to roar, and then the whole fake rain forest ceiling begins to shake with fake thunderclaps. Of course, you can get the same effect at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.<\/p>\n

Disney tries to create a peaceful and more perfect world, but it is only an illusion. Wolves still attack lambs, animals get sick and die, and the Tree of Life is lifeless \u2013 a huge piece of decorative scenery. Clearly, the Animal Kingdom park intrigues us because it touches a chord deep within us: a longing for a world in which order replaces chaos and peace replaces conflict.<\/p>\n

But we are members of a Christian community that still has plenty of \u201cwild animals,\u201d people who fuss and fight and feast on each other\u2019s faults. We know that the peaceful kingdom will be constructed only by the One who, according to Isaiah, has the \u201cspirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord\u201d (Isaiah 11:2).<\/p>\n

Why is this? Why do we need a godly leader to bring us peace? Why can\u2019t we eliminate conflict on our own?<\/p>\n

Because peace is unnatural. It goes without saying that polar bears eat seals, and lions eat antelopes, my cat eats rodents \u2013 this is the natural order of things. But violence goes beyond the wild kingdom to play a very important part in the functioning of civilization. \u201cWe are, quite literally, a people that morally live off our wars,\u201d say Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon. We \u201clive off our wars because they give us the necessary basis for self-sacrifice so that a people who have been taught to pursue only their own interest can at times be mobilized to die for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

War makes people stop looking at themselves \u2013 it inspires them to identify with the whole society. Now if the violence of war is a part of the natural ordering of society, then peace is unnatural. You can see that out on the highways. Just read some of the bumper stickers:<\/p>\n

\n
• If I said anything to offend you \u2026 it was purely intentional.<\/li>\n
• Horn broken. Watch for finger.<\/li>\n
• Some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill.<\/li>\n
• Auntie Em. Hate you, hate Kansas, taking the dog. Signed Dorothy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  We need a godly leader to show us a better way, because peace involves transformation. Look around the church, and you see people resembling peacocks and panthers, llamas and lizards. Not in appearance, of course, but in personality. And this state of affairs creates conflict in congregations. For there to be peace among the people of God, we cannot simply stay the same. We must be transformed.
  \nAuthor Frederick Buechner observes that in Beauty and the Beast, it is \u201conly when the Beast discovers that Beauty loves him in all his ugliness that he himself becomes beautiful.\u201d It\u2019s only when we discover that God loves us in all our unloveliness that we ourselves start to become godlike. The word for this transformation is \u2018sanctification,\u2019 and it is a long and painful change \u201cbecause with part of themselves sinners prefer their sin, just as with part of himself the Beast prefers his glistening snout and curved tusks.\u201d<\/p>\n

  But little by little, \u201cthe forgiven person starts to become a forgiving person, the healed person to become a healing person, the loved person to become a loving person. God does most of it.\u201d And the end of the process is eternal life. We need a godly leader to transform us into sanctified beasts who can live together eternally.<\/p>\n

  A fellow went into a bookstore and asked the clerk behind the counter where the self-help section was. She said, \u201cSir, if I told you that, it would defeat the whole purpose.\u201d Sanctification and peacemaking require God – they are not self-help, do-it-yourself projects.<\/p>\n

  Peace comes from above \u2013 from God. The age-old conflicts in our world \u2013 between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East, Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, Republicans and Democrats in the United States, Gator fans and Seminole fans in Florida \u2013 teach us that harmony is not a do-it-yourself human project. Divine intervention must be a part of any peace that is deep and lasting. For peace is more than an absence of conflict \u2013 it is a condition of justice and wholeness that requires wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the \u2018fear of the Lord.\u2019<\/p>\n

  Isaiah teaches that the Spirit of the Lord will rest on the leader who brings us peace. The godly leader who will rule this new world is Jesus the Christ: the shoot of the stump of Jesse, the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, the bearer of the Spirit of the Lord. He brings us the peace that passes all understanding, but he also brings a sword of sacrificial struggle into the midst of a violent world.<\/p>\n

  To follow Jesus on his mission of peacemaking is to accept the fact that his peace is not natural. It requires transformation. It comes from God. And it will not be complete until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth \u201cas the waters cover the sea\u201d (v.9). The peace of Christ is a difficult peace, but it is the only peace worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

  True harmony cannot be found in Orlando. It can only be seen in a vision of God\u2019s animal kingdom, that world ruled by Christ in which the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the many \u201cwild animals\u201d of the Christian community shall dwell together in peace. Our task as a church is to dream of that kingdom, to pray for it, and to open our hearts to it.<\/p>\n

  The Tree of Life does not exist at Disney. It can only be touched through a relationship with Jesus, the shoot from the stump of Jesse. We are to remain attached to Him, like a branch to a vine, and to bear much fruit with him. For \u201capart from me, you can do nothing,\u201d says Jesus (John 15:5).<\/p>\n

  It is Jesus \u2013 the true vine, the true Tree of Life \u2013 who challenges us, nourishes us, changes us and helps us. For only Christ can give us the true peace that comes from God alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Discovery Island is your \u201cmagical departure point\u201d for excursions into the different realms of the Animal Kingdom, says Disney. \u201cThe vibrant centerpiece of the park, Discovery Island, is adorned with colorful buildings that rise from the cool shadows of the Tree of Life.\u201d Hmm . . . the Tree of Life. It seems I\u2019ve heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n