December 1998 Issue

Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12

In many ways we live in an era of disappointment and cynicism. It seems we live in a time when leaders are generally not trusted or appreciated whether it is in industry or government or education or the church or wherever it may be. We also live in a time when people are likely to look back and say, "If we could just have a president like Washington or Lincoln or Roosevelt," or whoever your favorite might be. When people feel as if things are failing apart, when people feel as if things are not working the way they are supposed to work, and when we long for renewal of the past.

Friends, I have news for you today. We did not invent that attitude. The attitude that things are falling apart and were a lot better yesterday is itself about as old as humanity. The prophet Isaiah, speaking centuries and centuries before Christ, said that one day a new shoot would rise up from the trunk - or the root - of Jesse. What in the world was he talking about? Well, first of all, he was saying that we don't particularly care for our leaders and things aren't going well now, but he was also saying (if you know your Biblical genealogies at all) that King David, the great heroic king of the past, was a son of Jesse. Jesse was David's father. So Isaiah was saying that one day we will have a new shoot spring out of the root of Jesse. We will have a new king. We will have a better king than these rascals that we have now. We will have one like David.

Then Isaiah goes on to talk about the nature and virtues of this king. He talks about someone much greater even than David. He talks about a king who will rule in righteousness. A king that will rule with justice and with mercy. A king that will order all things near and far in such a just and glorious and merciful way that peace will reign. A king that has insight and wisdom and vision. Such a great king, such a marvelous king Isaiah anticipates, that can work these wonders among the people, but he also anticipates a king that can spread peace not only among the nations but even throughout all creation. Of course the rule of this great king is going to be a time when nations beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, Isaiah would say, but it is also a day when the lion will lie down with the lamb. It is also a day when the bear and the calf will frolic together in peace and safety. It is also a day when the little toddlers can run over the nests of poisonous snakes and be safe and unharmed. It is a day when not only humanity, but all of nature, will be embraced again and again in an Eden-like tranquility and peace. Isaiah says that the day will come when humanity yields to the instruction of God and the great leader leads us all in the ways of God. It is a vision of a wondrous, marvelous, unspeakably sweet time.

In some ways our Gospel lesson is also about marvels, a very different kind of marvel. The Gospel lesson is about the marvelous John the Baptist. I have often thought that John the Baptist is misnamed. I think we should call him John the Wild. Man, because he was wild. Have you ever paid attention at all to the message that John the Baptist preached? His message was one that said, "Repent. " And he even went so far, I imagine, as he pointed his crooked finger at his congregation to say to his congregation, "You viper's brood." That would go over big, wouldn't it, if I tried it?

John was a wild man and his preaching was full of challenge and confrontation. One might even say that John was one of the grouchiest preachers that ever lived. You would be grouchy too if you wore camel's hair and ate locusts and wild honey! It would be enough to make anyone grouchy. But, surprisingly, the people of John's time flocked to hear this confrontational message because they too had hopes for a marvel. John called people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the great king, the coming of the king that was to be like the king that Isaiah dreamed of. So when John the Baptist said, "Repent, " he did not just mean for them to be sorry for the things they had done wrong. What he meant was for them to change their ways, quit doing the wrongs of the past, so that the highways could be built to welcome the Messianic king.

Two prophets. Two marvels. The marvelous vision of Isaiah and the wild man John, both anticipating the same kind of ruler. Both of them said that this ruler and this reign of the new day were right around the corner, right on the doorstep. John said if we just repent, the king will come. Isaiah said we should just learn the ways of God and the shoot would spring up from the root of Jesse. Marvels too marvelous to comprehend, yet as close as tomorrow's sunrise. How are you feeling about the marvelous? Do you have any marvels for which you hope and dream? Marvels that you prepare for by learning and by changing your ways?

There is a wonderful story told of a family whose family life was disrupted by the Second World War. A young man went off to fight in the war and a few months after he left, his wife gave birth to their son, a son who was not to see his father for nearly four years. During those years the mother taught the son well. She taught him to say his prayers each night and then after his prayers he would rise from the side of his bed and go over to the little table where there was a photograph of his father. He would kiss his father's photograph and then go to bed. The day finally came when the war was over and the father came home. That first night mother and father went together to tuck the little boy into bed. He said his prayers and when they were done, his mother said, "Now, kiss your father goodnight and get into bed. " The little boy jumps up from his knees and goes over to the table and kisses the picture and then goes to bed as his father waits with empty, open arms. (1) The little boy had something to learn. The little boy had some ways that were going to have to change if he were to enjoy the marvel which was the presence of a loving parent that he had never known. Learning and repenting. Learning and being different. Learning and changing our ways.

What marvels cause you to be full of longing this season? It is as traditional as the tree to say that we do not do Christmas right, that it is too materialistic, to full of frantic parties, and all of that. We say that every year; it is as traditional as the tree. But if we mean it, we may have to learn some new ways and change our ways. If we dream of the marvel of a family that is stronger and better, we may have to learn some new ways and change our old ways. If we dream of a community and church and world at peace, fulfilling what God wants for us, then we may have to learn and change. It is not easy to do either one. We rather like our ways, but it has been said that if we keep doing things the way we are doing them, we are likely to continue to get the same results we have had all along.

But if there are marvels in your life, a hope and a dream for peace, a. hope and a dream for a different kind of Christmas, a hope and a dream for a warmer, stronger family, a hope and a dream for a greater church, a hope and a dream for peace on earth and good will toward all, then the prophets must be heard. Learn. Repent. Change our ways. Because the marvels of God are right here, awaiting our learning and our repentance. Amen.

1. >From Pulpit Resource, 12/24/89.

Carl L. Schenck