Signs of Hope: A Child
Dr. Jim Wilson, December 23, 2007 Tuesday morning I was busily engaged with Isaiah, the prophet, thinking about the sign of hope he offers in our text. After a brief phone conversation, I noticed a couple of emails had popped up, one from Mike DeLapp which bore the enticing title, “Afghan Christmas Tree.” I opened the email and then the attached photo and saw the image that is included in your bulletin. Mike wrote that the pictured Christmas tree had been put in place by Major Jim DeLapp at F.O.B. Sharan, which is located about 100 miles south of Kabul. Jim had sent a company on a mission up near the Pakistan border and asked them to bring back a tree. The lights were sent from Fort Lewis Washington. The soldiers themselves made the decorations. As I stared at that rather scraggily Christmas tree, tears came to my eyes. What a moving image, I thought. What a powerful sign of hope. Think about that sign with me for a moment----rising up in the midst of a war-torn, barren landscape, placed there by men and women thousands miles from home, women and men who live and work in harm’s way each day, a tree standing there defiantly witnessing to Christmas, the birth of God coming to us to bring healing and reconciliation, freedom and peace to our world. I found myself returning to this picture again and again during the week, each time being grasped by its power as a sign of hope. And it is so simple, so ordinary, so commonplace---a Christmas tree, one that probably would not find its way into any of our homes. Yet, a Christmas tree that points to the meaning of Christmas so clearly. It proclaimed that meaning to me in a way I will not forget---God’s hope born among us. As I reflected on this image, I realized how well it fit in with the theme of our sermons for Advent. For the past three Sundays, and now this morning, we have listened to the lyrics of Isaiah’s poetic prophecy and caught glimpses of his vision of the New Order God’s advent brings. We have imagined new paths leading to peace, a new king bringing justice and righteousness, a transformed creation seen in a blossoming desert and a transformed and healed people---all signs of hope, words and images that proclaim God’s presence among us. Now as the celebration of Christmas is just a few hours away, we hear of yet one more sign of hope announced by Isaiah. Like the other signs, this sign speaks of the promise of God’s coming into our world to forgive our foolishness, to mend our brokenness, to reorder our chaos, and to establish peace; in other words, a sign of life redeemed. Yet, this sign is different. This sign is as commonplace as the others are visionary; as simple as the others are sublime. “Look,” announces Isaiah to Ahaz the king, “the young woman is with child, she shall bear a son, and name him Immanuel.” What could be more simple, more ordinary, more commonplace? What could communicate God’s hope with more profound simplicity than the birth of a child? Yet, signs are not always seen. Sometimes they are missed simply because they are so ordinary, so commonplace. Signs, as God offers them, are at times spectacular, but more often so very ordinary. However, signs are always revelatory, always revealing of God’s presence and purpose. Think about it. Who would think to look in a stable in Bethlehem to encounter the fulfillment of God’s promise? It takes eyes that see, that see beyond the ordinary and obvious; it takes hearts that perceive, that perceive the movement of grace to receive the sign and know the gift. So, the sign is given,. First, the sign comes to King Ahaz of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, who is caught in a political crisis, one that would have kept CNN busy for weeks. The kings of Aram and Ephriam have joined forces to counter the aggressive behavior of Assyria, the region’s superpower. Ahaz has been reluctant to join the coalition. Now the troops of the kings of Aram and Ephriam have laid siege to Jerusalem in an effort to topple Ahaz from power, and replace him with someone more inclined to cooperate. I guess this is “nation building” 8th Century BC style! It seems that some things never change in the Middle East. It is in this context of power politics and international intrigue that Isaiah the prophet addresses the king. He has counseled Ahaz not to join any alliance, reminding him that Yahweh, and Yahweh alone will deliver Judah. Now the prophet makes an incredible offer to the king, an offer of a sign that will confirm God’s promise of deliverance: “Ask any sign of the Lord your God,” says Isaiah, “let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” Now that has to be one of the greatest blank checks ever offered. Who wouldn’t want a sign from God that all will be well? Ahaz, however, refuses Isaiah’s invitation, claiming that he does not want to “put the Lord to the test.” He sounds so pious, so righteous. Isaiah sees through the pious rhetoric to the real reason for his refusal. Ahaz now wants to join the coalition. His refusal expresses not faithfulness but faithlessness. Remember, signs reveal God’s presence and purpose and in doing so, expose faithfulness or faithlessness. Pious rhetoric is but a cover for such faithlessness. Not one to go away quietly, Isaiah boldly confronts the king: “Listen to me Ahaz. Is it too little you weary me, must you weary God also. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look the young woman is with child, and she shall bear a son and name him Immanuel…before the child knows how to refuse evil and choose the good, the threat posed by these two kings will be over.” In other words, Isaiah offers Ahaz a sign, a sign of hope, a sign that God is faithful and will deliver his people. This is the Advent sign of hope, a child, a child to be named Immanuel, God with us. The sign is so ordinary, so common, a woman giving birth and a child given a name. But, says Isaiah, in that very commonness, that very ordinariness, is the advent of God to liberate his people. It is a sign of hope Who is this woman? Who is this child? On the one hand, we don’t know. Some scholars suggest the woman is Ahaz’s wife and the child, his son, crown prince Hezekiah. Other scholars argue that the woman is actually Isaiah’s wife, and the child, his son. More likely, I think, the woman is some anonymous young woman Isaiah notices as he addressed the king. The point is that a child is the sign, a child who is to bear a particular name. What is clear is that Isaiah has in mind a particular situation, not a future reality. His sign is for the moment when God liberating love will break in on a hopeless situation, defined by a political crisis, to bring salvation. Now I realize that it is virtually impossible for any of us to hear Isaiah’s words and not relate them to the birth of Jesus. In fact, Isaiah’s sign might have languished in obscurity had not Matthew borrowed it to speak of Jesus’ birth and is name as a sign of hope. So, in another sense we do know who the woman came to be and who the child ultimately is. Yet, I would caution us that before we rush to make Isaiah point to Jesus we hear his sign in the context of the political crisis of the 8th Century BC. When he speaks of a young woman that is what he means. The Hebrew word does not communicate anything with regard to her marital status or life experience. When Matthew wrote his gospel he was using a Greek translation of the First Testament which used the word parthenos, virgin for “young woman.” Be that as it may, the sign remains the sign, pointing to God coming into our world and our lives to deliver us, to set us free, and to make us whole. That is the sign of hope, pointing to the promise of Advent. Again, Isaiah’s vision prompts a question: “Where are you looking for hope this morning?” After all, it is fourth Sunday in Advent, Christmas is right around the corner, “So what stirs in your heart, this morning? Where are you looking for hope?” Is it for a new job; maybe one of the Presidential candidates, Romney, Obama, Clinton, Huckabee? Perhaps it is a new relationship, or a turn in the economy? If I hear Isaiah correctly, I think we need to be careful. So often we look for something spectacular to bring hope, a great change, a Spielburgesque intervention, a dramatic, perhaps glitzy presentation. You did hear about the church in Florida that is spending over $1 million for its Christmas program? When asked if they saw any inconsistency about such extravagance and the meaning of Christmas, members interviewed said “No, it is what is needed to give people hope.” I am left wondering, “Hope in what?” Isaiah’s sign is so common and ordinary---a woman about to give birth and a name to be given. Yet, so often that is God’s way. O, there might be a spectacular now and then. But in most cases, God comes to us in the commonplace and ordinary, trusting that we will have eyes that see. So, if you are looking for a sign in the midst of the glitz and glamour you just might miss it. After all, who would think to look in a stable to meet Emmanuel, God with us? I am reminded of a story about a diamond miner in South Africa who in the late 1920’s discovered one of the world’s largest diamonds. It was the size of a small lemon. The miner needed to transport the diamond to the company’s office in London. So, he purchased a steel strong box and hired four men to take the diamond to London. When the strong box and men arrived in London, the box was carefully opened. To everyone’s surprise it did not contain the diamond. Instead, it contained a lump of coal. Three days later, the diamond arrived safely by parcel post in plainly wrapped package. The miner had assumed, correctly, that most people including those who might be tempted to reroute the diamond would pay little attention to a plainly wrapped cardboard box. So it is with this Advent sign of hope. It comes in a plainly wrapped package, not a million dollar spectacle. Will you step back from all the rush and busyness, the noise and glitter, the demands and stress of these days and spend time listening to the promise, looking for the sign amid the ordinary and commonplace, allowing you heart to perceive God’s grace at work? That is where faith is born. That is where we meet God with us, Emmanuel And in doing so, we experience God’s presence in ways that make a difference. No longer is God simply an idea. No longer is hope some elusive desire. Both now are very real. No longer is Christmas simply about meeting sales quotas, getting and giving the right gifts, preparing worship services, entertaining family and friends, or simply grieving over things that might have been. Now it is the Advent promise moving to fulfillment, welcoming God’s presence with us. Now it is hope, real, authentic hope, taking on life. Awhile ago, I came across a story about a child who was born two months after his father had been shipped overseas during the Second World War. The child’s mother attempted to bridge this separation by practicing a ritual each night as she put him to bed. After putting on his pajamas, the little boy knelt beside his bed for his prayers. When he finished he would run to a framed picture of his father on a bedside table, give the picture a kiss and then tumble into bed. This ritual went on for nearly three years. Finally, the day came when war ended and the boy’s father came home. That night the father helped his son get ready for bed. The little boy put on his pajamas, knelt down and said his prayers, and then his mother said, “Now, Tommy, give your daddy a goodnight kiss.” With that Tommy ran over to the night stand, gave his father’s picture a kiss, and jumped into bed. We too can miss the presence of the One who is come. We can miss the sign and settle for kissing the picture, so to speak. We can keep the traditions, give gifts, celebrate the rituals, sing the carols, but if we miss the reality to which the sign points, we miss the hope given. I encourage you to take time to focus on the sign, the Child and his name, Emmanuel, and prepare to open your lives to the presence he brings, the presence of our God. Then you will know the salvation he intends for you for all of us, for the whole creation. The sign of hope is given to us. “Look a young woman is with child, she shall bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel.” May we have eyes to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. May we have hearts to perceive the eternal in the common place. Thanks be to God! Amen! |
