Be Like Jesus

Last week we began our sermon series that will take us to the end of 2025. We will be allowing the Old Testament book of Isaiah to give us insights on how to live our lives today with God.

Last week we looked at “Walking with Jesus.” You can find that sermon on our You Tube channel in case you miss it. This week we discover from this Old Testament prophet how walking with Jesus can help us “Be like Jesus.” Our scripture comes from Isaiah 11:1-10. The words will be on the screen.

11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Please pray with me…

Our scripture for today begins with a weird reference to a stump that has been attached to a man named Jesse. These sorts of scriptures can often lead us to scratch our heads as we attempt to discover what the writer is trying to say to us.

We can begin to figure out who this text is speaking about when we look up who this guy is. Who is Jesse? We receive some help on the significance of a man named Jesse when we read the genealogy from the Gospel of Matthew.

It is within this genealogy that we discover that Jesse was the father of “David the king.” This becomes significant  when we remember that The Messiah was supposed to be from the lineage of David.

This informs us then that In this case the writer is referencing the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah is speaking of the person that would become the Savior of the world. The person who we know that will come some 700 years later who when he is born will be named Jesus.

The branch from the root of Jesse that will bear fruit is Jesus. This indirect reference to Jesus allows us to look at what Isaiah had to say about this Messiah that was to come. It can help us to get an Old Testament glimpse of what it means to be someone who wants to be like Jesus.

(Transition)

The first focus of the text is on the Holy Spirit. In the times of the Old Testament, they did not have the advantage of being filled with the Holy Spirit as the followers of Jesus do today. What we do see quite often is that the Holy Spirit would be upon a person. It did not dwell within them but the Spirit was still able to impact a person’s life just by being upon them.

When we give our life to Jesus and choose to follow his ways over our own ways we are already becoming like Jesus because we become filled with the Holy Spirit. This text gives us some of the ways that the Spirit of God effects the person who has received it.

(Transition)

First, we are able to gain the spirit of wisdom and understanding. We now have God within us. God offers us the wisdom that he has had. The wisdom that is beyond any of our human understanding. This wisdom is the only way that we are able to be like Jesus.

God offers wisdom to all people. We call this general revelation. This is the wisdom from being able to notice the beauty of God’s creation. The understanding that something is right or wrong. The feeling that there is something greater than me out in the world.

We believe in the United Methodist Church that God will use this general revelation to help lead us into a relationship with him. We call this prevenient grace. It is God attempting to lead those that he is not yet in a relationship with into a relationship with him. A desire to see God as their creator, their Lord, their Savior.

The wisdom and understanding that those that already believe are able to receive is called divine revelation. It is received with the help of the Holy Spirit through our willingness to be connected to God. We usually call this within the United Methodist Church Sanctifying Grace.

This type of grace is God attempting to lead us into becoming more Holy. It is God desiring to bring us into a closer relationship with him. We will often receive divine revelation through prayer and scripture with help from the Holy Spirit.

We receive this type of wisdom through a willingness to go to God in Prayer. We get to ask for what actions to take in order to allow us to be happier in our own lives while also serving him. We discover new ways of looking at life and the interactions that we are having with those around us.

We are able to discover things beyond our common knowledge. We are able to figure out situations through relying on God. God may reveal things to us that also can help those around us.

We also receive a greater understanding of what is happening around us. We can get this sense of the forces that are at work. The Holy Spirit is working for us and against the evil of the world. When we are willing to try, we can sometimes sense what is happening. You could call it our sixth sense. A sense that we receive through relying on the Holy Spirit.

We find Jesus using this sense within scripture. There were many times that the religious leaders of the day were trying to get Jesus to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Some of these times, scripture says that Jesus was able to discern that they were trying to trick him. It was as if he had this sixth sense telling him to “watch out.”

Scripture bolsters our understanding of God and how God is at work in the life of Jesus and his early followers. It is through scripture that we can gain an understanding of how Jesus and those early disciples lived. Prayer and scripture keep us connected to God and therefore allow us to be more like Jesus.

(Transition)

The Holy Spirit is also a spirit of council and might. A further explanation is offered in verse four when it speaks of “judging the poor and seeking equity for the meek.” The Holy Spirit should help us have compassion like Jesus had compassion. It should cause us to look for ways that we can assist those around us that do not have the means to support themselves.

It also calls out for us to help those that don’t have a voice in society. We are called to be the voice for the immigrant, the prisoner, the homeless. We as Christians are called to make sure that those around us are treated with dignity. When we choose to be like Jesus, we stick up for those that society has deemed as lesser than.

(Transition)

The Holy Spirit also offers us a Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit helps us discern what the word of God is trying to say to us and how to share that information with those around us.

Another way of looking at it is to compare the disciples to the rest of the people in regard to when Jesus would tell parables. The parables made no sense to the people, but the meaning of the parables would be given by Jesus to the disciples. We have the Holy Spirit filling that void for us, helping us be able to understand and interpret what the scriptures are saying.

We also need to have a fear of the Lord. In this case we are not speaking of a literal fear. It is saying that we should be in awe and in worship for this person, who we know as Jesus. We receive a greater understanding of what that means in the following verses.

It tells of a person who will “not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear.” This person will not only rely on his human knowledge or intuition. This person will rely on God for the decisions they make in their lives.

If we want to be like Jesus, we need to follow the same path. We need to choose to rely on God to help us in our time of need. We need to have God inserted into our decision-making process. The Holy Spirit helps us do that. When we listen to the Spirit, we receive knowledge and understanding that should help define our actions.

(Transition)

When we continue to follow this scripture verse nine points out to us the importance of being at peace with those around us. We are called to strive to make peace instead of choosing to divide. We call this being a peacemaker.

The first place that we need to seek to be a peacemaker are with fellow Christians. When those that don’t believe or those that are outside of the church for whatever reason see the infighting between Christians, they understandably ask the question, why would I want to be a part of this?

When we choose to argue our differences instead of focusing on the things that could unite us, we are saying to those outside the church that church people are no different than the politicians. They choose to focus on what divides them instead of on what could unite them.

On the other hand, when those outside of the church walls see us uniting together in serving the community and putting our differences aside, they see a group of people that choose to love others over their own differences in belief. This is when the church is acting like Jesus. Just like in any family group, we can disagree with each other, but we still need to find ways to get along.

We also need to find ways to be at peace with those around us. Jesus’ actions often caused conflict, but it was because he was trying to change the way those in society looked at each other. He wanted to create a culture of peace instead of conflict.

Just like Jesus, we need to strive for the same results. This does not mean that we don’t share our own faith but it means that we show love to all people no matter their beliefs. It is our way of showing the love of Christ to them.

When we do this, we can sometimes change their hearts. It can lead someone to ask the question “why are they treating me so nice?” This can give us a chance to tell them about Jesus and possibly to pass on to them our journey with Jesus. The ways that Jesus has impacted our lives.

This is why having a Jesus Story is so important. You never know when someone may come up to you and want to know about Jesus. Your Jesus Story can become the way to allow you to tell someone about the ways that God can also impact their lives.

(Transition)

Verses 6through 8 list for us what is possible through all people getting along and choosing to be like Jesus instead of deciding to follow their own path. It lists there that “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together. 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.”

You should have noticed that in all of these examples of what is possible we have interactions between animals and sometimes children that would usually result in death. The writer is pointing out to us that when we have God involved peace will always be possible.

We lack peace today because not everyone “has the full knowledge of the Lord.” There are those in society who seek human answers or who choose to not recognize Jesus for who he is. If they don’t recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior then they are not able to be like Jesus. It is why we have to be the peacemaker and offer the example of what it looks like to be like Jesus.

(Transition)

Verse five tells us that we will be like Jesus when we wear a belt of righteousness and a belt of faithfulness. Our first reading is an announcement to a man named Zechariah regarding the upcoming birth of his son.

This scripture tells us that both Zechariah and his wife were righteous before God. This leads to God letting them become the parents of the one who would precede the Messiah. The angel tells Zechariah that his prayer has been answered. We don’t know specifically what this prayer was, but we can make a couple of guesses. It was either for the birth of a child, or it was for the coming of the Messiah before his death. Whatever prayer it was we know that it will be answered.

We also should look at where Zechariah is receiving this message. He is the priest chosen to burn incense. This means that Zechariah would be, what I believe, is next to the second most holy part of the temple. (Explain Holy of Holies, where God resided. Only chief priest can enter and only on the Day of Atonement.)

(The Golden altar or altar of incense right outside of that. It was where the prayers of the people went up to God.) This is where Zechariah is receiving this holy message from the angel that he will have a son. We call that son “John the Baptist.”

The angel explains John the Baptist this way. We are told that he will be great before the Lord. This would mean that he will be righteous. He will strive to listen to what God has to say. He will attempt to not seek the human answers but to choose to answer only to God.

The angel goes on to say that he will turn many children of Israel to the Lord. He will not only be righteous but he will be faithful. This means that not only will he internally attempt to do what is right for God, but he will have the faith to serve those around him by spreading to them the message that God gave him.

We are called to follow John the Baptist’s example of what it means to be like Jesus. We should be willing to do what we can to be right with God. We should be willing to internally be as pure as we can humanly be. We should attempt to stay away from sin and follow the ways that God has offered to us within scripture.

We should be willing to spread the word of God through our words and through our actions. Our God not only wants us to have an internal faith. He wants us to be willing to show our faith to others. He wants us to follow the example that Jesus offered to us within the scriptures. God wants us to have the faith to be like Jesus.