Sermon for Advent I Yr A, 28/11/2004
Based on Isa 2:1-5
By Rev Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, &
Chaplain of The Good Samaritan Society’s
South Ridge Village, Medicine Hat, Alberta
“Advent Hope”
It is hard to believe that today we begin a new church year once again, time flies! I don’t know about you, but over the years I have come to love the season of Advent. I love it not only because it is an exciting season—we adults all love to watch the excitement, especially among the children as they wait rather impatiently for Christmas to come. I also love Advent because it is a season of the church year that cuts a gigantic swath! The scripture passages during Advent, in addition to keeping our feet grounded in the here-and-now, move us into a fast-forward kind of way to the conclusion of all history, and the coming of God’s realm in all of its marvellous fullness. In short, Advent is a season that invites us to think seriously about the meaning of time and how we use it. Time is a precious gift from God, which gives us the opportunity to live as people of hope, peace, joy and love.
The compilers of the lectionary throw us a curveball during Advent. The portions from the Hebrew Scriptures are foretelling the coming of a Messiah who has not yet appeared. The New Testament passages, on the other hand, not only presuppose a first coming but look forward to a second. As Martin Buber has pointed out, the biggest single difference between Jews and Christians is that while we are both messianic faiths, when it comes to cataloguing how Messiahs come and go, we have very different timetables. 1
Today’s first lesson from the prophet Isaiah is one of the most hope-filled passages of the Bible. Indeed, maybe we should have stood up when it was read like we do for the Gospel lesson, for, in my humble opinion, this Isaiah passage is full of Gospel-hope!
It is written by one of Israel’s most upbeat and inspired prophets. Although we don’t know much about Isaiah, according to his call in chapter six, we have reason to believe that he was a court prophet, since his call was in the Jerusalem temple. He lived in the eighth century before Christ, and was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Micah. There may have been some connection with Micah, since Isaiah 2:2-4 of today’s passage are almost identical to Micah 4:1-4.
The situation at the time Isaiah wrote this prophetic oracle of hope was a rather sombre one. After the superpower Assyria had successfully invaded and occupied the Northern kingdom of Israel, Judah the Southern kingdom feels very vulnerable and threatened by the Assyrians. There appears to have been some in Judah who were advising that Judah form an alliance with Egypt to ensure their political and military security against the Assyrians. However, Isaiah is opposed to such an alliance with Egypt. He advised Judah remain on its own and rely solely upon the LORD God, who would protect and preserve the chosen people if they remained faithful to him by keeping the covenant. In the midst of anxiety and despair, Isaiah preached a vision of a much brighter, more hopeful future.
The world hasn’t changed all that much since the days of Isaiah. Nations, especially superpowers, threaten to dominate the world by calling all the shots militarily and politically—holding the poorer, smaller nations in captivity. Smaller nations still feel vulnerable politically and militarily, just like Judah did in ancient times. It is precisely in this situation of anxiety and despair that a vision of hope is required and reminds us of our deepest need to place all of our trust and security in the LORD our God. Isaiah is correct; our ultimate hope is in the LORD our God, NOT military and political security.
Isaiah then goes on to provide us with clues as to what this hope in the LORD God looks like. The first thing he states is that it shall be centred in Jerusalem—which Isaiah calls “the mountain of the LORD’S house,” “the house of the God of Jacob,” and “Zion.” All of these refer to Jerusalem, which shall become, in the days of the Messiah, the spiritual and political centre of the world. Notice that Isaiah uses the word “highest” to emphasise the supremacy of Jerusalem over against all other mountains and hills. Then he tells us Jerusalem is destined to be such an attractive place that “all nations” shall make their pilgrimage to the dwelling place of the Messiah. So Jerusalem shall be the gathering place of the nations.
Then Isaiah goes on to state the reason for the nations gathering at Jerusalem. They shall come in order that the Messiah “may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” In other words, there is an expectation here that the Messiah has something wonderful to offer all peoples. Along with this expectation, there is openness, a receptiveness to learning from the Messiah’s teachings. This openness and receptivity to learning is also from the Messiah, and is mentioned in the prophet Jeremiah 31:33-34—where he speaks of God’s saving action to make a new covenant. Jeremiah says the LORD at that time shall: “put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” Thanks to this saving work of God, people shall be able to actually “walk in his (God’s) paths.” The Messiah’s teachings shall not be so idealistic that we cannot live up to them—rather, everyone who is instructed shall be able to benefit from the instruction and “walk in his paths.”
Isaiah goes on to say: “For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” The English word “instruction” actually refers to and means the law or Torah. When the Messiah comes, he will teach the true meaning of Torah to everyone. Everything will be made clear at that time. Think of that! All of our longings and yearnings after the truth; all of our living with mysteries shall be revealed when our Messiah comes to bring all of history to its fulfillment. All of our questions shall either be answered or shall no longer be necessary. No more stumbling along in the darkness; no more living with doubts and ambiguities; all shall be revealed!
In this hope-filled future where Christ shall teach and reveal all things to us; Isaiah goes on to state that another role our Messiah shall play is that of “judge between the nations, and (he) shall arbitrate for many peoples.” In all of the political, military, social and economic complexities of this world—thank God that there shall be a spiritual presence and solution to everything! Nations and peoples that continue to remain divided and at war with each other throughout history shall, in the future, be gathered together in the presence of the Messiah who will judge and arbitrate fairly, justly, with love and mercy for everyone. This is the case because, in the same breath, Isaiah proclaims one of his most popular phrases of all—which is filled with Gospel hope and promise. It is a message of universal peace among all the nations: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” In other words, war shall become obsolete! It shall no longer exist, it shall be “unlearned” by all people, and weapons of destruction shall be turned into tools for life and peace. This vision of Isaiah has, of course, inspired the Canadian peace and disarmament organization “Project Ploughshares,” and the words, I’m told, are also etched in stone in New York City, beside the United Nations building there. Although organizations such as these, along with faithful Jews and Christians are inspired by Isaiah’s words; nonetheless we have still not been able to live up to them on an international level. The world seems to be an ever increasingly violent and hopeless place in which to live. Peace in places like the Middle East seem like a naïve pipe dream. Should we remain hopeful, even though the daily news would rather us live in despair and cynicism? Isaiah’s answer is a resounding YES! The following story also gives us inspiration to live in Advent hope:
Rev William Sloane Coffin, Jr., tells of his years in the CIA training Russians who defected from the communist regime. On one occasion Rev Coffin was speaking with one of these Russian spies about the high failure rate of the CIA spy training program.
“What struck me was their patience and their conviction that ultimately in this world you have to do what is right, and only penultimately what is effective. Had these Russians depended on success for spiritual nourishment, their souls long ago would have starved to death. Unlike Andrei, many were Russian Orthodox Christians. When I asked the one I got to know the best, “Boris, why do you persist when the results are so pitiful?” he answered: “Dear friend, doesn’t God himself have that problem with all of us?” 2
I think that is a living parable for us today too, just as it was in Isaiah’s day. There is much in this world today to convince us not to have hope for the future. Yet, as people of faith, we are given a glimpse of God’s “Master Plan” of a future shot through with hope. In the little details of our daily living, we are invited to be about the business of bringing seeds of hope to the world. The world and the Church that God loves so much was, is, and ever shall be in God’s most capable hands. God and his Messiah Jesus shall one day fulfill the wonderful prophecy of hope that Isaiah proclaimed so long ago. May we as a people of faith keep proclaiming and living God’s message of hope for ourselves and the whole world. Amen.
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1 Cited from: Robert McAfee Brown, Reclaiming the Bible (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), p. 47.
2 Cited from: Wm. Sloane Coffin, Jr., Once To Every Man: A Memoir (New York: Atheneum, 1977), p. 111.
