The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
It is now the second week of Advent, the time when we remember the first coming of Christ to the people of Israel and the time when we prepare the best we can for his second coming, when he will come as judge of each one of us and ruler of the world, sometime in the future. Today's Bible readings give us much to think about and much to do.
The prophecy that Isaiah received from God and passed on to the people, including us, is one of both hope and warning. God's people are in danger as Isaiah listens to God. The army of Assyria is ready to invade Israel. There will be widespread destruction, and God's people will be carried away into slavery in a foreign land. But, in the face of all this, there is still hope. From the family of Jesse, the father of King David, sometime in the future, God promises that he will send someone who can bring to life again the nation of Israel, and it will be better than before. In the past, the kings and the other leaders have been corrupt and the judges have not been just. The "shoot of Jesse," the person descended from Jesse and King David, will bring about a time of justice, peace and righteousness.
The destruction and war could have been avoided if only the people had made the nation of Israel one of justice, honest government and peace. But, people are people, and people then were not much different from people now. Greed was a stronger ruler of the people than religion was. Greed for money or power or fame led the governments then, just as the governments now, to do terrible things: invade other countries, kill peaceable citizens as well as enemy soldiers, make court decisions favoring the rich folks who could pay off the judges with better jobs or larger salaries or fancy vacation trips or outright bribes, and ignore the needs of the poor and helpless because everyone was "looking out for Number One." I am sure you will recognize these same things in many countries in the world today.
The way to change this is the same way that God had taught the Jewish people long ago: obey God's laws, look out for and help those who have less than you do and who cannot help themselves, be completely honest in your dealings and require your government to be honest and just, too. That's the way to bring God's Kingdom to earth. That's the way to bring peace to earth so that nobody needs to be afraid and nobody needs to want to make war on their neighbors any more. It's simple, maybe TOO simple for us folks who like to deal with complex things and prove to ourselves how smart and strong we are. Of course we are not fooling other people, and certainly we are not fooling God...only ourselves.
The "shoot of the root of Jesse" whom Isaiah talks about is, of course, Jesus, the Christ. That word Christ isn't part of his name. Christ is from the Greek word that means the anointed one or the chosen one. The Hebrew word for Christ is Messiah, meaning the one God chose and sends . Either way, it means Jesus.
And why did God send Jesus, his son, here to earth? The psalm we used today has some of the answers. Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the King's son...that he may rule your people righteously, and the poor with justice...defend the needy among the people...rescue the poor and crush the oppressor. In his time shall the righteous flourish....may all the earth be filled with the Lord's glory.
Jesus, by his life and teachings, showed up the corruptness and greed and selfishness of the government. He showed the fact that the Roman governor, Pilate, wanted to please the leaders of the Jewish people more than he wanted to give a fair decision in a trial. He showed that the leaders of the Jewish people were not concerned with the hungry, the poor, the sick or handicapped or oppressed. He pointed out that the Pharisees were failing God because they were more concerned with "looking good and powerful" than they were about "taking care of God's people." He taught people to return to the basic meaning of God's law: love God first, and obey him in everything; take care of people who need help and cannot take care of themselves; work, pray and give to make the world a better place and make God known to all people. John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, made all this clear as he waited for the coming of the Christ. At the time he spoke, he had no idea it would be his cousin, Jesus! But he had no doubts at all that the Messiah was coming, as promised, and coming to put things right again in the name of God.
So: we, like the Jewish people of Isaiah's day and the people of Israel of Jesus' time, have our orders, straight from God:
First, we need to clean up our own act and make fairness, honesty and justice the framework of our lives. We need to be compassionate. That means we need to understand and feel the suffering of others and do something about it.
Second, we need to demand the same of our government. We need to watch how our elected officers behave, from the President on down to our village council. We have to make it clear that we will not vote for people who use their power for their own gain or for their friends' purposes. Instead, we need to vote for honest officers, just and honest judges, people who work to care for the poor, the minority groups, the handicapped, the folks who need help for various reasons. We need to write letters to the papers and go to town meetings to make this clear: if you work for justice and peace and honest government, I will vote for you. If you go along with big business at the expense of the poor, or support discrimination, or give the rich what they want while making trouble for the poor, I will not vote for you, and I will do all I can to convince others not to vote for you. One reason that the founders of America made education compulsory is so that the people could read the papers, read books, and be able to understand what the government was doing, and be sure that the government did right.
Third, we need to find something we can do to help those who need help. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, or deliver Meals on Wheels. Work with teenage parents or with handicapped kids or adults, or with the elderly. Sign up with the Red Cross to be a disaster helper. Visit the sick or become a jail missionary. Give people without cars rides to church or the doctor or the drug store. Be a foster grandparent or even a foster parent. There are many things we all can do to bring God's kingdom to earth and follow his command to help others in his name. Clearly, God never meant religion to be a private affair. It is supposed to be a force for the public good, as well as a way to grow in holiness ourselves. We are to put on Christ, behave as Christ behaved.
We are now in the second week of the new Church year. Have you made your religious New Year resolution yet? Time's a-wasting...think about it and decide how you will help bring justice and peace onto this corrupt, dreary earth! And remember to pray: Thy kingdom come, O Lord, and thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
