Second Sunday in Advent: December 5, 2004.

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

First Reading

The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear--and they shall be led by a child. There will be no pain or destruction. The whole earth will know the LORD. If only we could live in this world. But alas, our world is far more like the world of the Davidic dynasty when Isaiah was writing. Then and now, it is a world immersed in war, a world where many people are oppressed and poor, while a few rule with heavy hands and wickedness.

But Isaiah shows us that this is not the way that it will always be. This is not the way that God intends for us to live. Isaiah provides us with hope and expectation--hope for a better tomorrow through the expectation of a ruler in the line of David upon whom the spirit of the LORD will rest. This one will have extraordinary insight and will judge with righteousness and faithfulness, caring for the meek and the poor. There will be harsh judgment for the oppressors.

This is the same justice for which the psalmist prays in Psalm 72. "Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son." The psalmist prays for one who will judge with righteousness that shows favor for the poor, to "give deliverance to the needy and crush the oppressor" (v. 14). This king will offer refreshment like the rain showering on the earth as peace will abound forever. The key, however, is that this righteousness and justice do not come from the king himself. No, the justice with which this one will reign is the justice that comes from God. It is only with God that this peace can come, and it is this peace for which we continue to hope.

Paul reminds the people of Rome that "whatever was written in former days," including these writings of Isaiah and the psalmist, were written so that the people of Rome, and even those of us living today, might continue to have hope. God is a God of "steadfastness and encouragement" and does not desire us to be unwelcoming, let alone hurtful, to one another. Paul charges the Romans to take Christ as the example of one who welcomes all and shows the justice of which Isaiah and the psalmist spoke. In good Pauline rhetoric, the apostle even quotes the law, psalms, and prophets to make his point. But in the end, Paul recognizes that it is only in the power of the Holy Spirit that any of this is possible.

This is the same Holy Spirit that John promises will be poured out by the one who will come after him. But John's words are less than peaceful here. "You brood of vipers!" Who wants to hear that? How is name calling going to bring about peace? But that was not John's job. John was to prepare the way for the peacemaker, the one who will show justice to the poor and condemn the wicked. Therefore, John calls for repentance (metanoia), literally turning around. John calls for turning from the old ways of wickedness to the new ways of justice. Simply having Abraham as your ancestor will no longer cut it. Lineage alone will no longer hold. No, now is a time to turn away from the injustices of old and to begin to bear good fruit. Jesus is coming, and Jesus will "strike the earth with the rod of his mouth," as Isaiah said. John warned that everyone must be ready so that the rod might not strike them.

Pastoral Reflection

Imagine that day on the banks of the Jordan River. A large crowd is gathered to hear this strange man dressed in camel hair and a leather belt, eating locusts and honey, in order to confess their sins and to be baptized. What drew them out there? What did this man have that they thought that they needed? In a word, hope.

John may not have been the most tactful of preachers--maybe some of us have something to learn from him--but what he did have was conviction. John knew what God had called him to do. He knew what he was about. He was to prepare the way for the one who was greater than anyone who had come before. John called the people to turn around from their sinful ways so that they would be prepared when Jesus came. John told it like it was; for that, I admire him. But he also told the people how it would be. There would be one who would gather together those who bore good fruit and toss out those who did not. For those who would turn to follow the one who was to come, there was great hope for the future.

Two thousand years later, we continue to have hope. We have cleaned up the language a bit from the time of John, but in our baptism we also are called to turn away from our sinful ways. We give thanks to God for giving us the ability to make that change, that turn from the power of sin to new life. When we are baptized, the pastor says: "God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give you thanks for freeing your sons and daughters from the power of sin and for raising them up to a new life through this holy sacrament. Pour your Holy Spirit upon Carrie Leigh: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence" (Lutheran Book of Worship, 124).

In this prayer the words of Isaiah are spoken again. We ask for the same spirit of the LORD that Isaiah promised would be given to the branch of Jesse. If that same Spirit enters us, then we, too, can live our lives not judging by what we see and hear. We, too, can live showing justice and righteousness to the poor and the meek. We, too, can strive for the peace where enemies can live alongside each other.

When Isaiah wrote these words of hope to God's people, they were a people oppressed by their enemies. How do we hear these words today when we, as Americans, are viewed by many around the world as the oppressors? How are we called to live our lives in the midst of all that goes on in the world around us?

Can we take to heart what Paul has to say? Celebrating our baptismal covenant, embracing the Holy Spirit within us, and taking Christ as our example, we can welcome those who are different from us for the sake of building one another up. We can resist tearing each other down. It is through that upbuilding of the neighbor that we see the reign of God coming near, just as John proclaimed. Only then can we see the wolf with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the calf with the lion, the human being with his or her brother or sister. CL