December 4, 2022 – Advent 2
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12[1]
Isaiah has hope
for the future of Israel. He proclaims in this passage the coming of a
righteous ruler in the line of David, and an age of harmony and peace. This was
at a time when ancient Israel had divided into a northern kingdom of Israel and
a southern kingdom of Judah. War with Assyria would soon destroy Samaria and
end the northern kingdom. If a messiah were to come, Isaiah recognizes that it
might not be in his lifetime, and the peaceable kingdom might be a consummation
of God’s kingdom in the distant future. Yet he remains hopeful.
The branch
growing out of the root of Jesse references the house of King David, the son of
Jesse. The hoped-for king will be known as “the anointed one” and “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”
(Is 11:2). The king will rule with righteousness, defending the welfare of the
most defenseless and marginal.
Early
Christians saw this model of leadership fulfilled in Jesus. He is the
descendent of David who will usher in the reign of God’s kingdom. The kingdom
of God, so often referenced in our Gospels, will encompass not only the future
of Israel but the Gentiles and all the nations. In Jesus, we see the hope for
the future, the completion of God’s vision, and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s
hope for the peoples.
As we read
Isaiah’s oracle of hope in our own time this Advent, we claim the anointed son
of David in Jesus Christ, the new branch grown from the root of Jesse. We see Christ
as the signal to the peoples of the promised consummation of God’s peaceable
kingdom yet to come. It is a world where no one will hurt or destroy, when all
of the earth will be full of the knowledge and presence of the Lord.
John the Baptist
also holds this hope for the future of God’s people. He knows what Isaiah hoped
for, as he quoted, “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Mt 3:3; Is 40:3). He proclaims
the nearness of the reign of God, and announces the one who is coming after him
with power.
John’s vision
is more severe than that of Isaiah, at least in the way it is directed toward
the Pharisees and Sadducees. To John, the temple and imperial buildings
represented the centralized power of the Roman regime. The leaders considered
themselves secure in the status-quo, children of Abraham, heirs to the promises
of God. John warns of the ax lying at the root of the trees. Here in the
wilderness – in Israel’s history the place of renewal – the old ways of power will
be thrown into the fire and the new creation will be born, the new kingdom of
God.
John, this wild
man living on the margins, drew the people out of the center, out of Jerusalem
and the temple. Here in the wilderness, on the fringes of society, the renewal
and redemption of the people is taking place. The Pharisees and Sadducees, aligned
with the ruling class, perceive John as a threat to their interests. The power
and influence of the temple and the system of religious sacrifices is challenged
by John’s baptism of repentance. John’s warnings of judgement are directed at
them. More worrisome for them, and more encouraging for those on the banks of
the Jordan, is the hope of one who is coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit
and fire.
Jesus didn’t
come to burn everything down. We must remember, it is only the chaff that is
burned. The wheat is gathered into the granary. That which does us no good is
cleared away, and what remains is redeemed. Wealth and status, bloodlines and
position hold no more value in the kingdom of heaven than the sinners gathered
by the river in the wilderness. What is of value, repentance and renewal,
faithfulness and good works, these are harvested by the one who holds the
winnowing-fork.
We, of course,
are not rulers or judges or nations. We are not Pharisees or Sadducees. We are
more like the people of Jerusalem and all Judea, gathered here rather than the
river, yet still seeking repentance and renewal. We have come with our sins to
confess, and we bring the scars of the sins committed against us. We seek the
one who will judge with righteousness, and we are recovering from those who
have judged us without righteousness. And what we find in the words of Isaiah
and of John is both acceptance and admonition. We discover here, that we are
loved for who we are and we are also responsible for what we do.
This Advent, as
we gather in our sacred space, we enter the threshing-floor. We don’t yearn for
judgement, yet we know that we have judged others. We hope that our unrighteous
judgements will be swept away. We wash in the water, and hope that it will wash
away our sins; but we know we have sinned against others. We hope the fire will
burn that inclination away. We are grateful that one who winnows is the one who
judges with righteousness and decides with equity.
As we prepare
to welcome the Christ-child, we remember who we are. We learn again that we are
loved, and that we are expected to be loving. We are reminded that we are loved
enough by God to be welcomed into the family of Christ, and that God loves us
enough to expect that we will act accordingly. My prayer for you is that this
Advent season prepares you for a life which signals that the kingdom of heaven
has come near. Amen.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
