The morning sports pages brought forth a pearl of wisdom from one Ron Jaworski, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. Mr. Jaworski, as it turned out, is something of a prophet. He referred to his team's irritating habit of getting off to a good start in their games, leading right up to the last quarter, and then suddenly managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Said Jaworski, "When you come to see the Eagles play, don't leave early!" At the time he was referring to a prior week's game, in which the Vikings had scored four touchdowns in less than nine minutes in the fourth quarter and taken the Eagles from victor to vanquished in a few terrible strokes.
And you know, of course – I know this congregation -- you know that it happened again that very afternoon, as our beloved Redskins permitted the Eagles a few stray points early in the game, toyed with them for a couple of quarters, and then struck in the last quarter and made Mr. Jaworski a prophet. The Eagle has landed!
The game's not over, just because a team gets off to a decent beginning. The game's not finished just because one team gets out in front. What matters is who's on top when the clock ticks off the last second. Just because one team gets off to an early lead does not mean that the game’s over yet. In the immortal words of Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, "It's not over ‘til it's over."
Now I would be reluctant in some Baptist congregations to admit that these hands had ever so much as touched a playing card, but I suppose among you the truth can come out. I have had a brief but traumatic career as a card player. Brief but traumatic. Let me tell you why it was brief and traumatic. A few years ago my wife decided to teach our family the game of Canasta. Canasta was around way back in the late middle ages when she and I were teenagers but had sort of disappeared for awhile; but she decided it would be fun for the four of us to play it as a family. And play we did, until that son of mine learned the tricks of the trade. I would be playing merrily along, melding here and playing there and thinking I was doing quite well, when all of a sudden, out of the clear blue sky, he would lay down about 50 cards in sudden terrible strokes, would declare himself out, and would leave me with all my fantasies crumbling. I had thought, you see, that my hand was full, the game was over, that because I had made a good start it was going to be won. But he had a way of wiping me out, as the hymn-writer puts it, "with a terrible swift sword," and I learned again that it's not over ‘til it's over. The game's not over just because you think you have a wonderful game plan and can get off to a fine proud start.
Now speaking of prophets, there was once one called Isaiah. Isaiah's task it was to offer the people of Judah some words of hope and comfort amid the turmoil of their political and military situation. The little nation of Judah had reason to fear, for they appeared to be on the losing end of the game, the deadly game, of international politics. Word had come that two of Judah's enemies, the Syrians and the Israelites, had formed an alliance and were out to destroy Judah.
The prospects looked dim indeed; the future looked bleak, and it seemed as though the game was over here at the very beginning. How could this one small kingdom hope to defend itself against these two powers leagued together against her?
But Isaiah's message, as I see it, is another way of saying, Ah, but the games not over yet. It's not over ‘til it's over. The game's not over yet, for we have a star player, you see, and the game plan does not call for him to enter the game just yet. We have a star player, and in due time he will enter the fray, and then you'll see. It's not over yet, this game.
Well, then, who is this star player? Who is this surprise entry? Isaiah begins to talk about one who will be born and who will carry the strange and wonderful title, Immanuel, God with us. And as that child begins to grow up, says Isaiah, before he even knows the difference between right and wrong, "the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted". Pretty good, right? I'm sending in the star player, and he will barely have to get started when the enemy you thought had defeated you will just vanish - poof - gone.
But even then the game's not over yet. Even then, in that time of apparent victory, the game's not over yet. For Isaiah goes on to speak eloquently of this superstar, this wonderful one who will enter the game, a larger game, if you like. "Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." And still more extraordinary things will Isaiah say of him:
"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 at last: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 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."
What a vision that is! What a glorious beautiful vision – a world at peace, a world in which natural enemies are even able to live at peace with one another, a world in which there is universal justice, a land in which there is complete freedom, a time in which righteousness is everywhere. Can you and I even fathom this vision? "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea."
Well, it should be obvious to anyone with eyes to see that this has not yet come true. Whether you understand the words of Isaiah to be applied only his own time, as some interpreters do, or whether you understand them to be words about the coming of God's appointed one, God's messiah, Jesus the Christ – however you understand Isaiah's words to be applied, you have to recognize that this vision is far from true. Peace is far from universal; the knowledge of God seems so very limited; personal and corporate righteousness sometimes seems to be at a premium.
We can identify with the poet Longfellow, can't we, when he says, "And in despair I bowed my head, ‘There is no peace on earth’ I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men." What a cruel mockery Isaiah's lovely vision seems to be!
But wait, are we forgetting my major premise here? Are we forgetting the theme with which I began? The game's not over yet. It's not over ‘til it's over. And our God is not yet finished with us. That is for me the theme of Advent. Advent says to me that no matter how much advantage the enemy may have, he is not yet the victor. Advent reminds me that however many points the powers of evil may seem to score, our God has not yet been taken to the mat in defeat. The game's not over yet. It's not over ‘til it's over.
And so, when I see Jesus, when I share again the festival of his birth, I see the coming kingdom. I see that our God has now sent in the star player, and the game is beginning to turn around. I see in Jesus Christ the evidence that now the tide is turning, and though the game's not over yet, there is a new ingredient.
He is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, he is the branch growing from the roots of antiquity, but he is also Immanuel. He is God with us, and the Spirit of the Lord rests upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Now everything has changed; there is a new dimension to our human story, because of Him.
Oh today let's hear the song of the angels, and let's hear it with a new depth, with a new hope; let's hear the message of Bethlehem and take heart: "Be not afraid." Be not afraid of those things which erode and chip away at our well-being, for unto you good news. Be not afraid of ignorance or of misunderstanding, be not afraid of racial prejudice or of social snobbery, be not afraid, for unto you, good news this day. Be not afraid.
Be not afraid of Caesar and of Herod, nor be afraid of Gorbachev or of Qaddafi, be not afraid of governments and armies or even of the terror of the bomb, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior— a savior, a healer, one who makes things whole and the message to you is peace, peace on earth, shalom and wholeness and health and salvation. Be not afraid, for the game's not over yet.
And when it’s over – it is coming, you see – and when you have been privileged of all men and women on the face of the earth to have shared in it, to have played on God's team, if you like, you will also taste the full glory of His victory, that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
On this Christmas, then, whatever it is that assails you or troubles you, let the eyes of faith see and understand that the game's not over – not yet – not by a long shot!
