Light of the world

I got to participate in my first SPA Christmas performance this year. Josh, Clint, and I played three shepherds that hear of the coming Messiah. It was an interesting part to play because as we got to closer to the big day the cast around me kept telling me with a great deal of confidence, “you’re annoying”. The first time I was a bit worried about the way I was being perceived among my fellow actors. Of course they were talking about the part I played in our skit, at least I hope so. To be fair I did feel like the lines were I little too easy to memorize, like the part was meant for me.

I really enjoy the Christmas season, not only did it mean that you got two wonderful weeks off from school as a student but you as got to follow through the advent calendar waiting for the Christmas to arrive. Now that we are within a week of the big day you can see it coming. For some of us this can mean a bit of stress as we work through those Christmas list or buy the food for that family dinner. And when we get to the day of Christmas we have that brief moment to stop and breathe within our business. As I was preparing for this sermon I kept getting reminded of the song that Jeremy sang in the Christmas production Day after Christmas. If you remember it, it centers around the simple truth of what Christmas is really about. The words, “the light of the world is still here”. I can’t help but notice that sometimes our holidays or our events are the pinnacles of lives. But today I instead would like to draw our attention to a different pinnacle, the light has come into this world. Let’s read our text for this evening,

1Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 * The people who walk in darkness

will see a great light.

For those who live in a land of deep darkness,*

a light will shine.

3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,

and its people will rejoice.

They will rejoice before you

as people rejoice at the harvest

and like warriors dividing the plunder.

4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery

and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.

You will break the oppressor’s rod,

just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

5 The boots of the warrior

and the uniforms bloodstained by war

will all be burned.

They will be fuel for the fire.

6 For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor,* Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 His government and its peace

will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David

for all eternity.

The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will make this happen! [1]

Our verses today comes in a difficult time Israel’s history. The book of Isaiah is written in the days of 4 kings of Judah; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah was sent at a time where God’s people were deaf to the message being sent to them (Isaiah 6:10) . Judah was slowly falling into the hands of the nations around them, but more importantly they were being led by Kings that were losing their grip on Faithfulness toward God. God is faithful but he also knows the heart of His people. So among the bad news of the fall of Judah, God brought hope to them through poetic verses like the one we just read.

Walking through the text:

This is an interesting set of verses because the first verse is presumably added to chapter nine through our English translations but in the Hebrew it is actually verse 23 of the 8thchapter. Don’t get to afraid of this it is still where it belongs, between verse 22 and the beginning of Chapter 9. But what is this verse saying to us? It is transitioning between the darkness that Israel is going to experience and the light that will shine in among the darkness that they are going to face. Though we can’t parallel with the disaster that this nation would face we can see the darkness spoken about here. The darkness and despair came when people continued to distance themselves from the light (God). As they pulled farther and farther away from God they would lose the moral compass that came with being God’s people. Ahaz when he came into power fell away from and God and even sacrificed his son, following the ways of those that God had taken out of the land. It is fair to say that the Judaic world was falling into some very difficult times

Point #1: When light brings, Hope (9:4)

Explanation:

For you will break the yoke of their slavery

and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.

You will break the oppressor’s rod,

just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

These people were going to face defeat and they would lose heart because they were no longer governed by their own people. But as we know of this book, Isaiah wasn’t just written for the people who were hearing him at that time. Isaiah’s words would be used to guide God’s people in the time of Christ. This passage would guide a prominent passage about the yoke of Jesus. In Matthew 11:29-30 it says; “29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” It is no doubt that these people would face years of destruction and they would never come back to the rule of King David. Isaiah’s words here poses the question, was this light coming down to make the world a better place? I can only imagine that to them the time of King David was the pinnacle of their nation. And why not, God had brought this nation out of Egypt, helped them conquer the people of the land that they were given, then gave them a King who loved God. But, God knew that the Spiritual battle waged on inside of His people. Jesus was coming not just to setup a temporal kingdom that people could look at in wonder. Our God is much more personal than that. He wanted to restore us spiritually. The burden and rod of the oppressor was the sin that was still being carried by mankind. Jesus came to set us free of the oppressor’s power for good. In fact at the end of this verse Isaiah brings up the victory between the Midianite people. If you recall this story, God sent Gideon and 300 men to defeat the Midianites and Amalekites. In this story the defeat came because of Gideon’s faithfulness to God and God delivered this victory. So how is this story going to work into the lives of Isaiah’s audience? God is going to bring light into this world that will bring hope.

Have you ever used a hope phrase? Like, I hope it doesn’t rain today. Or, I hope the Oilers can will enough games to make the playoffs. These phrase are used in a pre-hope situation. What Isaiah is saying is that when this light comes he will be our hope by broking the burdens of our son and darkness.

Application:

So it is 2014, Are we walking through this Christmas with burdens that seem to have no end in sight? Our lives do come with challenges but, those that trust in God have something to celebrate not just for the holiday season but for their existence. We live in a post-hope era but sometimes our lives reflect a pre-hope situation. Walking in darkness is uncomfortable and dangerous, there is no certainty or understanding in darkness just the unknown. The question here is are you struggling in a pre-hope situation that could use the logic of a post-hope understanding. God brought Jesus into this world to come as light for our lives illuminating the dark places of our souls, so that we can be brought into the light and be an example of light for those who walk in darkness. Our challenge is to check our burdens and be asking, is Jesus looking at us and saying, “my burden is light, my yoke is easy.” This is not an omission from struggles, pain, or suffering. This is a victory in the spiritual realm. God has been in the business of reconciling mankind back to him from the beginning.

If you are walking into Christmas with a heaviness, I can tell you that Jesus came to bring hope in our situations. As we accept this we see something else come into our lives as a result of our trust in him, peace.

Point #2: When light brings, peace (9:5)

Explanation:

The boots of the warrior

and the uniforms bloodstained by war

will all be burned.

They will be fuel for the fire.

Peace is found not in the fight but when the fighting stops. In this verse Isaiah describes the aftermath of the battle. The left over remnant of the battle is left to be burned. There is no need to walk back into battle in a time of peace so those things that are left from the gruesomeness of war are brought and discarded.

The battle that is waged for our souls is difficult but the verses here show us the completion of peace in our lives. God is

Post #3: When light brings, guidance (9:6)

Explanation:

For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor,* Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah now speaks of a child being born to God’s people and being given. We have already talked about the hope and peace that would came with the coming of the light but this final part speaks of a child or son that is going to be given to the people. Then is goes on to explain what this child is going to become. First is speaks of the government resting on his shoulders and secondly it speaks of his titles.

Wonderful Counselor:

This a sign of a man that is working within the wonders of the God of Israel. It is only with a connection to god that this man will operate. Jesus brought about the new covenant which challenged and changed the way in which the church operated. As he stood over the prostitute and said, “those that are without sin throw the first stone.” OR the moment when Jesus sat by the well asking for water with the Samaritan woman. This child was coming for people that needed him, and he was going to help them change their lives.

Mighty God:

The child’s place in the Godhead is established in these two words. The word “El” in the original language which very clearly points out that he was God.

Everlasting Father:

With these two words we see this child would not last forever but, be the source heritage of eternity. This title leaves us with stipulation that this child would come as one that could bring the everlasting to those that followed him.

Prince of peace:

The poem finishes it’s “for” statements with the birth of a child. Isaiah uses “unto us” twice in this verse and upon seeing this twice I had to stop and beg the question, is He born truly unto us? Is he truly given to us? More directly, is he truly given to you?

This message of hope functions as a reassurance that God’s previous promises to the Davidic dynasty will be fulfilled in spite of all the terrible, dark circumstances the nation faced in the time of Ahaz. Light, joy, the end of war, and a new, righteous, Davidic ruler empowered by God himself will replace the gloom that surrounded the nation in the middle of the Syro-Ephraimite War. This hope was an encouragement to Isaiah and his faithful followers to continue speaking about the things of God, even if most people would not listen or understand (6:10–11). God’s promise to bring peace and justice to this world through the Messiah is also an encouraging message that people can share today, because the political situation in modern times is sometimes about as dark and hopeless as in the days of Isaiah. This good news offers another opportunity for rebellious people to turn from trusting in political alliances, mediums, and the spirits of the dead because God is their only true source of hope. Neither Ahaz nor any modern political figure can ever hope to bring about an era of perfect peace and justice. Only God’s wonderful plans will bring about these ideals, not the plans of Ahaz (8:10) or any other fast talking politician. God’s promises will only be accomplished through his chosen messianic ruler, so placing trust in any other solution is folly.[2]

Conclusion:

Since childhood I have always been excited about the Christmas season coming. There is some much preparation given to making the home feel festive. As you decorate the tree whether with family or friends you place every ornament on the tree specifically. You hang the lights on the tree making sure that you wrap them specifically so that they look pretty. As you cook the meals and set the table, I believe that God has something to place in your hearts this Christmas. Do the same, actually do more, for him this season. Look at the Christmas story for yourselves, readying your hearts for what He has planned for you. Our world has darkness in it that can be overwhelming and difficult but we know one that overtook the darkness and replaced it with light. Jesus came to change as the child that would bring wonderful counsel, the image of God, our hope of salvation, and peace that can stabilize our lives.

Romans 8:37-38

[1]Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Is 9:1–7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [2]Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (pp. 242–243). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.