Difference between revisions of "Sermon for December 30th, 2018"

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There's been a lot of speculation through the years about how exactly the world will come to an end. Some look to the terrifying images from Book of Revelation, others to serene passages like this one in Isaiah.  Some look to science and the possibility of a devastating asteroid impact, or simply the passage of time and growing entropy in the universe.
 
There's been a lot of speculation through the years about how exactly the world will come to an end. Some look to the terrifying images from Book of Revelation, others to serene passages like this one in Isaiah.  Some look to science and the possibility of a devastating asteroid impact, or simply the passage of time and growing entropy in the universe.
  
All of those things are wrong, of course.  The true end of the world will actually come to pass when someone flips a lever in the middle of a remote state highway located deep in the Ozark national forest in Arkansas.
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All of those things are wrong, of course.  The true end of the world will actually come to pass when someone flips a wooden lever in the middle of a remote state highway located deep in the Ozark national forest in Arkansas.
  
 
This lever is clearly labeled "Do not touch until the end of the world" but there have been some close calls in recent times.  Like the time when Nate the worm decided to crawl across the highway.  Now, of course an earthworm doesn't have the physical strength to pull a lever, so there was never any real risk of Nate himself causing the end of the world...but when Nate was about a quarter of the way across the road (it took him about two hours to get that far) an 18-wheeler came barrelling down the state highway at about 75 miles per hour right at him.  This is a two-lane highway, and Nate was right in the middle of one lane...while the lever to end the world was right in the middle of the next.  By the time the truck driver saw them both--Nate the worm and the lever to end the world--it was too late to stop, and so it was clear that the driver had a difficult choice to make.
 
This lever is clearly labeled "Do not touch until the end of the world" but there have been some close calls in recent times.  Like the time when Nate the worm decided to crawl across the highway.  Now, of course an earthworm doesn't have the physical strength to pull a lever, so there was never any real risk of Nate himself causing the end of the world...but when Nate was about a quarter of the way across the road (it took him about two hours to get that far) an 18-wheeler came barrelling down the state highway at about 75 miles per hour right at him.  This is a two-lane highway, and Nate was right in the middle of one lane...while the lever to end the world was right in the middle of the next.  By the time the truck driver saw them both--Nate the worm and the lever to end the world--it was too late to stop, and so it was clear that the driver had a difficult choice to make.
  
 
I regret to inform you that Nate the worm died that day, repeatedly smooshed flat into the state highway pavement by at least 9 of those 18 wheels, tragically cut short in his quest to see the other side of the road.  But what can you do?  After all, like the truck driver, we know that in the end, it was . . . better Nate than lever.
 
I regret to inform you that Nate the worm died that day, repeatedly smooshed flat into the state highway pavement by at least 9 of those 18 wheels, tragically cut short in his quest to see the other side of the road.  But what can you do?  After all, like the truck driver, we know that in the end, it was . . . better Nate than lever.
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 +
For the past several weeks we've been talking about prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, and this week we come to our final sermon in the series, on Isaiah 11.  This is perhaps the most iconic and familiar vision of peace in the entire Bible, and has been the subject of music, art, poetry, and literature. 
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We can roughly divide this passage into three parts:  The first part (Verses 1-5) is about the qualities of the righteous king, the "shoot that shall come forth out of the stump of Jesse," the "branch that shall grow out of his roots."  You may remember that Jesse was the father of King David, and here is symbolic of the entire line of Kings descended from David.  As I mentioned last week, most biblical scholars believe that Isaiah is referring with great hope to the young new king of his time, King Hezekiah.  These verses are a coronation prayer and blessing, a reminder to Hezekiah that he's supposed to judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.  Of course, he's also supposed to kill the wicked with the breath (or words) of his lips, which sounds a little bit jarring in light of the next few verses.
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Verses 6-9 describe this perfect, almost fairy-tale kind of existence where there is no violence, there are no predators or prey, no threats to small children.  We read this verse at Christmas time because the words "a little child shall lead them" remind us of baby Jesus, but most likely the child here is representative of all humanity, in our most vulnerable state (kind of like the lamb and the calf).  Verse 9 refers to the Holy Mountain, and usually that's taken as a reference to the city of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, the site of the Jewish Temple.
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Finally, the third section, verses 10-11, turns back to the King, the "root of Jesse" as a sign and symbol to all of the scattered people of Israel and Judah, who are exiled in Assyria, Egypt, Africa and various other places.  The message is, when King Hezekiah takes the throne, you'll all be able to come back home again, and life in peace and prosperity.
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Which they did.  Until they didn't.  3,000 years later, we still fight wars, watch dreadful acts of violence play out in our world and in our communities.  We generally don't let our children play with poisonous snakes or lions, and as Woody Allen famously said, "the Lion may lie down with the Lamb, but the Lamb won't get much sleep."
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So we push our hope, our expectation of this passage into the future--someday God will make all this happen. If not in this life, then at least in the next one.  After all, that's what a prophecy is, right?  A prediction about what the future will be like, what will happen in days to come.
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Not quite.  As I've said a few times already, that may be the contemporary definition of prophecy, but it's not
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A stump = something that has been cut off, mostly dead but with some potential for new life.

Revision as of 21:19, 27 December 2018

Isaiah 11:1-11

1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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. 3 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; 4 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. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6 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. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 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.

10 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. 11 On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

Messiah: The Peaceful Kingdom

There's been a lot of speculation through the years about how exactly the world will come to an end. Some look to the terrifying images from Book of Revelation, others to serene passages like this one in Isaiah. Some look to science and the possibility of a devastating asteroid impact, or simply the passage of time and growing entropy in the universe.

All of those things are wrong, of course. The true end of the world will actually come to pass when someone flips a wooden lever in the middle of a remote state highway located deep in the Ozark national forest in Arkansas.

This lever is clearly labeled "Do not touch until the end of the world" but there have been some close calls in recent times. Like the time when Nate the worm decided to crawl across the highway. Now, of course an earthworm doesn't have the physical strength to pull a lever, so there was never any real risk of Nate himself causing the end of the world...but when Nate was about a quarter of the way across the road (it took him about two hours to get that far) an 18-wheeler came barrelling down the state highway at about 75 miles per hour right at him. This is a two-lane highway, and Nate was right in the middle of one lane...while the lever to end the world was right in the middle of the next. By the time the truck driver saw them both--Nate the worm and the lever to end the world--it was too late to stop, and so it was clear that the driver had a difficult choice to make.

I regret to inform you that Nate the worm died that day, repeatedly smooshed flat into the state highway pavement by at least 9 of those 18 wheels, tragically cut short in his quest to see the other side of the road. But what can you do? After all, like the truck driver, we know that in the end, it was . . . better Nate than lever.

For the past several weeks we've been talking about prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, and this week we come to our final sermon in the series, on Isaiah 11. This is perhaps the most iconic and familiar vision of peace in the entire Bible, and has been the subject of music, art, poetry, and literature.

We can roughly divide this passage into three parts: The first part (Verses 1-5) is about the qualities of the righteous king, the "shoot that shall come forth out of the stump of Jesse," the "branch that shall grow out of his roots." You may remember that Jesse was the father of King David, and here is symbolic of the entire line of Kings descended from David. As I mentioned last week, most biblical scholars believe that Isaiah is referring with great hope to the young new king of his time, King Hezekiah. These verses are a coronation prayer and blessing, a reminder to Hezekiah that he's supposed to judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Of course, he's also supposed to kill the wicked with the breath (or words) of his lips, which sounds a little bit jarring in light of the next few verses.

Verses 6-9 describe this perfect, almost fairy-tale kind of existence where there is no violence, there are no predators or prey, no threats to small children. We read this verse at Christmas time because the words "a little child shall lead them" remind us of baby Jesus, but most likely the child here is representative of all humanity, in our most vulnerable state (kind of like the lamb and the calf). Verse 9 refers to the Holy Mountain, and usually that's taken as a reference to the city of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, the site of the Jewish Temple.

Finally, the third section, verses 10-11, turns back to the King, the "root of Jesse" as a sign and symbol to all of the scattered people of Israel and Judah, who are exiled in Assyria, Egypt, Africa and various other places. The message is, when King Hezekiah takes the throne, you'll all be able to come back home again, and life in peace and prosperity.

Which they did. Until they didn't. 3,000 years later, we still fight wars, watch dreadful acts of violence play out in our world and in our communities. We generally don't let our children play with poisonous snakes or lions, and as Woody Allen famously said, "the Lion may lie down with the Lamb, but the Lamb won't get much sleep."

So we push our hope, our expectation of this passage into the future--someday God will make all this happen. If not in this life, then at least in the next one. After all, that's what a prophecy is, right? A prediction about what the future will be like, what will happen in days to come.

Not quite. As I've said a few times already, that may be the contemporary definition of prophecy, but it's not

A stump = something that has been cut off, mostly dead but with some potential for new life.