Advent III

Hope in the midst of Darkness

“It was the worst of times, it was the best of times...”

...it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

so wrote??

Charles Dickens

that’s right - Charles Dickens in his novel -

A tale of two cities.

I expect there aren’t many English teachers, who would recommend writing such a long sentence - and I expect if we were to counsel Isaiah, some of us would not recommend writing such a large book.

Just as I expect it would be difficult for the reader to pick up a tale of two cities two thirds of the way through and seek to understand it,

so might the same be said for those who pick up Isaiah and start from reading at chapter 61.

Context is everything - so before we focus in on the chapter just read for us by David and Liz,

let’s see if we can get a quick overview of this incredible book from our scriptures.

A little bit of context:

Isaiah lived in Jerusalem, towards the end of Israel’s kingdom period with Israel in the north and Judah with jerusalem as its capital.

As a prophet, Isaiah, like all the other biblical prophets spoke on God’s behalf to the leaders. Isaiah called to both the leaders of Israel and Judah.

Tasked with proclaiming God’s judgement, his message to the leaders was that their rebellion would come at a cost.

God would use the kingdoms of Syria, Assyria and finally Babylon, to bring judgement upon them, if they persisted in their idolatory and oppression of the people they were called to serve.

But as we read this book we see a parallel message of hope runs through it. You see, Isaiah believed deeply that God would one day fulfill all of his covenant promises.

That God would send a king from David's line, to establish His kingdom

That God would lead His people in obedience and under His rule and blessing

Why?

so that God’s blessing and salvation would flow from His people and out to all the nations.

And it is this hope that compels Isaiah to speak.

The book of Isaiah has a complex literary design. It’s a book, but its structure is more poetry than narrative. Here’s how it all hangs together:

Chapters 1 - 39

- contain three large sections which unpack Isaiah’s warning of judgement on Israel, culminating in the event of Jerusalem’s fall and the exile of God’s people under the hands of the Babylonians.

Even in this opening section, along with warnings of judgement and purification, we find a message of hope:

a tale of two outcomes really, a tale of two cities, of two kingdoms.

Old Jerusalem will be destroyed, purified as it were by burning and desolation - so that a new Jerusalem with a holy remnant of people can emerge.

This vision of an old Jerusalem being transformed to the new Jerusalem is repeated over and over again throughout the book, getting filled in with increasing detail.

At the cente of this section we find chapter 6.

Chapter 6

You might recall from our Holiness series that it is in this chapter that we are given by Isaiah a vision of God seated on his throne.

The seraphim around the throne cry

‘holy, holy, holy’

- leaving Isaiah feeling very inadequate and unholy -

but into this complete helplessness toi save himself, God steps in, purifies Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal that has the effect of making him holy. After which and only after this does God then commission Isaiah to take God’s word to his people.

Isaiah is called to trust in God’s plan -

from the burning of Jerusalem, which is left as no more than a smoldering stump, a small sign of hope is seen in what will emerge.

But who or what is this holy seed?

Well chapters 7 to 12 help to shed light on this question.

Chapters 7 to 12

Isaiah speaks to King Ahaz, a descendent of David and pronounces his downfall.

However, whilst Israel will be wiped out by Assyria - there is still hope.

After this destruction God is going to send a new king, named

Emmanuel or God with us

This king will finally deliver God’s people from all other opressive kingdoms - and in this pronouncement Isaiah refers to this deliverance as a new shoot of growth that will emerge from the old stump of David’s family.

Empowered by God’s Spirit, this king will bring justice - such that all nations will look to him for guidance and his kingdom will transform all creation bringing peace.

But when will this all happen?

We continue to read Isaiah in

Chapters 13 to 23

for the answer, as Isaiah turns to Babylon and other neighbouring kingdoms who are said to be lofty and proud. Essentially, all these other kingdoms are characterised by injustice.

So in

Chapters 24 to 27

continues the tale of two cities - the lofty city, as the archetype of all rebellious humanity, is described with images from chapters 4 to 23 - and is destined for ruin.

This judgement, this removal, paves the way for the new Jerusalem - it is a message for all who wait on God to come and bring in his kingdom of justice and peace.

Chapters 28 to 39

focus in on the rise and fall of Jerusalem - with Isaiah proclaiming that only trust in their Sovereign Lord accompanied with repentance can save them.

And as chapter 39 comes to a conclusion, Babylon now turns on Jerusalem - and as predicted - The Babylonians come and destroy the city of Jerusalem, its temple and its walls and carry the Israelites away.

Chapters 40-66

then picks up Isaiah’s message of hope in a new Jerusalem, led by the Messianic King.

In last week’s Advent sermon, we considered the message of hope and comfort for God’s people that Chapters 40 to 48 bring.

There is a call for God’s people to return home.

There is hope that after experiencing God’s justice and mercy, Israel would live up to her calling as his true servant - sharing with the nations who God really is.

But we know, looking back on history and the biblical narrative, this isn’t what happens -

Israel soon falls back to complaining and even accusing God.

To some degree, who could blame them - but you see the point we are meant to take from all this is that the exile caused them to lose faith in their God. So the rest of these chapters are set up like a trial scene.

In God’s defence He states that the exile was not neglect but a divinely orchestrated judgement on sin.

It was for Israel’s sake that judgement had to take place so that a restart could take place.

In the fulfilment of prophecy, Israel should see God’s hand at work.

Instead they reject this explanation and so

God finally disqualifies them as his servant.

Where does this decision leave God’s ultimate plans and purposes, the convenant that he had made with his people Israel, the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

Not to be thwarted - God announces he will do a new thing to solve this problem and we arrive at chapters 49 to 55.

It is here that we are introduced to a figure who is called

God’s Servant, or the

Suffering Servant

an individual is now to be given the title Israel.

Yahweh, the Sovereign Lord, will send this person on a mission to restore God’s people back to God and to be a light to the nations.

This individual servant is empowered by God’s Spirit to bring good news and to bring God’s promised kingdom to bear over all of the nations - this servant sounds like the Messianic King of chapters 9 and 11.

Perhaps surprisingly - this servant will be rejected, beaten and ultimately killed by his own people.

However, Isaiah’s prophecy is that even as the suffering servant dies, he will take upon himself the sins of his people - that his death will be a sacrifice of atonement.

Then, as Isaiah’s prophecy continues, the servant is alive again and through his death his people are invited back into a right relationship with God.

This section of Isaiah concludes with two ways people can respond

- some will respond with humility - they are called servants or seeds.

The second are referred to as the wicked who reject both the servant and his servants.

This brings us to the final section of the book, in which we find our chapter 61.

The whole section that is

Chapters 56 - 66

revolves around the servants and their inheritance of God’s kingdom.

These chapters are beautifully designed in a way that brings together all of the major themes so far expressed in the book.

At the centre we find three beautiful poems in chapters 60 to 62 that describe how the

Spirit Anointed Servant

will bring good news of God’s kingdom, affirming all the message of hope that have gone before with the new Jerusalem set as the place from which God’s justice, mercy and blessings will flow.

And so in our reading, the prophet in chapter 61 offers a vision of a restored world, where the land is full of abundance and right relationships.

The final verse describes this new Jerusalem in words reminiscent of the creation account in the garden of Eden.

Isaiah 61:11 NIVUK84

11 For as the soil makes the young plant come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

The poem in chapter 61, like the entire book can be divided into sections.

Ultimately, as we arrive at this section of Isaiah we must remember that Israel has been reduced to a powerless nation, conquered and ruled by others, full of grief and mourning.

And yet, a small group that has never lost hope in God’s promise. This Poem, that is chapter 61, is written to encourage this small remnant.

Notice:

Isaiah 61:1 NIVUK84

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

The speaker calls himself ‘the anointed’ - the anointed one in Hebrew that is where we get Messiah.

And the Anointed One says that through the Lord’s Spirit he is going to carry out a set of activities.

In fact there are 7 acts of re-creation - sound familiar?

They are

1. To bring Good news to the opressed

2. To bind up the broken hearted

3. To release captives and those bound up

Essentially to provide

‘Liberation’

And then right at centre of these acts we read that the Anointed one will place two outcomes, two realities, before those who encounter him - he will

‘proclaim the year of Lord’s favour’

which is a reference to an ancient Israel practice - otherwise referred to as the year of Jubilee.

A year if you like when everything resets.

We read in the Old testament that every 7 x 7 years, the nation of Israel had been given by God an opportunity for slaves and prisoners to be freed, debts cancelled, families could receive back ancestral land back that may have been put down as surety for a loan.

It was a radical practice that pointed forward to the renewed creation.

But here that reset is also referred to as

‘a day of vengence’

Why? Because setting everything right requires reversing everything that is wrong.

You see, for those who benefit from oppression, it might feel like retribution.

Which reality the anointed one brings, will depend on which side of judgement we sit.

For those being oppressed, the 5th act of the anointed one will mean

1. To bring Good news to the opressed

2. To bind up the broken hearted

3. To release captives and those bound up

4. Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour/vengence

5. Comfort for those who mourn

And the 6th and 7th:

1. To bring Good news to the opressed

2. To bind up the broken hearted

3. To release captives and those bound up

4. Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour/vengence

5. Comfort for those who mourn

6. New clothes

7. Anointing

Not just any clothes - priestly garments.

A Crown, or more literally a head dress

Garments of Praise, again garments doesn’t quite cut it - the word suggests an all encompassing wrap

Anointed with oil to confirm their calling and commission.

It is almost as if the Messiah is duplicating himself.

Ultimately, His task is to produce fruit in those who will be called to belong to him and share his message of reconciliation and re-creation.

He says of them:

'they will be called oaks of righteousness...’

Beautifil imagery that affirms the role of God’s people is to bring restoration. These anointed ones - are given a new status, a new name and notice - new responsibilities.

This hopeful image is followed by another reversal

Isaiah 61:5 NIVUK84

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

When Messiah comes the tables will be turned.

This imagery is less about master v slave - more that God’s people are to be like a bridge between God and the nations.

Isaiah 61:6 NIVUK84

6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Do you see the reversal in the fortunes of God’s people:

No longer in a place of shame

Isaiah 61:7 NIVUK84

7 Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.

Disgrace is turned to joy, what feels like a wilderness will become like Eden, everlasting joy will be theirs.

Are picking up all the joy here - the ultimate effects and experience of a re creation is what Isaiah wants his readers to see.

And in the middle section of this poem, God speaks up:

Isaiah 61:8 NIVUK84

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

God reminds those anointed of his character, God is for justice

His Covenant still stands

And then the Anointed One, the Messiah, celebrates what Yahweh, the Lord, is doing - why does He rejoice?

Isaiah 61:10 NIVUK84

10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

The Messiah is clothed with new garments, of salvation, of righteousness - the garments of a Priest, Bride and Bridegroom.

Picking up on biblical imagery the Messiah is the ultimate priest, bride and bridegroom getting ready for the ultimate wedding feast. The time when the culmination of all that God has promised becomes the new reality - when

God’s generous love is shared with the world.

And at the other end of this poem, another reference to something new that emerges from the soil - we read of another garden image - no ordinary garden - plants here are sprouting righteousness - that is, a right relationship with God and people - this is a garden of renewed relationships among all of the nations.

The soil here has the spotaneous power for growth, and this cultivated garden produces the fruit of righteousness and praise.

Well that’s all well and good - but what’s that got to do with you and I?

How might you answer that as you reflect on this passage? It’s good to ponder but no time to get your feedback.

Can I suggest that we can’t read Isaiah and conclude that God is not about transformation. That being caught up in God’s plans and purposes requires nothing and leads nowhere.

The necessary application of this passage is that God’s plans will be fulfilled through the Anointed One, the Messiah.

That as we wait and prepare ourselves for Christmas - it was the Anointed One who was born into the world on that first Christmas

and it is the Anointed One on whom we now wait and prepare to receive, when he returns in glory to complete the task.

The possible application - well...that depends on you.

You see, if you are one of the Messiah’s servants, this passage says that having responded to His call by faith in his saving work,

you have been anointed,

clothed with priestly garments,

called to be a bridge between God and the people of this world.

The question is - what are you going to do with that provision and calling?

Will we sing with John Newton ‘Amazing Grace’ or Wesley’s ‘And Can It Be’?

Do our lives reflect those transformed by God’s comfort and provision, as those crowned with beauty instead of ashes,

anointed with the oil of joy and clothed with garments of praise?

Would the Anointed One say of us that we are counted amongst the Oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour?

Or like the Israelites delivered from Babylon and restored to Jerusalem, are we sitting here having we lost sight of the promised future, and living as those who have not been liberated and transformed?

Sure, there is the issue of whether the day of the Lord will be a day of favour or of vengence, that’s important to consider as to where we stand. But also there is the here and now.

John the baptist was very clear about his role.

He was not the Light. He was not theSaviour. He was not the Messiah. His calling was clear - to prepare, to make straight, the way of the Lord.

As we wait and prepare - now is a great time to consider these things and to pray for one another as we encourage each other to

Live for God

and build his community

here at St Andrew’s Kinson.