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Show of hands - how many of you look around and think that the world is as it should be? No takers. I think we realize that in the midst of heartache, war, famine, abuse, and oppression that this world is a mess. Yet, as much of a mess that we see here and now today, it seemed to be even more so during the time of the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah is called to be the prophet to Israel while a good number of people are still in captivity in Babylon. In fact, they have been in captivity for so long that they know no other reality - they are simply resigned to this mess that they find themselves in - well its going to last forever.
To which, Isaiah is sent with the word from God that no, this season will not last forever. In fact, the time is coming very soon when they would be restored - set free to go back to worship and live in the holy city of Jerusalem.
And the people just can’t believe it.
Isaiah has this unique call as a prophet. Most of the prophet are trying to get the people of Israel to turn from a behavior or belief in their heart of hearts that is not honoring to God. The prophet goes to tell the people to repent, to turn around, or there will be consequences. But Isaiah’s message is different. He is trying to get the people to believe again in the mercy and compassion of their God. Is is trying to bring a word of hope.
Which in some ways falls just as much on broken hearts and ears as the other prophet’s call for repentance.
Enter the chapter before us this day - chapter 42 - where Isaiah is trying to tell the people, again, that God is going to send a servant to them. However, they need to have their eyes open - because this servant is not going to look like a redeemer and savior by the world’s standards. He is not going to come with great shouts or cries or gathering people together in the streets. He isn’t going to crush the broken in spirit. And his justice will be true justice. It is he who will set the people free.
And his task isn’t to bring a military reckoning or carry people off into captivity, like where the Israelites finds themselves in that moment. Instead, he is coming to bring light to the darkness of the world, even being a light for people beyond the tribe of Israel - taking God’s message to the Gentiles.
He will open the eyes of the blind so that they can see again and claim truth.
He will set people free in a way that restores their dignity and life.
Sounds a lot like our communion liturgy does it not?
You sent prophets to tell us to return. To repent. To come home to the Lord. But again and again and again we chose another way. But you did not give up on us. You decided to send your very Son to set the people free. To bring healing and wholeness. To be peace, hope, love and joy incarnate - the living embodiment of what we had strayed from and what we were looking for.
For centuries, people have wondered who exactly fulfilled the prophecy Isaiah gave from the Lord. Some claim it was Cyrus the great who would eventually allow the Israelites to be released from captivity? But for the Church throughout the ages, we look at this declaration of who the servant was and what his task was and recognize it to be our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Church has woven together this text from Isaiah 42 with chapter 49, most commonly known as the suffering servant and we recognize our God’s fingerprints all over the text, pointing our hearts and minds to Jesus Christ. For no one can do what he has done and will do. No one else can set us free from the mess of sin.
Isaiah 49, that sufferings servant text, is often read during the season of Lent. But what about Isaiah 42, what does this have for us during this season of the Church - of Advent when we focus on Christ who has come and who will come again.
Sometimes we try to pretty up this season, friends. We want to get lost in the tinsel and lights and wish for a white Christmas when everything seems beautiful. But the truth is, the world is just as messy during this season as it is during others. It is simply us, in our humanness, that want to turn a blind eye to it.
But this text invites us to remember that we are in need of a Savior. Not the trappings of the season, as glimmering as they may, but a Savior who came to us in the most unexpected of ways - as a babe in a manger. He would not be understood when he walked this earth, even by those closest to him. He would be challenged at every turn by the authorities of the age. And he wouldn’t be the person that even his followers wished he would be.
Instead, during this season of reflection and preparation, we sit with the fact that Christ did not come to be who we wished he would be. But instead to be who we needed him to be - the one who brought light to the darkness, sight to the blind, and freedom to the captive.
And he will come again - once again, not to be who we wish he will be or when we hope that he will comes, as if his coming again is dependent upon our timing and will. And when he comes again he will establish God’s justice on this earth.
A few months ago, as we were reflecting on Psalm 7 in our Wednesday praying through the Psalms video on Facebook, I noted that sometimes we get caught up in our heads in the image of what we think justice should look like. We equate it to the American justice system. But that is not the justice that Christ will bring. He does not execute justice by force and he will protect the weak until they are strong enough to stand.
And we like that idea …. As long as it applies to us.
Extending it to other people? We aren’t so sure.
Because we want the idea of what we think an earthly leader should be like to be transferred upon Christ, instead of looking to Christ to make all things new and change our whole way of seeing, perceiving and responding all because of his grace.
Christ has done and will continue to do what no earthly mortal could do - he has come to set us free. Even free from all of our lies, illusions, and expectations.
So as we again sit this week in a non-traditional Advent text - what invitation does it hold for us? First, I think it asks us “who is Christ to me?” Do I truly believe that he is my Savior - or do I only want him to be so if it lives up my images and expectations? Do I want Christ to be the one who brings light, sight, and freedom - or do I want those things only for myself?
Second, this text calls for us to respond. If we do place our whole trust in Christ our Savior, how are we taking his message out into the world? How are we speaking a word of hope into the darkness and mess of this time? How are we pointing the nations to the true Light?
Friends, Advent is not just a time of preparing our homes. It is also a time to prepare our hearts to respond to the call of the one who has set us free. Are you ready? Amen.
