Waiting for Peace December 4th, 2022
God of peace and possibility, we turn to your Word to hear your will and your wisdom for our times. Open our hearts and minds by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit so that we might hear what you are saying to the church through Christ, our Prince of Peace. Amen
Christmas is always a time of waiting, waiting with eager expectation. The expectation that we are looking forward to something—hopefully something that promises good things to come for us. So, what is it that we’re waiting for? For Christmas to come? For presents to open? For family gatherings? For that wonderful Christmas dinner? All those are things which we’re waiting and hoping for.
Our Scripture readings this morning are also about a time of waiting in expectation, but on a much larger scale. They’re about the waiting in anticipation for the coming of the Messiah, or Saviour, for mankind. In the case of the Old Testament readings, it’s for the first coming of Jesus, in the case of our New Testament lessons, it’s for his return. With that being said, let’s begin by looking at our Old Testament reading from the Book of Isaiah.
It began with these words, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” This Jesse was the father of King David, who found favour with God because his heart was set on him. David studied God’s word and loved him with all his heart, even though David sometimes failed and committed sin. David was every bit as human as we are but when he did fall, he came back to God humbly, seeking forgiveness and with an open heart to try to learn from his mistakes, no matter the cost. David was the shoot from the stump of his father Jesse, and Jesus, our coming Messiah, was of the lineage of David.
Isaiah then tells us that, “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Isaiah is saying that this coming Messiah will be blessed with the Holy Spirit, giving him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge and because of this he will have counsel and might. Counsel is the ability to give good advice, while might is the ability to help carry it out. Isaiah paints a vivid picture of what he was waiting for. He was looking for the coming of someone who would be filled with the Spirit of God and therefore full of counsel and divine might, of knowledge and understanding, who would put an end to all the injustice in the world.
And, as a result, Isaiah predicts that, “…with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Justice for the poor was hard to find in the ancient world because the poor could not afford to bribe their judges, and they possessed little political influence. But Israel's coming Messiah would do what was right for the poor and be fair with the downtrodden. It was not a happy time for the people of Israel. Their neighbours, the Assyrians were encamped right across the border, ready to invade and destroy Jerusalem, carrying the people away into captivity. And so, Isaiah was waiting in expectation for someone to rescue them.
And what was he waiting for, in his time? What expectations did he have? He envisions a world where justice and righteousness prevail, not just occasionally or for a brief time, but everywhere and always. He pictures a world that he longs for in the depths of his being, a world full of real and lasting peace. In that world of righteousness and justice, “the wolf,” says Isaiah, “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.” He sees long-standing enemies dwelling together in harmony. And in that world Isaiah tells us, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”
And our Psalm this morning continues on with the same theme, it opens with these verses, “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” It’s thought that this Psalm was written by Solomon, who was David’s son, and who succeeded him to the throne in Israel. Yet, while it describes the wishes of Solomon in his reign, it also anticipates the rule of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, on earth in the future bringing eternal peace to those that love God.
So, once again we have this expectation of a much greater ruler to come, one who will “judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy.” The vast majority of the people living in Israel at that time were poor and underprivileged, living hand to mouth, with no prospects of better life in the future. And so, they waited in eager anticipation for the promised Messiah who would eliminate the foreign masters and rule with equity for all, no matter of their status.
And today, while we’re waiting for the return of Jesus and the true peace which only he can bring, we should remember these words which the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the members of the church in Rome which we heard read this morning, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
These words, "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you " are exactly the words we need to hear. We need to hear these because we all come short of knowing how to accept the people God made in his own image. Paul said, "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you." Accept one another. He doesn’t ask us to change each other. God doesn’t ask us to ignore each other. He doesn’t tell us to avoid one another or divide ourselves up into cliques or groups or factions. He simply asks us to accept one another in love.
By his Holy Spirit, on behalf of Christ our Lord, God will bring this good work to completion within us, and we will indeed accept one another as true brothers and sisters, as faithful followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Because when we accept one another, God is glorified.
In our worship, and in all our lives, we are to show the glory that Christ has given us. Gathered as God’s holy people we proclaim to the world, we are one in God. We love one another. We accept one another. We have been joined in union with our Lord Jesus Christ and we are one, just as there is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all. We have one Lord, and we are one, no matter what. This is not always easy for us humans, but our true Christian unity which comes from God, is based on Christ Jesus, and results in glory to God. And from that unity comes peace, peace between ourselves and peace within ourselves.
And that is the peace which only our faith in Jesus can give us. This is what he said to his disciples in that upper room on the night of the Last Supper, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
So, what can we do with those expectations? Perhaps we can best do what Isaiah himself had to do: wait. Wait patiently for Jesus’ return to our world to fully accomplish his purpose—a world that God so deeply loved, and continues to love, that he sent his only Son to be born into it. Waiting and following Jesus is what Christmas teaches us to do. Waiting is often a matter of enduring frustration. Waiting is not something that comes easily for us. But waiting for the coming of God's Kingdom, the coming of Christ, is what belongs to the heart of faith.
In waiting, we acknowledge that this world belongs to God and that he is taking care of it. He will continue to take care of it even when we cannot see it or understand how. Waiting for the coming of God's kingdom expresses the conviction that God himself, he who created this world, will set all things right again. Because Christ has come and is coming again, Christmas keeps alive the expectation that peace will come to our world, with righteousness and justice for all. Waiting in faith keeps us from losing heart. It also reminds that this will only happen by the sovereign God who moves in mysterious ways, on his own timetable. And so, we wait—with eager expectation of peace.
We are signs that point to the coming day of justice and peace. Jesus tells us in the Bible, “You are my witnesses… to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8). We who follow Jesus and believe in him become signs of his coming. When we reach out to the homeless in caring love, to the poor, to the hurting, we don't really hasten the day of his coming or make the Day of Peace come any faster, but we become signs in the world that that day is coming. The most worthwhile thing any of us can do is to live in the light of that promised coming. It is by how we live that we keep hope alive and promote peace for our world. Our lives from beginning to end are signs that God is at work in our world. Emmanuel, God with us, is the expectation that Christmas keeps alive--in us and through us, in our world and for our world.
And during this time of waiting, we will continue to strive for peace. This is the peace which Paul encouraged the members of the church in Philippi to have when he wrote these words to them, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
Let us Pray:
Almighty God, we bless you for our lives, we give you praise for your abundant mercy and grace. We thank you for your faithfulness even though we are not always faithful to you. Lord Jesus, we ask you to give us peace in our mind, body, soul, and spirit. We pray that you would heal and remove everything that is causing stress, grief, and sorrow in our lives. Please guide our path through life and make our enemies be at peace with us. Let your peace reign in our family, at our place of work, and in all things in our lives. Amen