The Promise Containing All Promises
Sermon
Between Gloom and Glory
First Lesson Sermons For Advent/Christmas/Epiphany
"The Lord himself will give you a sign" is the way Isaiah begins his recitation of the promise containing all promises. Isaiah is talking to Ahaz. Ahaz is the king who is stuck in a political mess. It looks like Assyria is about to invade some of the countries neighboring Judah. Isaiah is recommending that the king refuse to sign on with these other countries and their armies and trust only in Yahweh, the Lord of all. Today's reading is a reminder of the promise of God to be with Ahaz and his people, no matter what happens, no matter who invades.
The promise of Emmanuel's presence is Isaiah's way of reminding Ahaz that God does not need warriors and chariots in order to protect God's people. Since the days of King Saul the prophets have been proclaiming this to the kings of Israel and later to the leaders and kings of Judah. Samuel, Nathan, and the rest want the leaders of God's chosen ones to remember that God's presence is more than enough to see them through any situation. Isaiah's words are an announcement to the king and to his people that salvation lies in their immediate future. This is not a promise that will be made real centuries later. It is one that has to do with their very lives today. This promise comes to them in the here and now, not the sweet by and by.
This is very interesting stuff to biblical scholars and teachers and even to a few preachers, but what does it have to do with Christmas? There is some tension in this question because the promise that is made in Isaiah is quoted in Matthew's Gospel. In Matthew, the birth of Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of the prophecy about a young woman and the child she is carrying in her womb. That, too, is something of a problem because, as we have just discussed, the words from Isaiah, written several centuries before Matthew's time, were delivered to a specific people at a specific time within the context of a specific situation.
We need to be honest about this tension and not walk too far away from it, but at the same time let us hear the text from the old prophet and see if there is anything in our specific place, time, and situation which can benefit from these ancient words and the promises they name. The words of the prophet may be able to speak to us, too, if we give them a chance to be heard again.
Before we go too far, though, we need to be honest about something else. There is no way we can hear these words and not be reminded of Emmanuel, the child born to Joseph and Mary, the promised Messiah. Although Isaiah is clearly writing about a different child, it is also clear that Matthew remembered this word and reinterpreted it within his own context. We need to find the place where these two stories meet, the place where they come together, even if only briefly, and see if there is something there for us to pay attention to.
The place where these two announcements intersect is this: the word of God delivered to Isaiah is the proclamation that God will keep God's promises. The promise of new hope and life that will come through the child born to Mary is one that is given to all people. God will keep this promise, too.
Isaiah sees hope in a pregnancy. Through the common, ordinary birth of a child (there are no virgin birth accounts in Isaiah. The one giving birth here is a young girl) God will intervene. Without doing anything spectacular or miraculous God will see to it that God's people are delivered from the danger that waits at their door step. And it will be done within the common everyday experience of a birth.
Come to think of it, there are some other similarities between these two announcements. To be sure, Matthew turns the birth into something miraculous. He apparently knows the Greek version of the Old Testament, because in that translation the Hebrew word for young girl becomes the Greek word for virgin. Matthew uses that rendition of the announcement to give Jesus' arrival some real pizzazz. Funny thing, though, this miraculous birth isn't mentioned by Paul or Jesus either. The real similarity between both of these birth announcements is the promise that a pregnancy carries the hope of the kingdom, the hope of God's kingdom.
Another similarity is the humble way it is announced. Isaiah is talking to King Ahaz, but the king doesn't want to hear it. It is spoken of quietly, without any fanfare. In the same way Joseph, the simple carpenter, is told of the birth and is given the command to care for Mary.
This birth announcement is a reminder that God's way of dealing with the world supersedes our own limited views and understandings. When God acts, the world is changed. The promise in Isaiah speaks to the fact that God is at work in a concrete world full of concrete problems like war, economic worries, and pollution. The fact that the promise comes to both kings and peasants is another reminder that God's word is for everyone. Did you notice that although Joseph wants to send Mary away quietly, he eventually does receive the word from God and does just what the angel commanded him to do? Ahaz on the other hand seems to be afraid to hear anything the Lord has to say! Robert Capon reminds us that "all the things hidden from the wise and understanding (that is from all the winners who ever lived) are revealed to babes -- to the last, the least, the lost, and the little -- in the ultimate littleness of God's Holy Child Jesus himself." 2
We want to put our trust in big things, big sport utility vehicles (when did they stop calling them trucks?) with big tires and big engines. We want to invest with big companies who can guarantee big earnings. We want big things because they feel safe. Big is better according to common wisdom, but the promise of the Bible is built around a God who needs nothing more than an ordinary baby to carry out the promises of Heaven.
The beauty of the promise of Christmas is found in the fact that we may not ask for a baby but this child will be more than enough to meet the needs of our world. The beauty of this promise containing all promises is found in the idea that we may not get what we want but we will always be given what we need. The promise to Joseph was not one of long life, easy living, and a country club home. He was guaranteed only one thing, the same thing that was promised to Ahaz by the prophet Isaiah: the child will be named Emmanuel and through his life the promise of God's presence among us will be revealed. Sometimes that is hard to believe. Sometimes that promise and that message seem overwhelmed by a world, and a church even, full of bad news and bad theology.
There is a story of a minister who almost quit because he was overwhelmed by the bad news theology of some churches. He almost gave up and went into something entirely different. He was depressed over the way the pulpit was used to accuse people of sin and failure, wickedness and pride. To him, the pulpit was a place where people should be set free. It was a place where the promise of God's presence should be declared over and over again. He didn't quit the ministry, but he did quit the pulpit. Now, he writes. He writes and people are moved. Millions buy his books the moment they are released. In his writings he reminds people that there is a force at work in the universe more powerful than our imaginations can dream. The promise of God's presence is clear throughout this man's writings. His name, by the way, is Robert Fulghum.
There is another minister I know of who has a unique piece of art work on display in the entryway to his home. It is unusual in that it is a painting of a Christmas scene. The canvas displays the door of a home which has been decorated with a Christmas wreath. There is snow gently falling. It is a lovely reminder of the peace of Christmas. A summer visitor to his home asked, "Did you forget to take this down after Christmas?" The minister replied, "No. We leave it up year round in the entryway here as a reminder that the promise of Christmas is not limited to one day or even one month. That painting is a simple reminder that God is present every day of the year."
Christmas invites us to join in the simple pleasure and joy of a child's birth, but it also calls us to live in the mystery of God's constant presence. One of the most important things we can do this season is remember the promise containing all promises. We don't need to look to the highest heaven to find a sign. If we bend low, down to the level of the manger, we will see all the mystery and power of God wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Of course, there is more to this than just bending low and staring. Receiving a baby into our lives means we need to rearrange the furniture, the refrigerator, and everything else that is around us. It means that nothing will be the same. It means that everything has been turned upside down. The promise of this baby in our lives is centered in the idea that unexpected things will happen.
Unlike Joseph, we probably won't have an angel visiting us in our dreams telling us exactly how to act, exactly where to go, and when to leave. We can only go on the promise that whatever we do, in the name of Jesus, God promises to be present to us.
There is a story from World War II that continues to speak to us today. During the Nazi blitz on London a home was hit by a bomb. Everyone got out safely except for the young son of the couple who lived there. The house was burning. It was imperative that the young child get out of the home and into the safety of the street. The father, who could see the little one outlined in the window called out for him to jump. "But I can't see you, Daddy. I am scared," the little boy cried. "It's okay, Son," Dad calls. "I can see you."
That is the promise of Christmas. That is the promise containing all promises, that even in the darkest moments of our lives, in moments when it seems as though the flames of hell are licking at our feet, God is there ready to carry us to safety and bring us carefully into the new life that is waiting for all of us. Frederick Buechner reminds us that "what keeps the wild hope of Christmas alive year after year in a world notorious for dashing all hopes is the haunting dream that the child who was born that day may yet be born again even in us and our snowbound, snow-blind longing for him." 3
Go ahead, move out into the darkness and let God lead you to safety. The baby coming in a few days is a reminder that God is already here. Go ahead. Remember, God is present in all that we do. It is a wild dream but this child may yet be born again, even in us.
____________
1. Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, Gene M. Tucker, Preaching the New Common Lectionary: Year A, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986), p. 48.
2. Robert Capon, Parables of Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 57.
3. Frederick Buechner, A Room Called Remember (Harper and Row, 1984), p. 65.
The promise of Emmanuel's presence is Isaiah's way of reminding Ahaz that God does not need warriors and chariots in order to protect God's people. Since the days of King Saul the prophets have been proclaiming this to the kings of Israel and later to the leaders and kings of Judah. Samuel, Nathan, and the rest want the leaders of God's chosen ones to remember that God's presence is more than enough to see them through any situation. Isaiah's words are an announcement to the king and to his people that salvation lies in their immediate future. This is not a promise that will be made real centuries later. It is one that has to do with their very lives today. This promise comes to them in the here and now, not the sweet by and by.
This is very interesting stuff to biblical scholars and teachers and even to a few preachers, but what does it have to do with Christmas? There is some tension in this question because the promise that is made in Isaiah is quoted in Matthew's Gospel. In Matthew, the birth of Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of the prophecy about a young woman and the child she is carrying in her womb. That, too, is something of a problem because, as we have just discussed, the words from Isaiah, written several centuries before Matthew's time, were delivered to a specific people at a specific time within the context of a specific situation.
We need to be honest about this tension and not walk too far away from it, but at the same time let us hear the text from the old prophet and see if there is anything in our specific place, time, and situation which can benefit from these ancient words and the promises they name. The words of the prophet may be able to speak to us, too, if we give them a chance to be heard again.
Before we go too far, though, we need to be honest about something else. There is no way we can hear these words and not be reminded of Emmanuel, the child born to Joseph and Mary, the promised Messiah. Although Isaiah is clearly writing about a different child, it is also clear that Matthew remembered this word and reinterpreted it within his own context. We need to find the place where these two stories meet, the place where they come together, even if only briefly, and see if there is something there for us to pay attention to.
The place where these two announcements intersect is this: the word of God delivered to Isaiah is the proclamation that God will keep God's promises. The promise of new hope and life that will come through the child born to Mary is one that is given to all people. God will keep this promise, too.
Isaiah sees hope in a pregnancy. Through the common, ordinary birth of a child (there are no virgin birth accounts in Isaiah. The one giving birth here is a young girl) God will intervene. Without doing anything spectacular or miraculous God will see to it that God's people are delivered from the danger that waits at their door step. And it will be done within the common everyday experience of a birth.
Come to think of it, there are some other similarities between these two announcements. To be sure, Matthew turns the birth into something miraculous. He apparently knows the Greek version of the Old Testament, because in that translation the Hebrew word for young girl becomes the Greek word for virgin. Matthew uses that rendition of the announcement to give Jesus' arrival some real pizzazz. Funny thing, though, this miraculous birth isn't mentioned by Paul or Jesus either. The real similarity between both of these birth announcements is the promise that a pregnancy carries the hope of the kingdom, the hope of God's kingdom.
Another similarity is the humble way it is announced. Isaiah is talking to King Ahaz, but the king doesn't want to hear it. It is spoken of quietly, without any fanfare. In the same way Joseph, the simple carpenter, is told of the birth and is given the command to care for Mary.
This birth announcement is a reminder that God's way of dealing with the world supersedes our own limited views and understandings. When God acts, the world is changed. The promise in Isaiah speaks to the fact that God is at work in a concrete world full of concrete problems like war, economic worries, and pollution. The fact that the promise comes to both kings and peasants is another reminder that God's word is for everyone. Did you notice that although Joseph wants to send Mary away quietly, he eventually does receive the word from God and does just what the angel commanded him to do? Ahaz on the other hand seems to be afraid to hear anything the Lord has to say! Robert Capon reminds us that "all the things hidden from the wise and understanding (that is from all the winners who ever lived) are revealed to babes -- to the last, the least, the lost, and the little -- in the ultimate littleness of God's Holy Child Jesus himself." 2
We want to put our trust in big things, big sport utility vehicles (when did they stop calling them trucks?) with big tires and big engines. We want to invest with big companies who can guarantee big earnings. We want big things because they feel safe. Big is better according to common wisdom, but the promise of the Bible is built around a God who needs nothing more than an ordinary baby to carry out the promises of Heaven.
The beauty of the promise of Christmas is found in the fact that we may not ask for a baby but this child will be more than enough to meet the needs of our world. The beauty of this promise containing all promises is found in the idea that we may not get what we want but we will always be given what we need. The promise to Joseph was not one of long life, easy living, and a country club home. He was guaranteed only one thing, the same thing that was promised to Ahaz by the prophet Isaiah: the child will be named Emmanuel and through his life the promise of God's presence among us will be revealed. Sometimes that is hard to believe. Sometimes that promise and that message seem overwhelmed by a world, and a church even, full of bad news and bad theology.
There is a story of a minister who almost quit because he was overwhelmed by the bad news theology of some churches. He almost gave up and went into something entirely different. He was depressed over the way the pulpit was used to accuse people of sin and failure, wickedness and pride. To him, the pulpit was a place where people should be set free. It was a place where the promise of God's presence should be declared over and over again. He didn't quit the ministry, but he did quit the pulpit. Now, he writes. He writes and people are moved. Millions buy his books the moment they are released. In his writings he reminds people that there is a force at work in the universe more powerful than our imaginations can dream. The promise of God's presence is clear throughout this man's writings. His name, by the way, is Robert Fulghum.
There is another minister I know of who has a unique piece of art work on display in the entryway to his home. It is unusual in that it is a painting of a Christmas scene. The canvas displays the door of a home which has been decorated with a Christmas wreath. There is snow gently falling. It is a lovely reminder of the peace of Christmas. A summer visitor to his home asked, "Did you forget to take this down after Christmas?" The minister replied, "No. We leave it up year round in the entryway here as a reminder that the promise of Christmas is not limited to one day or even one month. That painting is a simple reminder that God is present every day of the year."
Christmas invites us to join in the simple pleasure and joy of a child's birth, but it also calls us to live in the mystery of God's constant presence. One of the most important things we can do this season is remember the promise containing all promises. We don't need to look to the highest heaven to find a sign. If we bend low, down to the level of the manger, we will see all the mystery and power of God wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Of course, there is more to this than just bending low and staring. Receiving a baby into our lives means we need to rearrange the furniture, the refrigerator, and everything else that is around us. It means that nothing will be the same. It means that everything has been turned upside down. The promise of this baby in our lives is centered in the idea that unexpected things will happen.
Unlike Joseph, we probably won't have an angel visiting us in our dreams telling us exactly how to act, exactly where to go, and when to leave. We can only go on the promise that whatever we do, in the name of Jesus, God promises to be present to us.
There is a story from World War II that continues to speak to us today. During the Nazi blitz on London a home was hit by a bomb. Everyone got out safely except for the young son of the couple who lived there. The house was burning. It was imperative that the young child get out of the home and into the safety of the street. The father, who could see the little one outlined in the window called out for him to jump. "But I can't see you, Daddy. I am scared," the little boy cried. "It's okay, Son," Dad calls. "I can see you."
That is the promise of Christmas. That is the promise containing all promises, that even in the darkest moments of our lives, in moments when it seems as though the flames of hell are licking at our feet, God is there ready to carry us to safety and bring us carefully into the new life that is waiting for all of us. Frederick Buechner reminds us that "what keeps the wild hope of Christmas alive year after year in a world notorious for dashing all hopes is the haunting dream that the child who was born that day may yet be born again even in us and our snowbound, snow-blind longing for him." 3
Go ahead, move out into the darkness and let God lead you to safety. The baby coming in a few days is a reminder that God is already here. Go ahead. Remember, God is present in all that we do. It is a wild dream but this child may yet be born again, even in us.
____________
1. Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, Gene M. Tucker, Preaching the New Common Lectionary: Year A, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986), p. 48.
2. Robert Capon, Parables of Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 57.
3. Frederick Buechner, A Room Called Remember (Harper and Row, 1984), p. 65.
