Scripture Reading: 

• Isaiah 11:1-10 
• Romans 15:4-13 

Opening Prayer: 

Father God, as we gather here today, we remember that our hope for peace is found in you. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Messiah, the one whom the prophets of old looked forward to with eager anticipation, may we remember the great price that was paid for our peace. May we remember that, as recipients of your peace, and as followers of the prince of peace, we are called to be ambassadors of the peace you are bringing to the world. Prepare our hearts to receive your word preached. Amen.  

Introduction: 

In case you were not aware, this is the second Sunday of Advent which is traditionally a Sunday devoted to the idea of peace. When we think of famous symbols of peace we might picture a white dove, an olive branch, two fingers raised in a V-shape, or the iconic hippie era peace signs. Among the more popular symbols of peace is the image of a lion lying down with a lamb. Many people attribute this image to the passage in Isaiah we just read, but Isaiah did not actually pair the lion and the lamb together. Instead, Isaiah says, “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb” and “the lion and the fattened calf together” (Isaiah 11:6). Now the meaning of the symbol does not change, but that is a fun bit of Bible trivia for you to keep in mind.

So where does the iconic image of the lion lying with the lamb originate? It most likely came about from a mixture of the imagery in Isaiah eleven and the image of Jesus from the book of Revelation where John was told, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5) only for John to then be shown, “a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne” (Revelation 5:6).

Even if the metaphors are a little mixed, it is a striking image. Even today if you are on social media, you have probably seen viral videos of strange animal friends where a tiger become best friends with a pig or a lion and a donkey end up enjoying one another’s company. Stories like these go viral because we are fascinated by the strangeness of it all. There is something in us that wants to believe that, if animals can override their predator/prey instincts, then perhaps human beings can also learn to live at peace with one another.

Unfortunately, the momentary glimpses of peace we see in the world never seem to last very long. We are drawn to the image of wolves lying with lambs and lions lying with calves, because we know that this peace is not the normative way of the world. Deep down we know that wolves devour lambs. We know that lions prey on calves. We know that powerful crush the weak. To borrow a phrase, the world we live in is one “red of tooth and claw.” It is not yet a world of lasting peace. As a result, many of us are far more prone to anxiety than to peace. There are always wars and rumors of wars. Violence is seemingly always closer than we think. There is a sad, but seemingly necessary distrust that we all carry towards our fellow man.

Many of us have felt preyed upon by people or institutions greater than ourselves. Others of us may have been more wolf like than sheep like at times, taking advantage of the weak and vulnerable for our own benefit. We all know something of the pain that sinful actions bring upon ourselves and those around us. We may wonder if peace like we read about in the scriptures can ever truly come into our broken world. Could we ever return to a world where our children can play with nothing to fear from man or beast? It sounds like wishful thinking, but as we discovered last week, the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah are promises of God. They are not just glimpses of what we hope to be, or what might be. They are promises made by God, who cannot lie. Let us look again at the prophetic image that Isaiah paints for us.

The Fruit of the Stump: 

Isaiah begins his vision of a bright future with a stump. I’m sure just about everyone here has come across a stump in the woods at one time or another. Stumps act almost like tombstones, marking where a mighty tree once stood. It might interest you to know that not all stumps are dead. Some stumps can cling to life for quite a while after a tree has fallen, but given enough time the stump will die, rot away, and eventually return to the soil as if the tree never existed. In this way, a stump is a good symbol for the reality Israel found itself in during the days of Isaiah.

Remember that Isaiah was preaching through the Babylonian exile, a time when when Israel had been conquered, the Temple had been destroyed, and many of the people had been driven from their homes in the land of promise. Like the Israelites in Isaiah’s day, the once mighty tree in Isaiah’s vision had been knocked down, chopped up, and hauled off to places unknown. The promise of a Savior King from the line of David seemed all but lost. And yet, against all odds, the roots of the stump ran deep enough to keep it alive. From this stump would come a tiny branch that would grow, and against all odds that branch would bear fruit.

The early church fathers understood that the stump or root of Jesse represented Israel. The branch or rod that sprung forth against all odds was the lineage of David leading up to Mary, from whom Jesus’ received his humanity, and the fruit of the branch was Christ himself who, against all odds, was born of a virgin to save his people. Isaiah himself says that the fruit of this branch would be a person who would receive the Spirit of the Lord. With this Spirit would come wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.

This is the very same Spirit of God that Christ received at His baptism;

After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

Matthew 3:16-17, ESV 

We know that after his baptism Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days, and after overcoming Satan’s many temptations, Jesus returns and reads from this very scroll:

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. 

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, 

    that the blind will see, 

that the oppressed will be set free, 

    and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” 

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” 

Luke 4:16-21, ESV

This was no small claim to make. Jesus came onto the scene receiving the Spirit of the Lord, overcoming the temptations of Satan, and declaring good news. He claims the prophecy of Isaiah was about him. From the minute he began his public ministry, Jesus was fulfilling the Messianic prophecies from ages past.

What else does Isaiah say about the coming of the Messiah? We are told that the Messiah would “not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (Isaiah 11:5). The peace of God is established through the righteous Justice of Christ. Our rulers do not possess, in and of themselves, what is required to right the world’s wrongs. As Christians we fight for justice and righteousness here and now, all the whole knowing that at best, we can only be a mirror of the perfect justice and peace that Christ brings. Only Christ’s judgment is perfect, and without bias.

As the prophet Simeon declared over the infant Jesus when he was presented in the Temple:

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 

Luke 2:35-35, ESV

Praise God that the light has come. The Prince of Peace will expose every work of evil that is hidden and justice will rain down upon all who would exploit the week, harm the helpless, or pray upon the innocent. Evil has an expiration date.

Praise God also that Christ’s first coming was not in judgment, but as an act of saving mercy. Peace will be established, but Christ in love desires salvation over damnation. He comes first in mercy, extending a hand of peace bought by his own blood. These are days of mercy and salvation if we will accept what Christ came to offer us.

Jesus himself said this when teaching the Pharisee Nicodemus;

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 3:16-21, ESV

The good news is that salvation is available to all, and that even the worst or enemies can find forgiveness and reconciliation in Christ. The sad news is that, as Jesus and Isaiah both declared, there are some who hate the light and will not stand in judgment. There are some who will be “struck by the rod of his mouth” and “slain by the breath of his lips” (Isaiah 11:4). The hope of the new creation is bright, but sadly it will not occur without some painful endings. There are those who will hold onto the old ways of violence and sin until the very end. Their fate is tragic, but they never once posed a threat to the Messiah’s Kingdom of Peace.

The very word or breath of the Lord is such a powerful thing. In Genesis we read about how God spoke the universe into existence, and how man became a living creature when God breathed the breath of life into him (Genesis 1-2). Likewise, in John 20 we read that Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit unto his disciples when he commissioned them to continue his earthly mission. At the same time, both Isaiah 11 and Revelation 19 both depict the breath of the Lord as a weapon that destroys the wicked. It seems that whether the breath of God gives life or death depends entirely upon how we respond to the Messiah. The fiercest beast can change their ways and find peace in the Kingdom, but those who will not repent will not stand in the way of God’s Kingdom forever.

Now I know it is easy to think of such amazing prophecies as something we can only hope for in some far dust future, but Jesus declares their fulfillment as beginning on that very day when he began his earthly ministry. Some two thousands years ago. Isaiah’s promise is not just a future one, it has already begun. While we look forward towards its fulfillment, let us not forget that we are living in the days of promise.

To Live in Such Harmony 

One of the interesting things that separate the Old Testament prophets from the New Testament apostles is their understanding of the Kingdom of God. Old Testament prophets like Isaiah generally spoke of this glorious kingdom in the future tense, while the New Testament apostles like Paul generally spoke of God’s kingdom in the present tense.

Again, this was not wishful thinking on the part of the Apostles or the prophets. In fact, the first recorded message of Jesus’ earthly ministry was;

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

Mark 1:15, ESV

Jesus and his apostles understood that the Kingdom of God became a reality through the incarnation, the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ. We are living in it right now, whether we realize it or not. The Kingdom of God shines through the witness and mission of the church, and a day is coming when the mission will be complete. On that day Christ will return in victory to reclaim all that was lost and to defeat the forces of darkness once and for all. This is good news.

In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, which we read from earlier, he declares:

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 

Romans 15:4-6, ESV

Paul would go on to quote from 2 Samuel, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and Isaiah eleven (the very passage we’ve been studying this morning) all to remind us that we, who are living in the post-resurrection era, are living in the days of salvation! He reminds us that as we look back at the prophecies of old, we find hope and endurance to move every onward towards that future. When we read about this seemingly impossible peace on earth, we remember that we are called to be models of this harmony in our own lives. We do not merely hope in the future, but we live towards this future right here and now. We model peace and seek to live in such harmony that our united voice will be heard by all and glorify God!

It is a beautiful calling we have been given. We are ambassadors of peace that has been bought by Christ. Like the angels on that first Christmas morning, we come with “good news of great joy for all people” (Luke 2:10) and we declare “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14).

So, during this Advent season, let us renew our commitment to peace and to one another. Let us seek to model peace, even in a world where peace often seems so hard to find. Let us be a beacon of hope to the world, so that when they look at us, they feel hopeful. Let us seek to live in such a way that those beyond our church walls will see our love for one another and for our neighbor as evidence that we follow the prince of peace.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. 

Romans 15:13, ESV

Prayer of Decision:

Father God, as we conclude this time of worship, I pray that you would fill our hearts with a peace that passes all understanding. Apart from Christ we have no hope of peace, but with Christ we have a peace that nothing on earth could shake. Help us to be ambassadors of your peace, bringing good news wherever we go. Help us to model this amazing supernatural peace, so that people would look upon our fellowship and see hope for tomorrow. If anyone here needs to make a decision to follow Jesus, I pray that they would have the courage to come and begin that conversation with me this morning. Bless this time of decision we pray, Amen.