In Isaiah we find some of the most beautiful visions of the Messiah. We call them Messianic oracles. Of course, Isaiah was speaking to people in his time about the hope of a righteous king that God would raise up to save the people from their suffering. He is looking to the future ... during the season of Advent we are looking to the past for a word about our future … HOPE.
In the bleak midwinter of life, hope arises for the people of God. There may be no better prophet to give us visions of Advent hope than the Isaiah. The people to whom Isaiah ministered with this morning’s message were in communal turmoil. They were living in a land torn apart by war on the brink of captivity. Isaiah refers to the “stump” of Jesse, who was King David’s father. King David himself was long gone and the divided kingdom has been destroyed by years of rule by kings who “walked in the way of evil” and oppression. Divine Judgment has come and the people were suffering.
But God made had promises to the house of David and the faithful people of God! Knowing that God always keeps the promises that are made, Isaiah also speaks words of Divine Hope to the people of Judah in the bleak midwinter of their lives …
Friends, pick up a newspaper, watch the nightly news or tap your CNN app on your i-phone … you’ll find that many people need that same word of hope these days. YOU might need that word of hope this morning!
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
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.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and
the fear of the LORD.
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;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek 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.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
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.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples;
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.
This is the Word of God for the Advent People of God. Thanks be to God.
(Isaiah 11:10a) On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples!
On that day, in the fullness of time, the reign of God will come on earth and in heaven and all of creation will dwell together in a place of justice and peace. As Advent people we live our lives, looking for this peaceful kingdom to be realized in the fullness of time.
I brought a couple of friends with me this morning to symbolize this peaceful kingdom that Isaiah so beautifully envisions. This is Freckles. Please don’t let his gentle looks fool you! He is a ferocious leopard. And this is Meekins, the sweet little lamb.
Woody Allen said something along the lines of, “Freckles and Meekins can lie down together but Meekins won’t get much sleep.” And that … that is our reality. We live in a world full of predators and those who are preyed upon, abusers and those who are abused, oppressors and those who are oppressed … I could go on and on. We live in a world where fear abounds and it is not the awesome fear and reverence of the Lord.
So ... What are you afraid of today?
When we are living in the nighttime of our fears, what I want us to see in this symbol is of the peaceful kingdom is HOPE, the messianic hope of Advent. For our hope in Christ is that:
- On that day there will be reconciliation throughout the world and all creation.
- On that day we will have no need to be afraid.
(Isaiah 11:9b then 9a) Isaiah says, “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,” and because of this full knowledge “they [we] will not hurt or destroy.” People who are full of the knowledge of the Lord simply cannot hurt other people for they are too full of the love of God. (Isaiah 11:3b) Isaiah says of the ruler to come and we see in Jesus, “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge …
I’m going to tell you a crazy story about an experience of God that I had recently as I was sitting with a homeless man who suffers from mental illness … He babbles on and on. He doesn’t trust anyone. He is very afraid of people. I can tell that most of the time he is afraid of me. When I sat with him this day, honestly I thought … well this is an hour of my life I won’t get back. We sat and he started babbling and I’m trying to listen and then he began to tell me an elaborate story about a cat that he had befriended. As he continued to go on and on about this cat, I could tell that he had a relationship with this cat that he didn’t have with any person in this world. A little later I asked him where he went when he left the large group earlier during one of the discussions and he said he went to the prayer room so I asked him what it felt like when he was praying. And he smiled like I had never seen him smile … his eyes were very clear, and without any fear, he said, “It felt like it feels when I’m with the cat.” And suddenly I felt the eyes of Jesus looking upon me from within this young man. In that moment I realized that this mentally ill young man knew God in a way that I did not know God. In that moment, I felt something moving painfully within my heart. I knew that I had been judging that young man by what I saw with my eyes and what I heard with my ears and not through the relationship I have with God in my heart. Have mercy, Lord Jesus!
So ... What helps you to know and experience the fullness of God’s love for all creation? What helps you to encounter others seeing, not by what your eyes see or your ears hear, but by eyes and ears of your heart?
In this passage, Isaiah says the Messiah of Hope will be a man of both righteousness and peace. The word righteousness as Isaiah uses the word in this passage means justice in the sense of "right judgment" or a "judgment flowing from a right relationship with God." The early church and the New Testament writers take this image of the righteous ruler from Isaiah and they relate his message to the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ.
As we listen to Isaiah this advent season, let us be energized by the fact that Christ was a man of justice and peace. And let us be challenged by the fact that there can be peace for no person without justice for all people. Isaiah stood on the promise of God to King David and during our Advent journey we celebrate the promise of God in Christ… our messianic HOPE that in the bleak midwinter of our lives …
(Isaiah 11:1 and 10a) A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse … And one day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples!
On that day, in the fullness of time, the reign of God will come on earth and in heaven and all of creation will dwell together in a place of justice and peace.
Come Lord Jesus, Come! Amen!
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