Advent – HOPE

Isaiah 2:1-4 is one of the traditional Christmas Advent readings, yet it seems to be misplaced. It seems to be about something totally unrelated to the Christmas story.

“The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,
3 and many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us about his ways
so that we may walk in his paths.”
For instruction will go out of Zion
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will settle disputes among the nations
and provide arbitration for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.” Isaiah 2:1-4 CSB

That’s some vision! But how’s it connected to Christmas?

Advent means, coming, or arrival. Think of the advent of the motor car, or the advent of flight.

In a Christian context it refers to a time of reflection on the “comings” of Christ. I say “comings”, because not only is it about his incarnation – his taking on human flesh, but it’s also about his coming again in glory as King of kings and Lord of Lords to judge the earth and establish a kingdom of righteousness.

In fact, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the Advent season as we know it today was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming. Until then, Advent was first and foremost related to the second coming (something evidenced in some carols). Something, which like the first, will come by God’s decision and at an hour we do not expect.

This is important because it puts the emphasis on the agency of God, not the efforts, the “works” of human beings. When we put the emphasis on Christ’s first coming it risks putting all the emphasis on us and our preparations for it.

None of which would be enough unless God were favourably disposed to us in the first place.  

Advent then is primarily about God’s action in human history – from both perspectives it is a season of HOPE.

Hope is essential to life. We all need it. Snuff it out and we’re done. As it says in Proverbs, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Likewise, hope promised but not fulfilled leaves us disillusioned.

Many today are looking for a reason to hope… It seems that the world we have known and been so sure of here in the West is falling apart… We have lived through a time of unrivalled peace, prosperity and security, but not anymore…. The foundations it seems are crumbling… If the foundations are destroyed how can the righteous stand.

The world seems an uncertain place – it was the same in Isaiah’s day.

The back story to the reading in Isaiah 2:1-4, is that the northern kingdom of Israel had been defeated by the Assyrians and most of the people taken into captivity and Judah the southern kingdom was in trouble.

Under King Uzziah’s (Azariah in 2 King’s) reign they had developed into a strong commercial military state, but at the same time they had declined spiritually.

They were called to be God’s people, a light and a witness to the nations, but in Isaiah chapter 1:2-7, we discover that they don’t know God, that they’ve rebelled, they’re sinful, they’re sick in head and heart (1:2-7), they’re going through the motions of religion but don’t mean it and God detests it.

The people and leaders were doing life wrong. They are idolatrous – they kept forgetting who was God, and going after other gods. There was a crisis of leadership and the country lay in ruins, the towns burned (1:7). What’s more, there were new alliances taking place and Assyria was threatening their continued existence… Sound familiar? Could almost be today’s news.

Things then weren’t looking good, hope was evaporating. Perhaps that’s you with all that’s going on in the world today.

The question naturally arises, Where do we find hope, where and how do we find a reason to keep moving forward? Wishful thinking won’t do. Following your heart, doing the best you can, won’t do. Hope if it is to be hope needs some foundation. Some reason to consider it to be a viable possibility.

This is where the Bible and the story of advent is so pertinent. First and foremost, advent is about God’s action in human history, action that provides hope. But to know it, to understand it, you have to know and understand God and human history… Otherwise it becomes a sentimental season with no real meaning to life.

Advent reminds us that:

1. There is another side to our story. That this is not all there is. Indeed, Christmas as a stand alone message divorced from its back story makes no sense… Christmas reminds us that there is more to this world than meets the eye. It is more than a material world, it is also a spiritual world. It is not just a natural world, but a supernatural one. We encounter angels, God speaking in dramatic ways, a virgin birth.

2. It reminds us that there is a God, a God who is holy, sovereign and just, a God who is love and has been from all eternity, a holy happy community of being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… who is the originator of the human story, and that in spite of our sin and rebellion and the mess we’ve made of it, it is still His-story. That this world is not an accident, neither are you and I.  It reminds us that there is a God who is very much committed to his creation. A God who is love, holy, sovereign and just. There’s hope right there! A God whose got the whole world in his hands!

3. It also reminds us that everything is not as it should be, or was intended to be, that we live in a broken world. The background to our reading in Isaiah is just such a reminder. Sounds a lot like our news outlets today… It’s a reminder that “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” . All. That we are all culpable. It’s easy to point the finger at another, but we have to take an honest look at ourselves. Only then can we look for true hope. As Fleming Rutledge says, “(H)ope is a very meager concept if it is not measured against the malevolence and godlessness of the forces that assail the creation and its creatures every day in “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).” (Advent).

4. It reminds us that there is every reason for HOPE. Advent is primarily about God’s action in human history, not yours or mine, or anybody else’s. That the God who created us in his image and for a relationship with himself is not going to let the world go to pot. That God is for us. That he is an interventionist God. Hallelujah!

In the Advent reading from Isaiah 2:1-5, GOD SPEAKS and gives Isaiah a powerful vision of what he intends for the world – a day when all people will recognise and worship the one true God, will learn of him and walk in his ways. A time of unprecedented unity and peace, when war will be no more and swords will be turned into ploughs and spears into pruning knives and there will be no more training for war – V4 is inscribed on a wall outside the United Nations. It was the inspiration of its founders.

That’s some vision! A vision of the reign of God transforming existing conditions and ushering in peace and unity that is beyond the scope and reach of the politics and powers of this present fallen world – that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work towards it.

Later on in his prophetic ministry, Isaiah will go on to speak of something that would happen before that day. He spoke of the promise of a MESSIAH/SAVIOUR who would be born of a virgin and go on to suffer and die for us before he comes in glory.

Today we celebrate the fact that God has come in Jesus – the Word; that in Jesus he has spoken to us, unmistakeably.

From the beginning God has had a plan, and no amount of rebellion on our part is going to stop it. This is the true source of hope. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, embarked on the biggest rescue mission in human history. Jesus has done what needed to be done for our salvation.

Is that the end of the story? No, at the very end God speaks to Isaiah about a new heaven and earth and how all humanity will worship him.

As surely as the first coming took place so will the second!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Rom 15:13 NKJV