SERMON AT WHITEPARISH ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, MORNING WORSHIP
– SUNDAY
4 DECEMBER 2022 – ADVENT 2
Isaiah
11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12
May I speak
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may my words be a blessing
to all who listen to them.
Today we lit
the second Advent candle known as the Candle of Prophecy or Candle of Peace
reminding us of the words of those Old Testament prophets who, prophesying
during the period of the Great Exile following the destruction of King
Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem in 586 BC when the Jewish People were held
captive, for the second time in their history, in Babylon gave hope and the
promise of peace in times to come. As we know, from history, their captivity
lasted for about seventy years until the Persians overran the Babylonian Empire
and the Emperor Cyrus allowed the Jewish people to return.
Many of the
prophesies, therefore, related specifically to the Jews’ return to the Holy
Land and the rebuilding of the Temple.
However, the prophesies of Isaiah go well beyond just this more
immediate restoration but look to a time when the Jewish people’s long-awaited
Messiah will appear.
For many
centuries after Isaiah, the Jewish people looked upon many candidates for their
Messiah as is recorded in the Apocrypha – those books which plug the gap
between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the NewTestament – which
are usually excluded from most copies of the bible.
So, for many
Jews, the period of waiting was very long indeed and we read in the Book of Malachi
how the people, including the priests, were indolent or casual in their worship
of God. Their Faith had become stale
because nothing seemed to be happening and their prayers not being answered. We
read how they offered defective goods as burnt sacrifices and kept the best for
themselves. Their worship was
half-hearted and lacking in conviction.
Isaiah,
though, is at great pains to tell his readers that something great and
wonderful will occur in the fullness of time but they need to wait and continue
to have faith. He prophesies about the
coming of the true Messiah whom he describes as being a descendant of King
David, King Solomon’s father and therefore of the direct lineage of the
monarchs who unified the Jewish tribes into one kingdom and built the great
temple at Jerusalem. A true and
authentic lineage. It is these words of
Isaiah which I want to unpick a little this morning and in so doing, hope that
the significance of the Old Testament as a backdrop to our Christian beliefs is
enforced. Indeed, in each of our
readings there are references to the importance of words of scripture from the
Old Testament – Paul in Romans reminds his readers that “whatever was
written in former days – i.e. by the prophets and others, was written
for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the
scriptures we might have hope”. In other words, by reading passages of
scripture written many centuries before we can be assured that it was written
to encourage us to have hope for the future and remind us that Jesus was that
hope.
So what is
Isaiah actually telling the people he is addressing in our First Reading? In
essence he is giving us a description of Jesus himself. He is telling us that the Messiah will be a descendant
of Jesse (King David’s father) but a stock or stump of Jesse – in other words
an offshoot as is described. I am
reminded of our lavatera plant in our front garden which I had to cut down in
order to repair our fencing. It had
grown quite wildly and it was with quite a bit of reluctance tinged with relief
that we removed it – at least it would not need drastic pruning every
year. Well somehow it has come back –
there must have been a stump or a small branch or hidden root which survived
and I have no doubt that unless I keep on eye on it it will flourish again. So with Jesse’s line, the direct line of
succession of Jewish kings did not prevail after the Exile but the family line
did until we come to Joseph the carpenter.
And so the
line it would be by a connection with Joseph, the fiancé of the virgin girl
Mary, that Jesus could claim ancestry back to David and thereby Jesse
fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah.
Therefore,
let’s look closely at the attributes which Isaiah gives this Saviour.
First of
all, the Spirit of the LORD rests upon him – in other words he will be born out
of the Holy Spirit and be filled with all the attributes and gifts of God which
Isaiah then describes – the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God – fear here
meaning respect for, not being frightened of, indeed Isaiah says his delight
will be in the knowledge and love of God.
That knowledge of course being undisputed, if we are Christians, as
Jesus is the incarnation of God. It also means that Jesus will be able to
distinguish between those who are genuinely righteous and those who profess to
be obedient to God but act otherwise (as we see in Malachi). Interestingly the Hebrew word “delight”, we
are told by the biblical scholar, Tom Wright, actually means “smell” and there
were cultures then, and even today, when a church has somebody at the door to
smell out any “evil” being carried amongst those entering.
Isaiah goes
on to say, in the following verses, that the Messiah does not judge by what he
sees or hears but with an in depth knowledge of what is right and righteous (a
reference back to the idea of being able to smell out those who are not
genuine). He will bring peace and then describes
the wolf lying down with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the cow and the
bear grazing together and so on. A world where there is no more animosity or
conflict but a harmonious and peaceful world where opposing forces have been
brought together in an understanding of peace. That is the prophesy, the
prophesy of peace which we celebrate with this second candle.
How many of
us long for that now? We live with ever
increasing tensions in a world with much hostility towards our fellow humans. We
only have to look at what is happening in Ukraine today. We would do well to go
back and read the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament and recall how Jesus
told those in the synagogue that he had come to fulfil the laws and the
prophesies not to tear them up. It is no coincidence that the passage Jesus
read in the synagogue in Galilee was from Isaiah’s prophesy.
But Isaiah
takes us further, beyond simply a Messiah for the Jews. We heard in our second
reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans how he quotes Isaiah again when he writes
“The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him
the Gentiles shall hope”. That is
such an important passage for us who are not Jews. The wonderful news that Jesus Christ, who was
born and raised a Jew, is more than simply a latter-day Jewish Prophet, as some
non-Christians believe, but has indeed come into the world for everyone – Jew
and Gentile. It gives authenticity and encouragement to everybody that to
follow Jesus is to follow God, the Supreme creator of heaven and earth and
thereby of us.
I cannot end
this short homily better than by repeating the words of Paul at the end of our
reading today and by recommending that whenever we feel lost or lonely in our
Faith or want to tell others about it, these words may be a blessing and
encouragement to us and those around us who need to hear the Good News –
“May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Amen
