The Light of Hope

Turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah 9:2-7. Isaiah is one of the larger books in the Old Testament, and it comes a few books after the book of Psalms. As we enter the Advent season today we are taking a step back from our study of the Gospel of Mark and going to spend the next few weeks dwelling on the Christmas story. The season of advent is all about anticipation, waiting with expectancy for the promised one, the Messiah, to come. Part of that anticipation is made visual for us in the lighting of the advent wreath, and every week we’ll get closer to lighting the Christ candle in the center as we get closer to Christmas Eve.

Our son, Wally, who is 8 years old and autistic LOVES Christmas. The first morning he woke to see a dusting of snow on the ground he said, “it’s Christmas!” over and over and asked for the Christmas tree. Children are an example to us in this season. They are eager for Christmas to come. They can’t wait. It’s hard to wait. It might be so hard to wait that they go looking for presents hidden in the back of closets. The eagerly anticipate and look forward to Christmas. So we should eagerly look for God at work during this season. How is God preparing us to receive the Messiah? How is God working hope and light into our lives right now?

I need hope and light in my life right now. Do you? Darkness seems to reign in our world and in our own minds or hearts. Darkness could be lies we believe about who we are or who God is. Darkness could be sin that has weighs us down or traps us in a prison we can’t seem to escape. Darkness could be the weight of evil in the world resting on our souls. Whatever the darkness is that you feel today, listen as we turn our ears to the word of God spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 9:2-7

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy;

they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest,

as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood

will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Let’s pray.

Isaiah lived in a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The nation had endured the reign of terrible king after terrible king. The Assyrians, a neighboring nation and people, were constantly at war with them, and it seemed that Israel’s defeat was inevitable. Finally a good king had come along, King Uzziah, but when he died the people of Israel felt truly abandoned by God. Did God care about them any more? Were they still God’s chosen people?

It is here that God shows up in an undeniable way and calls Isaiah to speak to the people of Israel on his behalf. You can read that experience of God calling Isaiah in chapter 6. Today in chapter 9 we are reading a message of hope that God was speaking through Isaiah to the people of Israel. They were indeed living in a time of darkness. Not only were they being oppressed by the Assyrians, a darkness coming at them from the outside, they were oppressed by their stubbornness to walk according to their own selfish ways, a darkness from within. Their constant disobedience of God’s instruction for generation after generation left them in a situation where it felt like God was far far away, and the enemy was getting closer and closer. God had told them long ago that if they did not follow God’s commands then they would be conquered by another nation and exiled, taken away from their homes and land. The exile was looming on the horizon. Was there any hope? Was God going to ever forgive them? Would things ever change?

It's into this darkness that Isaiah speaks:

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Have you ever done an overnight shift at work or an overnight drive? There have been a few times when I have driven through the night, and that hour before dawn is sometimes that hardest part of the drive. It feels like the night is dragging on, the darkness will never end, and the bright lights of other cars on the road around you are a mix of comforting and annoying. When the sun finally begins to rise and light the sky, suddenly your energy increases and the trip doesn’t seem so difficult anymore. The light of dawn after a long night of darkness is a precious gift of hope.

God is giving the people of Israel a glimpse into the future and a hope that is coming. The Hebrew is written in such a way that it is saying what is going to happen in the future with a past tense as if it has already happened. This is not a wish or dream, it is a future reality. The light is coming.

Isaiah continues in verse 3:

3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy;

they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest,

as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood

will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

We have to get ourselves into the shoes of the people who are hearing this message to fully grasp how powerful these words are. Their land was a significant part of their identity at the time. It was something they had longed for and God promised them and God had made good on his promise. Imagine finally getting something you’ve always dreamed of owning, maybe a new house or beautiful piece of property, and as soon as its yours EVERYONE else seems to need it and want it and is pressing in to take it from you. For God to say that your nation is enlarged, the boundaries are growing not decreasing, that means you will feel safer and more relaxed. It’s like moving from a tiny apartment in the city to a large estate in the countryside where you have room to stretch and grow.

Rejoicing like people rejoice at harvest or when warriors divide the plunder is a picture of the kind of celebrating that comes with all your needs being met. Imagine what it would feel like if all your medical debt or the mortgage on your house were simply cancelled. You don’t have to pay them anymore. Imagine if all of a sudden you didn’t have to worry about having enough to retire on, or if you had so much extra that you could give college scholarships to each and every one of your grandkids and their kids.

It gets even better!! Whatever it is that is holding you down or holding you back, whether it is emotional trauma or physical needs or hope for the future, that oppression has been obliterated. All of your struggles and needs have just disappeared, from the things that weigh on your mind to the bills coming in the mail. Every single thing is free. Your shoulders relax, your head lifts, the muscles in your face relax, and you smile from a place of utter freedom and joy. Nothing is wrong. IN FACT, everything that was once necessary for self preservation, from your checkbook that pays your bills to your medication that keeps you alive… you don’t need them anymore. Whatever burdened you, whatever oppressed you, you can just throw it into the wood stove and bask in the delicious warmth of the fire. It doesn’t hold you down and you don’t need it any more.

THAT is what Isaiah is saying the future holds. This is the hope they are holding onto. This is a picture of the new kingdom that will come through the Messiah. The people listening to Isaiah know that this is what he’s talking about. The Messiah King will come and set them free in every possible way.

How is God going to do this amazing miraculous thing? Through a child…a child who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. The word “prince” in the original language is the kind of prince who is a chief or commander of an army. And the word peace conveys so much more than our word for peace. This word, shalom, encompasses a wholistic kind of peace that could be described as nothing missing nothing broken. So this child will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Chief of nothing missing nothing broken.

The Messiah would come as a light in the darkness, demolishing the things that oppress and burden us, exponentially increasing our joy, and establish a kingdom known for true peace: nothing missing nothing broken. The rod of oppression, the burdens that used to weigh on our shoulders, he would take and bear the weight of the governing of all things on his own shoulders. He would be born, human, and yet be Mighty God and Everlasting Father. Fully human and fully God. And the kingdom the Messiah establishes will be eternal, just and righteous…a kingdom known for a peace so deep and wide that it feels like there’s nothing missing, nothing broken.

That sounds like a kingdom that I want to belong to, a Messiah I long to see reigning in this broken world we live in. So why isn’t it here? If Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus, and Jesus came, then where is this kingdom of his? Where is this nothing missing nothing broken type of peace he was supposed to bring? I think the disciples of Jesus probably wondered the same thing. As we’ve been studying the Gospel of Mark together for the past few months, it makes a little more sense now why the disciples thought that Jesus as the Messiah would overthrow Rome and establish a government of justice and peace that had no end. So if Isaiah prophesied it, and the disciples expected it, where is it?

Do you remember what we’ve learned from Jesus in the Gospel of Mark? Jesus said in the very first chapter that the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom that Isaiah was prophesying about, it is near. It’s near, it’s close by. It’s within reach. And what did Jesus do? He touched the untouchable. He invited those who were too far gone in and welcomed them with open arms. He constantly redefined holiness to include loving the unlovely. Each and every type of outsider you can imagine was invited in to be part of his family. This is the Kingdom of justice and peace: a kingdom that recognizes the marginalized and outcast and brings them into a place a protection and love. It is a kingdom that Jesus calls us to accomplish in partnership with him from now until he comes again.

Beloved, every thing Isaiah prophesied began to become true through Jesus and it is ongoing. It will be finally realized in all its fullness when Jesus, the Messiah, returns again and finally establishes his kingdom here once and for all. Until then, we are living in a time of already but not yet. We are waiting in hope just like the people that Isaiah was speaking to.

And this word from Isaiah is for us today, too. Why? Because we too are a people living in darkness. There is darkness in our world, darkness in our relationships, and darkness within our own hearts. We need the light of the Messiah to shine hope into our lives so that we can share that hope with those around us every day, the hope of a kingdom ruled by the Prince of Peace where there is nothing missing, nothing broken.