Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
New Testament Reading: Matthew 24:36-44
In these passages in Isaiah and Matthew we see how every divinely
inspired writer expresses their message in the context of their own reality. Both
speak of “end times” but one is upbeat the other almost morose.
Matthew’s reality is the personal reality of the disciples who
have known and been called by Jesus and soon will see him die, and see the subsequent
evidence of his resurrection. Matthew’s focus is on future return of the future
holds for those who understand this reality of the consummation of the reign of
kings.
Isaiah
speaks from the impending chaos brought by Assyria and Babylon. He gives us his
sense that God is at work building something new and he is using Assyria and
Babylon as tools to purify Judah and Israel, and the rest of the world for the
future wonders of grace he will pour out on all the people who hear and come to
learn. Isaiah oversees the end of the era of the last king.
Because
of their different perspectives, one looking forward to the grand unification
in the post-regal era and speaking principally to the corporate, or national
bodies, the other looking beyond the cross speaking primarily to the personal
world of the disciples. That perspective paints irony on the passages making
the Old Testament passage one principally of hope beyond human judgment where
we expected only judgment, Mathew on the other hand has a judgmental character
that cannot be ignored.
Isaiah 2:1-5 concludes, “…come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” If there is a message in
the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, it is “the Lord will take care of those who
come to learn in Zion.” That image from Isaiah immediately brought a
sermon title to mind, “Let’s put some light on it…”
If we had clear eyes and guiding
light, what wonders of the future would we behold? Would we rather learn what
path to follow to ensure we get to the wonders, or just stay uninformed until
it all happens and hope you are on the right road?
I think Isaiah strongly resembles
Paul, speaking not of the kind of light I’ll call reason that causes you to be
troubled by what you see when you look around, but of the kind of light we
discussed two weeks ago, the kind I call wisdom. With wisdom when you look
around you might see what is really going on. We are still grappling with Isaiah
and Matthew’s issues today, reason or wisdom. Reason puts you in the mind to
judge. Judging makes you lose sight of God because you are trying to usurp
God. Wisdom in the mind lets God do the
judging while you enjoy the grace he brings.
(Just for illumination here is a
little history. Isaiah speaks to Jerusalem and Judah in the time of conquest by
Assyria and Babylon. You probably know that the 12 tribes of Hebrews were a
single nation only for three kings. After Solomon they split into the ten
tribes of North, called Israel, and the two tribes of the South Judah and
Benjamin that formed the nation of Judah whose royal city was Jerusalem.
Assyria was at its peak in the time of Isaiah, stretching from the Island of
Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea all the way to modern day Iran. Israel wanted
to conquer Judah but Assyria was fighting the Egyptian empire and that warfare
put Israel in a pincher with all sorts of intrigue since Assyria had eyes on
both Israel and Judah. Eventually Israel fell to Assyria. Though weakened by
its war with Egypt and other local powers Assyria was knocking on Judah’s door.
At the same time Babylon was rising in
the South a and had eyes on both Judah and the Assyrian Empire. Things could
not be grimmer for Judah as Isaiah told Judah God was purifying the people of
Israel and Judah using Assyria and Babylon. They were his tools in this
national, or collective tragedy. In the midst of this chaotic time of war Isaiah
proclaimed a positive future where Jerusalem (also called Zion) becomes the
beacon to all peoples.)
Note the use of the plural form of “people.”
The usage means Isaiah is not just talking about Judah and Israel but people
of all nations.
(More history: Matthew writes in the
time 500 years after the Babylonian captivity. He also writes after Jesus faced
his own crucifixion. Even in the faith of resurrection, in chaos it was a time to
wonder when will the Son return? Luke tells us Jesus assured people that faith
will justify everyone who asks, but
lamented will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he returns? Even
though he has offered words of assurance that he has brought the Kingdom of
Heaven to earth and begun the overthrow of the old world, people doubt.)
Now, we haven’t read the judgment in the
first chapter of Isaiah. I
am going to leave it to you, and encourage you, to read it on your own if you
promise to use it as a history lesson and not as a tool to judge. In this
opening chapter the Lord indicts Israel and especially Judah for reducing the
entire state of worship in Jerusalem to a complete abomination, a sacrilege.
They have twisted and turned the worship the Lord instructed and expects inside
out and dirtied the Temple. .
Isaiah 1:1-31 is some of the
harshest language of condemnation you will read in the entire Bible. It is
truly a “take no prisoners” text. The Lord even asks, “why do you dare even
enter the ground of my Temple? He orders, “Trample my courts no more!” (Temple is
Jerusalem, Zion, Holy of Holies, God’s house.) It is fair to say, God is “mad as a hornet.” It reads a little
like the Matthew 3:1-12 lectionary
passage.
Yet, Isaiah in his next breath, in the first 5 verses of Chapter 2,
gives the message of hope in the most ideal future we can envision. “In days to
come the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest of
the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall
stream to it.” There will be permanent peace between nations.
The
very fact that Isaiah says Israel, Judah and
“all the nations shall stream to it
is a radical message that will be repeated by Isaiah again, and again. This New
Jerusalem is a place for all nations. Through Isaiah, God is rewriting his
covenant to expand it beyond the Hebrews. Perhaps he is describing a new
Jerusalem beyond the city of Jerusalem.
This
new Jerusalem comes with a price and a finality to it. When you read these next
few lines, you must put aside any ideas that come to mind about using this
passage or my words to batter people about judgment. Verse 4 clearly states any
judgment and arbitration is by the
Lord.
Isaiah
says “Many” people will come. Does her mean
this technically literally? Is he suggesting that not everyone will respond to
the call?
What we read, however, is a positive message for the people
who come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house
of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his
paths.” The message is that the Lord knows what this city shall be and who its
inhabitants shall be and how they will live. He is intent appears to be that he
will populate this new kingdom with people who will learn and follow his ways.
When I say, “Let’s put some light on it,” I’m thinking about
the situation this way. If I walk into a dark room, I only have to flip the
light switch “on” to find my way around, it is pretty easy. Moses both say it
is easy to find the Law, it will be written in your heart. In our Christian
language, Jesus puts it this way, “It is easy to find faith, you do not have to
get it by yourself, it comes to you by the Holy Spirit. When you look and find it written in your
heart, you know you’ve got it.” The whole point of grace is God works the light
switch, not us.
Isaiah though talks of the promise of
a future king, saying, “For out of Zion shall go forth
instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” The message is if you
have ears, listen, if you have eyes, see. If you come, hear and see, you will
learn what you need to know when the time comes to walk with the Lord. Many, not all people will hear the call to come
and learn.
Isaiah ends his message
on hope. When this occurs there
shall finally be peace for those who hear
and understand. He tells us that all we have to is have
faith and let the Lord put some light on the subject. Verse 5, “5O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in
the light of the Lord!”
Last week I talked about what I call
the sordid history of kings in Judah and Israel. The history of those kings is the
history of people who chose to reject the rule of God (1 Samuel 8). Isaiah speaks in
the unfolding time when the Lord ended the reign of their kings and promising a
new thing of wonder coming from Zion/Jerusalem, the house of David. All peoples shall have the truly Divine King
who will judge and arbitrate for everyone with justice.
Is
it too outrageous to have faith that this will happen? - That grace will come in – that people will
not just be “taught the ways” but the Lord will shine such an illuminating
light that their eyes will will be opened to wisdom so they
understand what is really going on,
the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven.
For me, it is an uplifting promise on
this first Sunday of Advent, a message that points beyond the birth of Jesus
and beyond the cross to the time when we see the God of the living.
I often find that the
lyrics of music capture messages so well because music is poetry and poetry
strives to capture the emotional content of reality. Prose like text books can
reduce reality to boring facts and equations.
I have a favorite group
on musicians called, The Blind Boys of Alabama. They sing
primarily gospel music with a very personal touch. The poetic justice of a
group of blind musicians singing about the Light of God is striking.
One song they sing so dramatically
captures Isaiah’s message of hope in the future for the peoples of the world
embodied in the grace of Jesus Christ. It captures the essence of faith that
this new message requires. It puts some light on the sad reality that some may
understand and learn but some may turn away from the light. It relieves a
burden that we can rely on the Lord decide that issue, but it also reminds us
that we, our life, may be that light for others.
Listen
to the lyrics of “People
Get Ready originally sung by the Impressions and written by Curtis
Mayfield, but on the Blind Boys of Alabama’s album, Higher
Ground:”
People
get ready, there's a train a-coming.
You
don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need
is faith, to hear the diesels humming.
Don't
need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
People
get ready, for the train to Jordan
Picking
up passengers, from coast to coast.
Faith
is the key, open the doors and board them.
There's room for all, among the loved the most.
There
ain't no room, for the hopeless sinner.
Who
would hurt all mankind just, to save his own.
Have pity on those, whose chances are thinner
'Cause
there's no hiding place, from the Kingdom's throne.
So
people get ready, for the train a-comin'
You
don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All
you need is faith, you hear the diesels humming
Don't need
no ticket, you just thank, you just thank the Lord.
I
believe, I believe, Yes Lord, I believe.
These words of assurance have as much
comfort to us today as the words Isaiah proclaimed 2,500 years ago did to
Israel, Judah and the world.
Friends don’t do anything less than
ask that the Holy Spirit to illumine us, that it puts some light on understanding
the ways of the Lord so we can walk in them and give us peace, now and forever. Amen.
