2nd Sunday in Advent
December 5, 2004
Isaiah 11:1-10
The Perfect Politician!
We all got a good dose of politics this past week when President George Bush visited Canada and especially Halifax. A few times I heard people call President Bush the most powerful man in the world. I suppose to some degree that is true. He seems to have most of the American public behind him and Republicans have control of the US government. Thus President Bush is able to pursue an agenda that affects not only the US but Canada and the rest of the world. For example, the American plan to put up a ballistic missile shield is now a grave concern for Canada that will rock Parliament for some time.
Perhaps you have a very strong opinion about that missile shield. Or perhaps like me, you just don’t know what to think about it. But what I do know, what this week with all the media coverage of President Bush and Prime Minister Martin, the war in Iraq and the missile shield has made clear to me, is how much I wish God were in control. Even if President Bush and Prime Minister Martin were the most devout and pious Christians on earth, they would not be perfect. They would still be fallible, biased, sometimes dishonest men, just like the rest of us. They remind us that world rulers have not and cannot rule as God would. Therefore we struggle with problems like disputes over softwood lumber and beef, war in Iraq and the threat of weapons in space. Every one of us has at some time wished that we could have a completely honest government that really sought the welfare of the people. Then maybe things would be better.
Talk about nothing new under the sun! Isaiah prophesied at a time when the government of Judah was far worse than anything we’ve ever seen in Canada. The king’s name was Ahaz, a faithless and idolatrous man. He literally put the country on a highway to hell. Though he was a descendant of David, he worshipped demons to the point of sacrificing his son in the fire to the pagan god Molech. And his faith wasn’t just personal; it affected and infected the whole nation! He made a military alliance with Assyria, the super-power of the day. He accepted the superiority of their gods. He replaced the altar of the Lord with a copy of the one the Assyrian king used and began to make sacrifices to his gods. Those gods, according to the Bible, were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. (2 Chronicles 28:23). Accordingly, during Ahaz’ reign, Assyria destroyed the North—carried them off into exile never to return—and made the southern tribe of Judah a puppet.
As much as any of us today, Isaiah and the people of God cried out for a godly king. God responded to that cry with this promise of a perfect king to come.
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. (NRS).
Brothers and sisters, Isaiah was a prophet to whom God revealed many thing about the Christ. Through Isaiah, God revealed that the Christ would be born of a virgin and named Emmanuel. Through Isaiah, God revealed that the Christ would be a servant who would die for the sins of his people. And here, through Isaiah, God reveals that the Christ will be the perfect king, the perfect politician.
We want to note three things about this king. First, Isaiah sees who this king will be, a descendant of David. Jesse was David’s father. The stump of Jesse was the ruins of the kingdom of David. Like a great tree cut down and leaving nothing but a stump, so was David’s kingdom. Ahaz and others made such a mess of things that God got rid of them all. But God would make a branch grow out of that stump. That branch, a descendant of David, would be the perfect king led by the Spirit of God. Isaiah sees what the angel Gabriel will later announce to Mary. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Yet this descendant of David will be different. 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. Isaiah sees what the Gospels tell us of Jesus’ baptism. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17).
Ahaz, the king of Judah, was a corrupt man opposed to God. Our politicians and leaders also fall far short of perfection, far short of the glory of God. And so the Lord has planned to give us a king who is not just a man, but the very Son of God filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus will rule in a way that no politician ever has or ever will. Even now he reigns in heaven. Even now we can trust him and let him direct our affairs.
The second thing Isaiah sees is what Jesus will do, the will of God. Jesus will not be swayed by campaign donations from special interest groups. He will have no conflicts of interest because he owns a shipping line or oil assets. Instead, Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. Righteousness is that which agrees with the will of God, spiritual integrity; faithfulness is unshakable commitment to the Lord, spiritual loyalty. Those are Jesus’ policies and programs, policies and programs from God himself. Jesus said, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. So Jesus does not judge by what he sees and hears among people but he judges as God himself judges. Thus he cannot be bribed or perverted in any way. 22 Minutes and Air Farce could never do a spoof on him!
With perfect, objective judgment, He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Remember the rider on the white horse from Revelation? From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
There is a day of reckoning! That may make us squirm a bit. And it should! We squirm because we realize that we have some habits and thoughts that need to change. Jesus delights in “the fear of the Lord!” God is righteous, a fire that consumes everything that is less that perfect, every form of evil. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize us, i.e., purify us, with the Holy Spirit and fire! We have a few evil pounds to shed! I’m not talking about the stuff around our waist. I’m talking of every word and action that is in any way impure and contrary to the will of God, the impure, unkind, unloving thoughts, words and deeds we just confessed this morning. That is not a meaningless ritual! We have sinned against God in thought, word and deed and it took our king’s blood to remove those sins. He doesn’t want them back!
On the other hand, with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. This is deliverance from all evil, suffering and death. The relief promised to the poor, the hungry, the mocked, the persecuted will arrive. No more wars and ballistic missile programs. No more genocide and ethnic cleansing. No more competing ideologies like communism, socialism and capitalism. Just God’s peace and justice.
Finally, Isaiah sees that the rule of this king produces a new order, a restored creation, a return to conditions like those of Eden. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Jesus will redeem all of creation from the consequences of sin. Together with him on God’s holy mountain, we will no longer live by faith, but by sight! We will no longer hope, rather we will enjoy that for which we waited! There will be no evil, rather Christ will be the ruler of all peoples.
The main point in all that Isaiah says of this king is that we have hope. To a weary Judah suffering under the hand of Ahaz, God said, “Hold on, the righteous king is coming.” To you and me, weary of our own politicians who make big mistakes and abuse power, God says, “Hold on, the perfect politician is coming.” Other things Isaiah saw about the Christ have happened. He was born of a virgin and died for the sins of his people. Therefore we can have complete assurance that he will return to rule as the perfect king.
During this season of Advent, we remember these precious prophecies and have hope. That hope does not disappoint. It gives us peace in the midst of trouble and courage to face those troubles. For we will not always be under the power of fallible human beings. Jesus, the Son of God, will return to rescue us and be our king.