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Advent Prayers: Isaiah 9
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Freedom from foreign domination will not come through the violent overthrowing of empires or the gruesome fighting of battles. Instead, it will come when everything that hurts us, the pain that our world carries, the structures that harm our neighbors, the things we use to punish ourselves, when all of that is destroyed, when all of it becomes fuel for the fire.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the CommonsCast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information.
Speaker 1:If we haven't met before, my name is Maddie, and I serve as an intern on the team here at Commons. You might have seen me around once or twice before. Two years ago, I did an, practicum here, and then last summer, I was here on staff working with our home groups. And now I've been on an internship since the August, and today is actually the very last day of that internship, which is bittersweet. There is something satisfying about finishing up my internship here because it puts me one step closer to graduating in the spring, but it's also kind of sad.
Speaker 1:I've loved it here, and I've loved the ways this internship has given me the chance to be involved in so many different areas of this community. Even though I've called Commons home for a few years now, these past five months have given me the chance to meet so many of you and to work with so many of you and to see the ways that so many of you are using your incredible gifting and talent and generosity to serve this community and also this city. And all of that has been so much fun. This community has been so good to me. I have learned so much here, and so I'm so thrilled to get the chance to teach on this beautiful Christmas tide morning.
Speaker 1:Speaking of Christmas, that just happened. Hey, how are we all feeling? Some laughs. Okay. That's fine.
Speaker 1:These six days between Christmas and New Year's often feel like a bit of a dream, don't they? At least for me, the feeling I get between the twenty fifth and the first is this strange combination of blissful relief that the busiest time of the year is finally over, but also some impending dread about the January 1 that seems to just be flying towards me at top speed. I don't know about you, but I have some pretty mixed feelings about the New Year. I love setting goals, and I absolutely love a fresh start. But sometimes, the anticipation of a New Year can feel a bit suffocating.
Speaker 1:At least for me. I've had so many years where January 1 feels like just another day to remind myself that I haven't done enough. Just another day to remind myself of the expectations I had of myself for the previous year, in the ways that those maybe didn't turn out like I had planned or like I had hoped. Now, this is not a sermon about New Year's resolutions or about goal setting, but it is a sermon about looking backward and looking forward, and what we do with the Christmas story after the Christmas story is behind us. Today, we're talking about a passage, from the book of Isaiah.
Speaker 1:And let me tell you, this text is full of expectation. I'm just going to read the passage once for us so we can hear it all together, Then we'll talk about what it could all possibly mean for us this week after Christmas heading into 2020. Chapter nine of the book of Isaiah starts off like this. Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, God humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
Speaker 1:But in the future, God will honor Galilee of the nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan. For the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
Speaker 1:For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them. The bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle, and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders.
Speaker 1:And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over David's kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. That's Isaiah nine verses one to seven.
Speaker 1:So this morning, we're talking about Isaiah and Israel, about weapons being burned, about what kind of king this is, and finally, about retelling stories. But before we dive into all of that, will you take a moment and pray with me? God of grace, you have shown us the expansiveness of your love through the presence of a little tiny baby, the bold faith of a young unwed mother, through the celebration and the awe of a group of common shepherds. God, your love draws near to us, your love empowers us, your love celebrates with us. Now, on this Sunday after Christmas, we begin to look ahead to the new year.
Speaker 1:To the dreams that we are carrying with us, to the expectations that we hold, to the stories we tell ourselves about what this next year should look like. So God, may we hold all of these things in light of your gentle and caring love. Would the months ahead not become just another chance to attempt more? But would they instead be a chance to see the story of your incredible grace playing itself out again and again in our lives. May we find your grace in all the ordinary moments that surround us, in holiday parties shared with family and friends, in the beginning of new jobs, and new semesters, and new endeavors, in the kindness of others.
Speaker 1:May the old stories of your grace come alive for us in this new year, and may we have the open eyes and open hearts to notice them. In the name of Christ, pray. Amen. Now, through Advent and leading up to Christmas, we've been reading and working our way through a series of five prayers in the book of Luke. And it's been fascinating to read these prayers and the stories they are embedded into.
Speaker 1:But that means that it can feel a little bit disorienting to then read something like Isaiah, which is very prophetic and poetic. It is a lot different from the narrative we were reading in Luke before. However, just like the pentad of prayers in Luke, this text in Isaiah also contains really particular characters in certain contexts who care about certain things. So before we get back to the text, a bit of background information about the characters involved is going to be super helpful to us. We want to know who Isaiah is when Isaiah is writing this text, but we also want to know who Israel is when Isaiah is writing this text.
Speaker 1:Now, about Isaiah. There's a ton, and I mean a ton, of scholarly debate about where and when and by whom the book of Isaiah was written. Last week, as I was preparing for this sermon, I got so caught up in and intrigued by and honestly confused by the authorship of Isaiah, that for a moment, I kind of contemplated just moving to a pretty little monastery in Europe and studying the topic for the rest of my days in peace, trying to solve the problem. It truly is wild. But fortunately for you, we don't have time to get into all of those details.
Speaker 1:What I will say is this, scholars generally agree that the book of Isaiah can be split into three parts based on three time periods in Israel's history. In Isaiah nine, the text we read today comes to us in the first section of Isaiah. A section that is thought to have been written by someone scholars call first Isaiah, an eighth century prophet who actually introduces himself at the beginning of the book as the son of Amoz. First Isaiah then goes on for chapters and chapters condemning the way that the kingdom of Judah has created this two tiered system, which elevates the rich while oppressing the poor. The very beginning of section, and actually the beginning of the book Isaiah of Isaiah in general, starts out with the prophet Isaiah relaying this message from the Lord.
Speaker 1:Just listen to it for a moment. God says, when you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you? This trampling of my courts. Stop bringing me meaningless offerings, your incense is detestable to me. New moons, Sabbaths, convocations, I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Speaker 1:Your new moon feasts and your appointed festivals, I hate them with all of my being. They've become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. Instead, the Lord says, wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight.
Speaker 1:Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right instead. Seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless.
Speaker 1:Plead the case of the widow. That's some pretty serious stuff. And Isaiah speaks these words to the people of Israel because they have turned on one another. They have disregarded those among them who have very serious need. They've preferenced extravagant ritual and ceremony over the well-being and most basic needs of their neighbors.
Speaker 1:And the God of Israel is absolutely crushed by this. But it's not all doom and gloom. Because one characteristic of the prophet Isaiah is that his message is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Now, Isaiah is a really complex text, but at the most basic level, it really oscillates between two ends of a spectrum. We have some shockingly harsh indictments of the Kingdom Of Judah at one end, and also some incredibly loving and generous words at the other.
Speaker 1:In this loving and hopeful end of the spectrum, that's where we find our text for today. And that brings us to the second thing we need to talk about, who is Israel? Well, at this point in time, the Kingdom Of Israel is divided into the Northern Kingdom, which is simply called Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, which is called Judah. The Unified Kingdom Of Israel split in July after tensions between the 10 northern tribes and the two southern tribes essentially reached a breaking point. And the Unified Kingdom Of Israel is actually never reunified.
Speaker 1:Eventually, both the North and the South are conquered by great empires and carried off into exile. But before exile, the relationship between Judah and Israel is tense and uneasy, and so is the relationship between Judah and the God they are seeking to worship. And that is essentially what the book of Isaiah is all about. Judah continually rejects God. And instead of being a community oriented around justice, they become pulled into the wars and conflicts surrounding them, and they forget the community they were meant to be.
Speaker 1:The threat of the Assyrian Empire is very close and real. So the people of Judah feel both politically and morally kind of lost. And they know it. During the monarchy in Israel and Judah, a cycle repeats itself quite often, and it goes something like this. The kingdom of Judah is being oppressed by a foreign power.
Speaker 1:And so, cry out to God for help. And God raises up a king for them to rule over them. And this king is meant to turn the people back toward God, but the king inevitably ends up turning the people away from God and the cycle repeats itself. And so, in the eighth century, the prophet Isaiah speaks a message to the Southern kingdom of Judah. And in that message, he says this, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.
Speaker 1:The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. Judah is lost. Judah is stumbling around in the dark. And then Isaiah comes and offers up this promise that light has come.
Speaker 1:And we all know this feeling. Right? We've all had days or weeks or months that feel like they are shrouded in darkness, in loneliness, in sickness, in confusion, maybe. Some of us have had years on end that feel that way. But how many of us also know the feeling that light is just around the corner?
Speaker 1:It's that moment when you suddenly realize that things are starting maybe to get better. It's that moment when you have the courage to hope that things are maybe turning around. It's when your heart has been broken. And then one day, weeks or months or years later, you wake up and you just realize that you don't miss them anymore. It's when you've been doing the slow and hard work of taking care of your mental health.
Speaker 1:And then you look back the way your life was a few years ago, and you realize that you've made progress, even just a little bit of progress. When you haven't felt God's presence in so long, maybe that's not even something you've been interested in feeling. And then a song or the words of a friend or the words on a page convince you that it might be time to try and listen again. It only takes a little bit of light to convince us that more is just around the next corner. Isaiah gives the people of Judah hope that freedom from oppression, freedom from foreign domination, freedom from their own broken ways of living, but that kind of freedom is just around the corner.
Speaker 1:But how exactly is this light going to arrive? Well, Isaiah does not leave us hanging here. He writes, for just as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them. The bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, every warrior's boot used in battle, and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. Now, there's a lot to unpack here.
Speaker 1:But let's first talk about Midian, because this name is harkening back to a story from the book of Judges. During the time of Judges, a man named Gideon was leading the people of Israel, who are being oppressed by the Midianites, a nomadic people in the area. And this is kind of a weird story because Gideon sets out with this massive army of 32,000 men to take on the Midianites. But God refuses to let Gideon go into battle with this massive army. Instead, God instructs Gideon to send men home until only 300 out of the 32,000 remain.
Speaker 1:And this micro army of 300 men, they face up against the Midianites, and they win. But the story gets weirder, because the Israelite army doesn't actually have to do any fighting to win the battle at all. The Midian the Midianites, they see the Israelites coming, and they turn on one another and begin attacking one another, and eventually, they flee. But instead of being happy with this easy win, Gideon instructs his men to go out and to claim more territory. And in the process, they end up killing two of the Midianites' leaders.
Speaker 1:Now, we all love a good underdog story. Right? It's a story about Gideon and the Midianites. It feels like a well earned victory. It feels like proof of God's provision and faithfulness.
Speaker 1:But for Isaiah, that is not how true peace, how true freedom from oppression will come about. Real and lasting peace does not come from war. Real and lasting wholeness doesn't come from the kind of unnecessary death we see in this story. For the people of Israel, freedom from foreign domination will not come through the violent overthrowing of empires or the gruesome fighting of battles. Instead, it will come when everything that hurts us, the pain that our world carries, the structures that harm our neighbors, the things we use to punish ourselves, when all of that is destroyed, when all of it becomes fuel for the fire.
Speaker 1:But that's a lot easier to talk about than it is to actually embody. Right? Because it's easy to hope for revenge, but working towards wholeness is slow and tedious work. Like, you know when someone hurts you, really hurts you. And even though you say you want to reconcile with them, even though you say you want to repair the relationship, what you really want deep down is for them to just feel a tiny bit of the pain that they caused you.
Speaker 1:And you know that isn't healthy, and you know that isn't productive, and you know it's certainly not kind, but sometimes, retribution and revenge is so alluring. And restoration? Well, that seems like hard work. In his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire writes that in the beginning stages of struggle, those who are oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors. But this is not good enough for the God who created all of humanity in God's image.
Speaker 1:True light, the light that Isaiah starts off by describing, The light that gives us hope for a better future. That kind of light never arrives through violence. Instead, it is the destruction of all that harms us that ushers in the light of freedom. And this is where Isaiah really starts to turn our expectations on their heads. Not only will this brilliant light come without violence, it will come in the form of a child.
Speaker 1:Isaiah writes, For to us a child is born. To us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. This is probably the most famous part of the text we're looking at today.
Speaker 1:If you've attended church for a while, and you've probably heard this passage read sometime around the Christmas season, and that's because when Christians talk about this text, they're most often talking about Jesus. And although that is definitely part of the story, it's not the whole story. And it's definitely not what Isaiah was getting at when he was writing this text. This language about a child being born sounds like a birth announcement to our modern ears, which makes sense. But it could just as easily be read as a coronation hymn, which is a song sung to commemorate the crowning of a new king.
Speaker 1:And this kind of thing was not uncommon in the ancient world. In Psalm two, for example, Psalm two depicts God raising up a king and then decreeing his coronation with these words. God says, you are my son. Today, I have become your father. So, most scholars read the references to birth and sonship and a child being born as references to the king's accession rather than to his literal birth.
Speaker 1:And for the people of Judah, this coronation hymn was about the hope of a good king. A king who would break the rod of the oppressor. A king who would reject violence and usher in peace. A king who would rule with justice and righteousness. Now, this could be referencing Hezekiah, a king who implemented major reforms to the priesthood and resisted idolatry.
Speaker 1:It could also be referencing Josiah, a king who repaired the temple and eventually compiled scripture. But what specific king this passage is talking about isn't really the point. What matters is what kind of king Isaiah is talking about. Isaiah writes about a king who will bring his people out of darkness and into light. A king who won't use the tools of violence to overthrow his enemies, but will instead bring peace to all.
Speaker 1:A king who is a good counselor. A king who is mighty. A king who loves us like a parent does and promises to do so forever. And these kinds of stories of goodness, they don't have to be relegated to one place or time. I mean, that's kind of the beautiful thing about any story, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Story has this ability to transcend a single setting, a single context, even a single meaning. I mean, try and think back to when you were a kid. Think about the first time you saw yourself in a story. Maybe you were watching a movie, and there was a character who looked like you or acted like you, someone you knew would understand you, or might even be your friend. Or maybe it was a book you loved.
Speaker 1:In the way the author wrote about pain, or love, or faith, it just made you feel less alone. It might have been the simple fact that you read a story where someone was just going through the same stuff that you were going through, or living in the same city you were living in, or working the same kind of job you were working, and that meant something to you in your life. Stories stay with us. And long after we read or hear a story, we often see it playing out in our own lives in ways that are familiar, yes, but also new. And this is exactly what's going on in Isaiah nine.
Speaker 1:Because there's a detail way back from verse one that I haven't mentioned yet, but I think it's really important. Remember, Isaiah begins this whole section by saying, nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, God humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, God will honor Galilee of the nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan. And we didn't talk about this earlier, but Zebulun and Naphtali are lands in Israel, in the Northern Kingdom. So was Galilee.
Speaker 1:So as much as Isaiah might be addressing the Southern Kingdom Of Judah, he is proclaiming hope for the Northern Kingdom Of Israel as well. Sure, it is surprising and subversive and unexpected that God would use the ways of nonviolence and a small child to bring peace Judah. But what is even more unexpected is that God would bring that same kind of peace to Judah's estranged family. Isaiah takes this old story, a story of a new king, a story about hope for God's people and a reign of peace, and he widens it to include people his audience couldn't have imagined. And it doesn't just stop with the Northern Kingdom of Israel either.
Speaker 1:40 chapters later in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 49, the prophet takes it even further. He records this divine declaration where God says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Bringing peace to Israel is not enough. The great light seen by people walking in darkness was meant to shine brighter and wider than the people of Judah ever could have known.
Speaker 1:You see, throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the nations had been a signifier for those who were separate from Israel. But God's special attention to the people of Israel will not stop God from expanding the circle that this story of grace reaches. And further yet, the story of Isaiah chapter nine doesn't end in the book of Isaiah. In the Gospel of Matthew, it gets retold again. Jesus is just beginning his ministry, and Matthew tells the story like this.
Speaker 1:When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali, to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah. Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan. Galilee of the Gentiles. The people living in darkness have seen a great light.
Speaker 1:On those living in the land of deep of land of a shadow of death, a light has dawned. That sounds familiar. Right? Matthew knows this old story. The story of Isaiah declaring light and peace and freedom for the oppressed people of Judah.
Speaker 1:The story of God declaring light and peace and freedom for the kingdom of Israel too. And then Matthew sees Jesus. And he sees the light and the peace and the freedom received by all who encounter him, and he thinks to himself, this sounds familiar. The story that we find in Isaiah gave the people of Israel hope that a good king was on his way. That they wouldn't have to wait in darkness forever, that a little light was just around the corner.
Speaker 1:And that's a story that the people following Jesus would have known well. So when Jesus says to the crowds following him, I am the light of the world, when Jesus says, peace be with you, when Jesus proclaims freedom for all, that old story of light and peace and freedom, it gets retold once more. We've just spent four weeks in Advent preparing for Christmas, thinking about the story that surrounded this Christ child. It's a story of life coming in unexpected ways. It's the story of peace on Earth.
Speaker 1:It's the story that tells the end of violence and the beginning of freedom. And what if we had the imagination to see this story in our own lives? What if you could know this story of light and peace and freedom so well, that when grace appears in your own life every day, you can think to yourself, hey, this sounds familiar. When we look at our lives, the year behind us, the year ahead of us, may we learn to seek peace, and light, and freedom. Because when we are done with Christmas trees and Christmas carols and six Christmas Eve services, the light that this old, old story shines out, it still reaches us.
Speaker 1:So, in the year before you, may you know the light and the grace that Christ brings. May you remember old stories and tell new ones. And may you sense the presence of God in it all. Will you pray with me? Our loving God, you have given us the power of story to shape us, to inspire us, to remind us of your faithfulness.
Speaker 1:For some of us, looking back at the year behind us feels painful. The past holds our hurts and our disappointments, our confusion and our loss. And for others, looking back to the year behind us brings overwhelming gratitude for relationship, for health, for opportunity. But as we look forward, would you cultivate in us remembrance of old stories, and the courage to tell new ones too? Would we have the eyes and the hearts to see marks of your grace and peace all around us?
Speaker 1:In the name of Christ, pray. Amen.