It Shall Come to Pass...A Day of Joy

Isaiah 35:1-10 At this time of the year we are overwhelmed with media images designed to manipulate us into feelings of joy.  The perfect, smiling family gathered around the table for their holiday feast.  The beautiful young woman kissing the handsome young man and thanking him for his perfect gift of a diamond necklace.  The cherubic carolers crunching their way through glittering snow up to a New England cottage in a scene suitable for Norman Rockwell’s signature.

            These are the cultural Christmas images that we see in every possible venue throughout this season.  And as we draw nearer and nearer to December 25, the joy promised in these images-- seems to fade farther and farther away into the distance as the reality of living real human lives in a broken world comes closer and closer.

            Our family won’t be together for Christmas because physical or emotional distance.  Finances this year are not what they’ve been in the past and so there won’t be as many presents as last year.  Health concerns make us wonder if this will be our last Christmas together.  And so on-- right up until Christmas morning when we wake up wondering how we could have missed the joy of Christmas-- and what went wrong-- and why we don’t feel like the media images say we ought to feel?

            The answer to those questions is very simple:  there is no Christ in these cultural Christmas images.

Though the world does its best to convince us otherwise, the real joy of the Christmas season does not come from stores or meals-- or even from families and good health. 

The joy of Christmas comes from the promises of God fulfilled in the Baby of Bethlehem:  the sure and certain sign that our God is the God of kept promises who has sent his Son into human flesh to ransom us from sin and sorrow.  That gift of a Son—that good news of salvation--is what gives this season its joy.

            And if you have no family- and if your health is failing- and if your finances are stretched thin-- it will not matter.  Your Christmas will not be a disappointment--if you fix your hearts and minds and dreams and desires on the manger—on what God has promised in his son Jesus.  If Jesus alone is the reason for your season then:  “everlasting joy shall be upon your head; you will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”  That is the promise of God to his people. 

For years the Israelites set their hearts and minds, dreams and desires on the things of the world.  They believed the message of the unbelieving world around them who said that what really mattered was wealth and power-stuff they could see and touch. 

Such was the deceptive power of this message that even in the dark moment in which Isaiah lived, when God’s righteous judgment was almost upon them, the Israelites were still hoping for some kind of political solution to their national problems.

            None would be found.  They would undergo the Lord’s hard discipline at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians.

But as serious and painful as their chastisement would be--and as much as it would seem to crush the very life from them--God wouldn’t abandon his people-he himself would come to them--judge and punish their enemies--and set his people free.  Isaiah promised,

 “Strengthen the weak hand and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not!  Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you.

            God kept his promise–he always does.  He raised up a deliverer for them in Cyrus who would set them free and return them to their homes and place of worship. 

Though there was much hardship for them to endure until that moment of freedom, they knew that God had already made plans for their release from slavery and their return home-- and so those years of waiting were filled with joy in what was to come.  And it did come—they went home. 

            As wonderful as that return from exile was for the ancient people of God--it was still merely a sign of something greater to come 700 years later as God himself, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, entered into the world to set us free from sin and death and bring us to our heavenly home. 

God’s righteous vengeance and retribution over our sins was poured out upon his own Son and his shed blood on the cross was the ransom price that was paid to redeem us from sin and death–to set us free and bring us to our heavenly home.

            And yes, just like the ancient Israelites, there is still hardship for us to endure until we make it to our heavenly home–but it is joy and gladness, not sorrow and sighing, that characterizes the life of a child of God-- for we know that the One who keeps his promises will lead us home-- just like he led the Israelites home.

            Well, you can imagine the joy of the people of God as they set out for home from their slavery in Babylon.  As though it were already accomplished, Isaiah wrote of that glad day when they would begin their journey through wilderness towards home:

A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.  It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.  No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

            You can almost hear the singing and thanksgiving that must have filled their hearts and mouths as, step by step, they rejoiced in the God who sets his people free. 

Just think about what they were leaving behind:  The indignities of being a slave.  The loneliness of being separated from loved ones and the presence of the Lord in his temple.  The sinful ways of their captors.  All of it left behind.  Why wouldn’t they rejoice?  It must have been like waking up from a bad dream!

            But it was a long trip home and they grew weary along the way.  Still, they were going home-- and the hope that sustained them day after day on that long journey-- was to once again stand upon Mt. Zion in the Lord’s presence.

            In these verses, Isaiah tells us not only what was true for the children of Israel, but what is true for all of God’s people.  It’s our story too.  The Lord has paid our ransom and set us free from slavery to sin and death.  He has raised up a deliverer for us in the person of his Son Jesus Christ and set our feet on that narrow way that leads to eternal life.

            And yes, there is still a long way to go for us until we get home--we still have to live as strangers and pilgrims in this dark and dying world.  We are ridiculed for believing the promises of God.  We are separated by death from brothers and sisters in Christ.  We witness the sinful ways of those who deny the Lord’s will and reject his redemption.  We experience our own share of the world’s broken-ness. 

But the Lord has set our feet on the way home–on the way of holiness that leads to a new heaven and a new earth where we will live in the presence of God forever with the crown of everlasting joy on our head.

            That is the life we live-- and that is the hope we have-- and so we must take the warning of Isaiah seriously, that no unclean person will journey on that way-- but only those whose sins are washed clean and made white by the blood of the Lamb. 

It is a long journey and like the children of Israel we grow weary along the way–we lose patience and falter in our faith—we are tempted by the deceitful images and false promises of the unbelieving culture around us.  Joy and gladness seem to be a challenge for us at times.  So what was it that sustained the children of Israel on their way home?  It was the Lord’s promise of what awaited them.

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

            That’s what sustains us and strengthens us on our journey to our heavenly home as well–the vision of a new heaven and a new earth promised in God’s Word–a new, eternal life in Christ’s presence where there is no more sorrow but only joy.

            Fixing our eyes of faith on that promise, we are called by God to reveal that wonderful reality in our lives right now by alleviating as much sorrow here on earth as we possibly can–by sharing the glad Good News of our coming King with others-- and by showing forth in our lives what a joyous blessing it is to be God’s children.

            The Good News for us tonight is that this vision of what already is--and what will one day be-- is no media image that will fade away–leaving us sorrowful and empty and disappointed.  It is a rock-solid promise from the “God of kept promises” and it shapes our lives every step of our journey home.

            As the Holy Spirit directs our eyes away from cultural Christmas images and to the Bethlehem manger where all the promises of God are found to be true--we take to heart the promise of Isaiah: We shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.  May God grant you a joyous Christmas for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

"More Than a Prophet"

Matthew 11:2-11 When we face our own mortality–when we are confronted with a serious illness—when we stand beside the graveside of a loved one--we want to know, and know for sure, that the one we have put our faith and trust in–is who he says he is-- and is able to do what he has promised to do.

            That is what John the Baptist was facing as he sat in Herod’s prison waiting for the executioner’s blade to fall.  Staring death in the face, it would be only human to have some nagging doubts, after all, if I’m betting my life on something–it had better be right. 

            But for John there was an even bigger issue than just some nagging doubts.  In his mind, the promises of God were in question when it came to Jesus.

            The promised Messiah was portrayed in two ways by the prophets of old–on one hand he was to be the gentle, suffering Messiah who compassionately cared for all people–healing their diseases and caring for their spiritual needs. 

On the other hand, the Messiah was also portrayed as a mighty King who would reward his followers and slay his enemies and bring judgment upon the entire earth

Jesus, proclaimed by John as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, sure looked like the first kind of Messiah–gentle and meek and loving–but he really didn’t look like too much like the second–a mighty judge and conquering king.

            Facing death, seeing one part of Scriptures fulfilled but not yet all of it, there was a serious question in John’s mind about Jesus.  The Bible says that:

“when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

            Are you the one?  I don’t know if a more important question has ever been asked-- or can be asked--and we too need to know the answer to it and be certain about it.  Is Jesus the One?  Is he the One that we can stake our entire life on?  Or is there another?  Is he the one in whom all the promises of God are fulfilled or not? 

To ask this question and to seek an answer is not sinful doubt–at least not the way John asked it and the approach he took.

            What did John do with his questions?  He turned to Jesus.  He turned to Jesus as the one who could answer his question-he turned to Jesus for assurance that his faith was not misplaced.  What John did, and the questions he had, was a deep expression of faith that is completely consistent with other great statements of faith in the Bible.  After all, “Lord I believe–help my unbelief” is the prayer of a believer not an unbeliever.

            All of us have faith questions at times–all of us struggle to understand portions of Holy Scripture–all of us want to grow in our faith and in our confidence in God.  John the Baptist shows us the way to do that.  Take it to the Lord in prayer.  Search his Word.  That is exactly what Jesus would have us do.  He said:

 “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them”.

            In effect Jesus says, search the Scriptures–see what they say of the Messiah–and then see what I do and you will know the truth–that I am the one.  Yes there are still things to come–but trust the one who has already fulfilled so much-- to accomplish the rest.  Jesus gives the same answer today to those who struggle with doubts and questions. 

God is not afraid of our questions–he is not ashamed of our struggles.  He wants us to have the assurance of a deep and abiding faith and so he invites us to turn to his son Jesus–to search the Scriptures—to pray to him—and to receive the sacraments for assurance-- so that our faith in Christ does not waver.

            We need that Spirit-given certainty BECAUSE when it comes to the person and work of Jesus (as it is revealed in Holy Scripture and proclaimed by the Church) doubt is not a virtue.  Doubt is not the sign of a discerning spirit or intellectual superiority.  Doubt and skepticism, when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ, are tools of Satan that are used to trip us up in our walk of faith and the spiritual consequences are severe.

            Twisting Scriptures to his own advantage–asking us, as he did Adam and Eve:  “did God really say”--causing us to doubt--Satan desires to steal our salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.  That’s what’s at stake when it comes to doubt and it’s deadly serious.

            Jesus told John’s disciples: “Blessed is the one who is not offended because of me”.  In the original Greek, that word translated as “offended” means to “trip up” and the word itself is the technical term for a kind of trap used to kill small animals. 

            Life and death are what’s at stake when it comes to knowing and believing what Jesus says about himself–that he is the one--none other than the True God in human flesh–the Messiah sent to save us from our sins by his own death and resurrection.  It is eternal life to know that and believe that for ourselves. 

That is the message that the disciples were to relay to John as he faced his own death-- and that is what Jesus would have us know and believe today.  And for the people who surrounded him that day listening in, and for us here today, Jesus makes the question personal.  The Bible says that:

“As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John:  ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see?  A man dressed in soft clothing?  Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses”. 

Jesus says in effect, “What about you?  Where is your faith in all this?  What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  Something for entertainment value?  What did you go out to hear?  Were you drawn to John because he told you what your itching ears wanted to hear or because he spoke the truth about the One to come? 

            That’s still a good question for us to ask ourselves regarding our worship services and our pastors. 

Do you listen to what the pastor has to say because he tells you what you want to hear- or do you listen because he brings you God’s Word even when you don’t like to hear it?  Is he a reed swayed back and forth by every wind of doctrine-- or does he stand fast on those eternal truths handed down by the prophets and apostles of old?  Do you come to worship to be entertained and visit with friends or to grow in your faith and knowledge of Jesus? 

            The answer for the people that day was that they went out to John precisely because he brought God’s Word–not like their religious leaders who taught the doctrines of men–but because John would not be swayed by the opinions of men.  They went to John because he unswervingly held to the central message of the Kingdom of God–to repent of sins and believe in Jesus.  That message is life and salvation and the people received it in faith. 

            And so what was John’s reward for his faithful service?  Fine clothes?  A room in the king’s house?  No!  He was cast into the king’s prison in the rough camel hair garments of his Jordan days–known as a true prophet of God not only for his faithful proclamation-- but also for the opposition he received and the suffering he endured from sinful men-- like so many faithful men of God.  And among them all-past, present and future–John the Baptist was the greatest.  Jesus said:

“What then did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’”. 

            This was why it is so necessary to recognize who John was and why he was so important–he was the messenger sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah. 

To know John the Baptist and to believe his message is to know and believe in Jesus the Messiah of God.  That is how important John the Baptist was—because he pointed to Jesus as the Savior of the world.

            As remarkable and as wonderful as all this is, Jesus saves the best for last-- for he tells us that those who are the least in the kingdom of heaven are greater than even John the Baptist–the greatest man who ever lived.  Jesus says:

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.  Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” 

How is that possible that you and me–regular folks with regular lives-- least in the Kingdom of Heaven as it were--are even greater than John the Baptist?

            It’s because we have been blessed to see the whole salvation story that God tells in the death, resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.  John would not live to see it–he was executed a short time after these events. 

He never got to see Christ’s death on the cross that atoned for the sins of the world.  He never got to witness the glorious resurrection that changed the course of the world from death to life.  But we have heard it and seen it through the Word and Sacraments and by these gifts of God’s grace we know that Jesus is indeed the One.  Amen.

"It Shall Come to Pass...A Day of Hope"

Isaiah 11:1-10 Hope is the theological virtue of looking forward to the future with a confident expectation that: heaven and eternal life are still to come for us as the children of God.  It is the firm conviction that—come what may—God is for us and will bring us to himself.

This hope we have as Christians is based upon the promises of God.  The Bible says that we are to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”  Hope is meant by God to be his cure for discouragement, depression and despair.  And yet all of us are tempted this way at times.  Why is that?

It is because we have based our confidence about the future upon things that we can see and touch and experience.  We put our hope in a retirement plan or social security only to see them face insolvency.  We put our hope in vitamins and check-ups and healthy eating only to face an incurable disease.  We put our hope in our nation’s might and power only to discover that it can’t really protect us from the evil in the world.

In hope that is misplaced -comes discouragement, depression, and despair.  That is what the people of Isaiah’s day were facing.  God raised up the Assyrians to chastise his people and punish them for their sinful disobedience.  Despite their confidence in wealth and military might and strategic alliances—the northern kingdom fell.  140 years later the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed.  The dynasty of Davidic kings came to an end.

Isaiah was called by God to prophesy in those days—to warn Judah about what was to come in God’s judgment-- but also to comfort them with the good news that judgment was not God’s last Word—but that even from the midst of ruins—God was able to bring blessings.  Those blessings were still in the future—but they were so certain and sure that the people of God could hope even in the midst of dark days.

Isaiah’s words still have that same purpose—to give God’s people hope—and even more so for us than them--because we know many of his promises to be fulfilled.  And so tonight, as we listen to God’s prophet speak of the Root and Branch of Jesse, we can set aside doubt, despair, and depression and look forward to the future with hope.  Isaiah prophesied:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 

            Very few things look as hopeless and desolate as a clear-cut forest—to see a place that was filled with towering plant life turned into stumps and mud-- is just heart-breaking and thankfully it’s a lumbering practice largely abandoned in our country. 

But that’s how things looked in Isaiah’s day.  Those giants that God raised up in David and Solomon no longer ruled God’s people.  Instead, Israel was ruled by wicked men-- and Judah was ruled by men who tried to have it both ways when it came to God and their pagan neighbors.  None of them inspired hope in God’s people.

But Isaiah promised that from the desolation that was the Davidic line brought low, God would raise up new life—a shoot from the stump of Jesse (David’s father) who would be anointed with the Spirit—and he would rule with justice and restore creation and redeem the world. 

700 long years later, in the city of Bethlehem where David was born to Jesse, two descendants of David, Joseph and Mary, delivered a baby named Jesus—the virgin-born fulfillment of that promise of Isaiah made long before—the one upon whom the Spirit of God would rest.  Isaiah promised:

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.    

            We know very little of Jesus’ life until he was thirty years old when he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and the Spirit came to rest upon him in the form of a dove and the voice of God from the heavens declared:  “You are my beloved Son.  With you I am well pleased.”   Throughout his earthly life he was led and guided by the Holy Spirit life as no one before or since.  He said of himself:  “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim Good News.”  He conducted his ministry in the power of the Holy Sprit.

And not only was he anointed with the Holy Spirit for his work as Messiah, he was the giver of the Holy Spirit to all who trusted in him.  John the Baptist told the crowds that Jesus was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus breathed on his chosen twelve and gave them the Holy Spirit.  At his ascension, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit upon the whole church.

The only cure for the spirit of discouragement, depression, and despair that threatens to destroy hope in us-is to know Jesus Christ- and be filled with the Holy Spirit- and receive his gifts of wisdom and understanding and counsel and might and knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  These are the spiritual gifts that help us to live in hope towards the future and in holy obedience to the Lord’s rule here and now.  Isaiah said:

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and 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 of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 

            Last week we talked about how in the Advent season we hear promises from God’s Word that are “even now and not yet”—that is, there were promises fulfilled when Jesus came the first time and their will be promises fulfilled when he comes again—but all of them ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

That is what we have here in these verses.  When Jesus comes again in glory he will judge the living and the dead.  The earthly injustice, inequality, and animosity that robs us of hope-- will be dealt with.  All people who have ever lived will undergo this final judgment.  There will be no hiding the truth about ourselves-- for what is true about us in the deepest recesses of our hearts will be laid bare.

Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb—who are clothed in his perfect righteousness—will be commended for the good they have done while on earth and enter into eternal life.  But those who never had a part in the Savior’s life—those who tried to cover their sin under a cloak of self-righteousness-- will be shown for the wicked people they really were in God’s sight and given over to eternal death.

That judgment is still to come.  But in a very real way every person who lives on this earth is already judged and it has been that way going back to the Messiah’s birth.  The wise men and shepherds worshiped him and were right in God’s sight.  Herod tried to kill him and was guilty in God’s sight.  During his earthly ministry many came to him in faith and were right in God’s sight.  But many of the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate rejected him and remained in their sin.

So it still is today.  Those who believe in Jesus are innocent in God’s sight—those who don’t, are guilty and remain in their sin.  Jesus is the absolute dividing line—the measure of judgment—between those who are innocent and those who are guilty. 

The only difference between today- and judgment day- is that this day is also a day of God’s grace when the guilty still have an opportunity to forsake their sins and receive God’s forgiveness in Jesus and live with him in everlasting peace.  Isaiah prophesied about that day of peace when evil comes to an end:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf 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 cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 

            The scene that we have here is one of those Messianic blessings that is still in the future---the restoration of God’s good creation which has been destroyed by sin.

A couple of weeks ago in confirmation class we had a question about why our physical resurrection matters since our soul goes to heaven when we die.  It was a good question and the answer is that God created us with bodies and souls—he created a world where mankind and nature were in perfect harmony—a world in which there was not death at all.  That is what Jesus came into the world to redeem and restore and renew.

His own bodily resurrection from the dead is the beginning of that—the first-fruits of a harvest of life that will follow—not just in mankind but in all creation.  Death is not the end for us and destruction is not the end of the world—we will rise from our graves and there will be a new heaven and a new earth—all of it unaffected by the sin, death, and devil that destroyed it. 

Standing in the midst of a redeemed humanity and a renewed creation will be the root of Jesse.  The Bible says:

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

            I don’t know if you caught it or not, but we began our meditation on God’s Word talking about a branch from Jesse’s root—a fresh, new shoot.  But we conclude our meditation tonight hearing that this new branch is actually the root.  How can this be? 

It is because he is not just the Son of David—he is also the Son of God.  The angel Gabriel told Mary:  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.  The Old Testament prophets knew this about the Messiah as well.  Isaiah promised that he would be a virgin-born child but he also called him the Ancient of Days.

The Branch and Root of Jesse is Jesus—David’s Son and God’s Son—the God-in flesh-redeemer of the world who has ascended to heaven to prepare a glorious resting place for his people and will come again to take us there.  That is the promise of God-- and in the light of that glorious promise-- discouragement, depression, and despair must give way to hope.

But that promise also calls us to action right here and now—it gives us a purpose until Jesus comes again.  Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to be a “signal” for all people—a rallying place that people from every nation, language, tribe, and culture can come to and live in hope and one day take their own place in his glorious presence.

And so the Lord calls us to make Jesus known in word and deed to a world around us that is still held captive in darkness and death.  That is our mission as a congregation—that is our purpose in life as individuals—and when we are about the Lord’s business—there is simply no place for discouragement, depression, and despair.  Resting on his promises and active in his kingdom, may God grant us the gift of hope and look forward with confidence to the future!  Amen.