It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Christmas is sprinkled, with different sights and sounds. It is a unique time of year that people crave, that we look forward to. There always seems to be this great debate - when can you play Christmas music each year? Some people are over-the-top Christmas people and say - you can listen to it any time of year. Some people are strict and say - “You can only listen to it with-in the Christmas season or when the calendar flips over and the calendar changes to December. Whatever your preference on which time of year you can play Christmas music each year - it is December. And throughout this Advent season - we listening and hearing the songs of Christmas to prepare for the coming of Jesus - our Savior - so we can rejoice like the angels and shepherds did that first Christmas!

Christmas is a time of year - we look forward to and we have all these plans. We pay attention to the changing of seasons from Fall to Christmas. What are signs in your life - that you look for to tell you that it is Christmas? Maybe for you if you are a teacher or student in school - a sign for you that it is Christmas season is that you have a break from school and maybe you get a whole two weeks off of school! Or maybe for you a sign that is Christmas season - is the snow falling on the ground, so you can have a white Christmas. Or maybe you are like Buddy the Elf in the movie Elf - Christmas means and looks like spreading cheer for all to hear?

There are many different signs that reveal and tell us it Christmas season - in fact that there is whole song that we have all heard before that tell us what to look for. The famous song - “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” lists a whole bunch of reasons in which you can tell it is Christmas time. The singer mentions “candy canes and silver lanes that glow”, or “the toys in every store” or “holly at your own front door”. The artist talks about the Christmas tree being up in the Grand Hotel. These are things that we can look for to tell us that Christmas season is here and now! These are things that we can see with our own eyes to let us know that Christmas is here to celebrate! But, eventually all these temporary signs end. These signs of Christmas come and go so fast. Before you know it - the Christmas tree is boxed up again, the leftover toys in the store that weren’t bought this year go on sale, eventually there comes a point in the year when candy canes go out of style and it isn’t the right time of year to eat that anymore. Eventually this version of Christmas or this thought of what Christmas is supposed to be doesn’t last.

Our text from the book of Isaiah 11, describes the events of Christmas and what the results of Christmas looks like in our world. First, the prophet Isaiah talks about that there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. Jesse was King David’s father and a stump isn’t a healthy way to talk about a tree. If your tree is left and called a stump - that means it was chopped down, torn down, it means that nothing was left. And God through the prophet Isaiah says - from the stump of Jesse - from the stump of the family line of David, I will cause a branch to grow and bear fruit. The Lord is saying - I am going to cause a new and better David to come and lead my people and this King that is coming will have the Spirit of the Lord rest on Him and He will be the ultimate perfect King - ruling in righteousness and justice! And hear the effects of this new King that is coming from the line of David…

Isaiah 11:6–10 ESV

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

There is the innate unnatural peace that the natural world is experiencing because of this coming King. The domestic animals will be with and hang out with the wild animals. The young child will play next to the den of the cobra or poisonous vipers! In our natural world - this is unheard of. Christmas is about the Lord coming to make His peace, make His dwelling in this world to be a signal for all the people. Jersualem is no longer the place to be sought, Zion is no longer the place people are longing for - but the resting place is in this root of Jesse!

We know this person promised in Isaiah to be Jesus. Jesus is the One who comes to this world as a baby, the incarnate God made flesh. It is God coming to His people - that the nations, that others, that the world will find rest in Him! And this peace that we will fully see with our eyes, one day when we are resting in His presence in paradise, He has brought this peace to us in our relationship with God and others. Jesus has come to bring this peace to us - where we can now rest in Him, where we can now find comfort in His work! Where as the famous hymn says, He has now reconciled us with God. Through Jesus you have peace that has no end! This is what Christmas means and what it looks like!

This peace described in Isaiah 11, we are waiting to see it fully. If you look out in our world, we don’t see lions lying down with the lambs. We don’t or rather we shouldn’t see kids playing next to poisonous snakes. One day there will be this complete restoration! But until that time may we continue to reflect that peace that Jesus brings us with God to one another. May we find ways to be deliverers of this peace in our own relationships. Perhaps it is forgiving that person who hurt you in a major way. Perhaps it is forgiving that person instead of gossiping or causing more hurt in response. Perhaps it sharing about the good news of Jesus peace with that person in your life who is really struggling with the weight of sin. You have peace with Jesus and may we continue to spread that this peace rooted in Jesus to others - because that is what Christmas means and that is what Christmas looks like!

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, may it guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.