Christmas Characters: Isaiah

I’ll never forget a friend of mine asking where the wreath with the candles were during one of my first church pastorates. I replied, “we don’t need those rituals do we?” The response was all about the history, her church experiences during Christmas and why she loved a church all dressed up in color. It increased her anticipation of the big day.

I didn’t have the heart to say that the season of Advent isn’t really designed to be a countdown to the celebration of Christmas. It is a time of preparation for Christ’s return and the establishment of the kingdom of God. It is a reminder that we are heading someplace; we are works in progress; we are longing for something more. In a sense, we are looking forward and at the same time, looking back.

In many ways, we are experiencing three periods of time at once. We are remembering a time before God broke into the world, the time when God did become present and now, a future time when Emmanuel – God with us – will be our constant companion.

We can grumble about how we’ve lost the true meaning of Christmas, and perhaps we should, but we can also be surprised at how something pure and wonderful can appear in the most unlikely places, from the most unlikely sources to remind us that we are all longing for something more, something of eternity and of the beloved community, described by the one whose birth we celebrate - Jesus

When we read Isaiah 2:1-5, we usually skip to the prophecy. It is what is so compelling, what is so radical. The prophecy is what drives us this Advent season.

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established

as the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

In verse one, we are introduced to the prophet, “Isaiah, son of Amoz;” he has a family. And he works for the southern kingdom, Judah, and in its capital city, Jerusalem (which means, by the way, city of peace).

It seems almost ironic, doesn’t it? Jerusalem, the city of peace, in one of the most contentious areas on the planet. How many temples were built and destroyed? How many walls were built and destroyed? How many times have the alleys echoed with soldiers’ booted feet and streets washed in blood? It’s not new, this conflict, this battleground in the city of peace. It’s been a place of struggle for centuries.

And yet. Read verse one again: “The Word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” Did you catch it that time? The Word that Isaiah saw. Saw. Not heard, but saw. Oh, I know: those prophets, what are you going to do? They are a bit . . . goofy. Living out there on the edge, shouting at passersby, running for their lives, hiding in caves, and calling down fire. Yeah, those things did happen to prophets. They didn’t have an easy life. Their main job was holding up mirrors, and no one likes looking too closely at themselves. So, no wonder they weren’t included at the best parties; no wonder they got bounced from the best clubs. No one wanted them around—for long anyway.

Except, this was Isaiah. Not the normal, run-of-the-mill prophet. Not the backwoods, wild-eyed, messy-haired, bad teeth prophet of the street corners, holding up cardboard signs scrawled with illegible doom.

Isaiah was as corporate as prophets get. And as much an insider as any of them. He had an office down the hall from the king’s. He had a secretary who took his notes and typed them up for the press release. At least at first. At least before the whole house of cards fell.

Now, he didn’t spout a party line; he wasn’t a mouthpiece for the king. It’s kind of amazing that he was able to keep his job as long as he did, given that more often than not he had bad news to share, fingers to point, doom to pronounce. Maybe those in power considered him a lightning rod. As long as he was there giving warnings and calling them to a higher standard, then nothing bad would actually happen. It makes you wonder if anyone listened to him. Or whether they just shook his hand each week and said, “Nice sermon, Pastor Isaiah,” and went about their business. And he had to bite his tongue every now and then so as not to say, “Weren’t you listening?”