Second Sunday of Advent
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Pastor Jean M. Hansen
The week before last we considered what it means that Christ is King and that there is no King but Jesus. Last week we found hope in the promise of a world ultimately healed by the Prince of Peace, and were reminded that in the meantime, we are to be peacemakers in our day-to-day lives. Today we are given a glimpse of a hoped-for leader in the Old Testament reading, and the impossibility is possible because of that one. In each case, God’s way is much different than what often is true in the here and now.
We hear again the voice of the Prophet Isaiah proclaiming a message that was unbelievable given the situation in which God’s people were living. Israel, the northern Kingdom, had been plundered and defeated by the Assyrians, who then headed south to Judah and the Holy City Jerusalem. Amazingly, a pesky civil war in the Assyrian capital, and the calling back of the Assyrian army, saved Judah, but only temporarily. Babylon was waiting in the wings to move in. The Prophet Isaiah spoke in the midst of it all, with words of doom and gloom for God’s people and an occasional burst of hope.
That hope is found in today’s text. The Davidic kings had been ineffective and corrupt; in Isaiah 11, the prophet looked to a day when the family tree of David had been cut down, that’s the gloom. But all would not be lost, a new shoot would appear, a new descendant of David; this one would be and do what God desires, bringing justice and peace for all. That’s because this branch will be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
As commentator Stan Mast writes, “The ‘Spirit of wisdom and understanding’ will endow him with discernment to make good decisions in governing his kingdom. The ‘Spirit of counsel and power’ will give him diplomatic and military authority to rule. The ‘Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord’ will keep him close to God. The ‘knowledge’ here is not merely intellectual correctness or assent to the truth, but an intimate relationship with God.” (1)
This leader will be centered on Yahweh. So, the leader will not be swayed by external appearance or flattering words. There will be tender care for the least and stern punishment for the worst; the poor will not be neglected, and the wicked will not get away with their wickedness. Righteousness and faithfulness will be the marks of this leader’s reign. And, because of that, there will be peace that is unimaginable.
Profound change will occur in the world. What an image this is – the Peaceable Kingdom – where former enemies, predators and prey live together … and with people … in safety. Even snakes are included; that hated enemy featured in the earliest stories of humanity, the representation of evil, is mentioned twice. Could this mean that the power of evil will be forever more ineffective? On a non-metaphorical level, note that in ancient times, snakes threatened the lives of the youngest ones especially, an emotional consideration since the ability to raise children to adulthood was always in question. Is a place free of such dangers possible, Isaiah’s audience would have asked. Can there be a place where babies may be placed on the floor without fear of a poisonous snake slithering in or where a toddler can go outside and play near the homes of poisonous snakes and not be at risk? Yes, and when the children are safe, there is true peace.
Long after these words were first spoken, those of the Jewish faith identified the leader described by Isaiah as the Messiah, and Christians came to believe the prophet’s words pointed to Jesus. They no doubt remembered that he read from a scroll of the book of Isaiah, another prophecy, and identified himself as the one described there. He would, he said, bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and let the oppressed go free. (Luke 4:18-20)
Through Jesus, the Peaceable Kingdom will someday arrive, and peace will prevail. But this passage also offers a clue concerning how to begin making that happen now. Hearts require transforming so that righteousness and justice – as God defines it - become a way of life. Peace in our hearts, lives and world become our goal.
In every place where violence threatens, it is probably true that righteousness and justice, compassion, peace are not the priority for people in power or those trying to gain it. Now, I realize I am not a solider, so perhaps that’s why I was appalled when the United States’ Secretary of War called the military’s top leaders to a meeting earlier this year and spoke of their mission as “unleashing overwhelming, punishing violence,” and to “intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill enemies of our country” I know, I know, consider the context. Still, will that attitude garner respect in the world, or will it encourage violence that leads to unmitigated suffering … which is happening in real time to real people even as I speak?
How would it be different if leaders world-wide were those who, like the leader described by Isaiah, recognized themselves as the ones whom the Spirit of the Lord rests? What if they relied on that power? What if they were filled with, and led by, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord?
It’s not a pipe dream. Do you know that every time someone is baptized, we lay hands on them and pray that these very characteristics will sustain them. Does this sound familiar, “Sustain _________________ with the gift of your Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever”? And then, at confirmation, we pray that these same gifts would be stirred within them.
That’s why, as we wait for the second Advent of Jesus, our prayer is that Holy Spirit will continue sustaining us, and being stirred up in us, so that we will be a transforming force in the world, a force for righteousness, justice and peace. AMEN
(1) “Isaiah 11:1-10 Commentary” by Stan Mast, December 8, 2019, www.cepreaching.org