Isaiah 2:1-5 Sermon

First Sunday of Advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS) 

Christmas and Christ’s Kingdom: “Christ’s Kingdom Is Coming”

Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains;
     it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
    The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
    They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
    Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. (NIV)

                 

As you and a friend are enjoying some conversation, somehow the discussion turns to a review of some of your favorite movies.  As you recall some of the movies that really stand out among the others, you take turns repeating some of the more memorable scenes, pointing out what it was about each scene that made it so great.  The more you discuss these scenes, the more you find yourself wanting to sit down and watch some of them, as it has been too long since you’ve last watched them.  Yet, as good as each of the scenes that you’ve been recalling may be, you wouldn’t very likely just spend an evening skipping through a handful of movies only to watch those memorable scenes; you’d watch the whole movie.  You recognize that the rest of the movie contributed to making those individual scenes so great.  Knowing the background and history of the characters, recognizing what they’re trying to accomplish, appreciating the unique plot details – all of these factors contribute significantly to making individual scenes that stand out in memory.  To remember why you appreciated the scene so much, you’re best off watching the whole movie all together.

Christmas can become like that favorite scene in a movie.   Many of us know the scene so well by now.  More Christmases ago than we can even count, we memorized portions of Luke for our recitation in the Christmas service.  Decades of Christmases have seen cards and letters with similar pictures and phrases.  Familiar Christmas carols continue to have a way of whisking us to where the shepherds gathered around the manger to catch sight of the newborn King.  For many of us, Christmas is our favorite scene of the church year.

But to appreciate it at its fullest, we have to see the whole movie.  During this season of Advent, which begins this morning, we will review how that one scene fits into the overall plan that God had laid out from eternity.  The prayer is that doing so will help us put the favorite scene of Christmas into its proper context, so that we might find our celebration of the Savior’s birth to be even more enriching and fulfilling.  Our Advent series, “Christmas and Christ’s Kingdom,” will seek to help us review and recall the overall picture of Christ’s Kingdom, so that Christmas will stand out even more.  During this series, we’ll let the prophet Isaiah be our guide.  This morning he assures us, Christ’s Kingdom Is Coming.

Listen for a moment to some of the words of rebuke from the first chapter of Isaiah: “rebelled… sinful nation… brood of evildoers…children given to corruption… forsaken the LORD… spurned the Holy One of Israel… turned their backs on him… Stop bringing meaningless offerings… Your incense is detestable to me… I cannot bear your evil assemblies…Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates… When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen… Take your evil deeds out of my sight… Stop doing wrong… Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts” (Isaiah 1).  The words from the first chapter of Isaiah cut to the heart.  While they are harsh, they are a little easier to swallow if we understand them to be spoken to Israel’s enemies.  The only problem is, they aren’t being spoken to Israel’s enemies; they’re being spoken to Israel herself.

I don’t know how well such a rebuke would go over today.  Concern over damaging consciences and future self-esteem issues would raise red flags from many in our society today.  Only positive encouragement and words of affirmation are permitted.  But God knows best what his people need to hear, and so he spoke what needed to be said through his prophet Isaiah.  The book of Isaiah can be broken down into two parts.  The first part, chapters 1–39, focuses on judgment and promises of future deliverance.  In the second part, chapters 40–66, God pours out his comfort on his hurting people.  We might think of chapter one as serving as sort of an introduction to the entire book. Chapter two, including our verses for this morning, while it includes some of the same themes of rebuke we see in the first chapter, also provides us with a peek of the promises to come.  When the sting of God’s law is felt, as it most certainly is in the first chapter, the soothing comfort of good news through God’s gracious promises is appreciated all the more.  It is precisely because the prophet Isaiah paints pictures of gospel comfort with so much rich imagery throughout this book that he has been referred to as the Fifth Evangelist.  That is, in addition to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Isaiah stands right along side them in many respects in his communication of the gospel promises of God through Christ.

To communicate those promises in our verses this morning, Isaiah draws our attention to a mountain.  To understand and appreciate the picture Isaiah is painting, we remember that in Israel’s day, there were a number of mountains that held special significance.  One of those was Mt. Moriah.  Mt. Moriah was the mountain on which Abraham was willing to take his son Isaac’s life at God’s command.  Remember that God had promised to bless all nations through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus.  On top of that mountain, God foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice by which those nations would be blessed.  Years later, as God had multiplied Abraham’s descendants into the people of Israel, Mt. Moriah again held special significance, as it was the location of Solomon’s temple, the center piece of Old Testament worship.  There at the temple, too, through the sacrifice of animals, God foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice through which he would bring deliverance, the sacrifice of Jesus.  This mountain was of primary importance to God’s people.  Their lives revolved around it, for their lives revolved around the promises illustrated by God through temple worship.

While Isaiah certainly had the sacred mountain on which God’s people worshiped in mind, it wasn’t the only picture he wished to convey through his poetic imagery.  Hear his words again: “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (v.2-3).  We can know from Isaiah’s own words that he had something more in mind than just the sacred mountain of his day, since he says, “in the last days.”  Isaiah is looking at some point in the future when he speaks of people being drawn to the mountain.  So when would it happen?  What mountain will be raised up and exalted?  To which mountain will nations stream?  How will people be taught God’s ways, which will go out from Zion, from Jerusalem?

Isaiah is looking ahead and seeing God’s promise of deliverance fulfilled.  In his day, one’s walk with God revolved around a physical mountain.  In the last days, as he pictures, the focal point is no longer a physical mountain, but Isaiah used that picture nonetheless because it was a familiar one to his hearers.  In the last days, what had previously been carried out on the temple mountain would be carried out in an entirely different way.  God would carry out this work through the words and works of his Son, Jesus.  People came from all over to hear the words of Jesus and to witness first hand his mighty works.  They followed him to be taught the ways of God and walk in his paths.  The law – God’s Word – came to God’s people through God’s Son, Jesus, in the last days.  He came to speak the good news of life and salvation, and he came to fulfill the good news of life and salvation.

We are still in the last days today, for the last days refer to the time between Jesus’ first coming and his second coming.  People still gather around the Word of God to hear the good news of the gospel.  God’s people still proclaim what Jesus has done to bring deliverance.  Still today we speak of another mountain, or hill, really – Calvary, on which our sacrificial Lamb died so that we might live.  Where the gospel is proclaimed today, Isaiah’s words are being fulfilled.  The Church carries out the work entrusted to it to see to it that the word of the Lord goes out, and that what goes out is the good news of redemption and sins forgiven.  It is the news of sins paid for and eternal life.  It is the message of being at peace with God.  It is the good news of the gospel, and where the good news of the gospel is proclaimed, the work of Christ’s Kingdom is coming and being carried out.

But there is more to Isaiah’s picture that awaits fulfillment.  He prophesied, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (v.4).  Isaiah is speaking of a time that hasn’t fully arrived.  Yes, while we are at peace with God because our sins have been forgiven, the true and permanent peace that will fill the world will not arrive until Jesus arrives for the second time.  Only then will wars cease, resulting in true and permanent peace.  When that happens at Jesus’ return, Christ’s Kingdom will have come in the fullest sense.

So what does this all have to do with Christmas?  Only everything.  If God had not kept his promise of deliverance, the promise given to Isaiah and to so many before him, then our salvation would be ruled out.  But he did keep his promise.  He did so at the first Christmas.  With the arrival of the Christ born in Bethlehem came the arrival of Christ’s Kingdom and the work of the gospel.  Without Christmas there is no Kingdom.  Without any Kingdom we have no gospel.  Without the gospel, we have no hope.  But the Christ was born, and his kingdom still comes when the gospel is proclaimed.  Merry Christmas – Christ came, and his kingdom is still coming.  Amen.

                                                              

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)