December 12, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9.6-7)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD during the Second Week of Advent 2024:

In Greek mythology, Atlas carries the earth on his shoulders. It is a thought-provoking image. But then again, it is mythology and has no basis in reality. On the other hand, we know there was a man called Jesus of Nazareth whom many called the Christ of God who carried His own cross to the top of Golgotha’s hill. He bore the weight of the governance of Israel in collaboration with that of the Roman Empire who believed they were the whole world. They knew otherwise, both Israel and Rome, but they allowed the lie to be their truth. If “Atlas” could bear the weight of the planet, then we can say “Jesus” bore the weight of all life on it from the past to the future. The true weight of all life is the concern for the quality of that life and the legacy which is created by it for future generations. The burden of life is death. As we look around the world today, we will find many who are struggling under such a burden because of war, poverty, ignorance and natural disaster. It is a tremendous burden. Is that physical burden, however, the greatest of life’s burdens? If we abide by those concerns alone are we free from the burden of sin which is eternal death and dying? Isn’t the greatest burden of all that wrangling with the spiritual reality of life and death? Not having a resolution to that question, which we all will face, leads to being overwhelmed by the weight of the world, as a people, as it eclipses the weight of the earth, as a planet. In fact, while science allows us to measure the weight of the planet, it continues to prove ineffective with lifting the burden of the people who inhabit it. Yes, that seems to be the intent of science. Science is used as a tool to lift the physical burdens of the people with the silent belief that having done so, then there will be peace on earth.

It will never happen. The only possible means of peace on earth comes within the spiritual realm. Perhaps this is the intent of those mythological beings and their contemporary superheroes. In that battle of “good versus evil,” the thrust of their presentation is that peace will come when the “bad guys” are defeated. Let’s be honest about gods, goddesses and superheroes, shall we. Let’s take a cue from the Old West gunslingers who knew they were the fastest gun until a faster gun would come along. In other words, peace by defeating an evil god, goddess or superhero will last until another evil god, goddess or superhero comes along. By the way, gods and goddesses and superheroes may present themselves as coming from another “dimension” but they do not abide within the spiritual realm. The spiritual realm exists in that place where the very essence of God exists. We have been reminded on occasion David profession that God does not know a place where He does not exist. Well, at least David does not know a place where God does not exist. (Psalm 139) But that spiritual realm cannot be defined by time and space or any other dimension as we know it. It escapes us. Even the grasp of science cannot lay hold of it or “get around it.” Scientists now conject that they are merely seeing an event horizon peering back to what they say is the moment of the “Big Bang.” That would say to me they know there is something more, but they cannot see it nor define it. God is that “something more.” Still, we have been given a glimpse of it in our own world and on this planet. That “something more” for our perspective on life is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the event horizon of the universe. He is the “way, truth and life” perspective which allows us to not only see God but exist peacefully in His presence. He is the author and perfecter of peace.

In reading the familiar description of the Messiah from the prophetic perspective given to Isaiah (9.6-7), we are told that He is “the Prince of Peace” and that His peace is “everlasting.” When we read the gospel remembrances of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth and the events leading up to it in those final twenty-four hours, there is a passage which stands out to me that epitomizes the “peace of the Prince of Peace.” That passage of scripture comes from Isaiah 53.7 ““He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.” We read this passage in the gospel rendering of Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading from Isaiah on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. Doubtless he had witnessed the event of Jesus’ crucifixion even if only by word of mouth. Perhaps it was that word which led him to read Isaiah with the hope of understanding all that had happened. He wanted to find peace in his soul, heart and mind about that whole ordeal. Even Philip’s arrival in that place and time was the result of being “at peace” with God in the world on earth. In obedience Philip served the leading of the Spirit so that the gospel could be known by the Ethiopian. This is where our true peace comes from. It comes from the testimony and witness of Jesus who lived without contradiction. He was in the world but not of it. He was in the Kingdom of God on earth as it was in Heaven. He was the horizon over which the truth of the matter is fully known and fully revealed. On this side of the horizon, we are given the signs and measures of it so that we will know it when we see it. It comes like a baby dependent on its parents for survival and provision on a daily basis. It comes like a child who under the banner of love is allowed to experience the span of life from good to bad and learn from it. It comes like a man who puts away childish things and focuses intently on “what love is this.”

We are again standing on that horizon in the land of Advent. The coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace draws near again. We have through the years climbed up the peak of faith, hope and love with the intent of finally seeing beyond the horizon. We have found only a new horizon in this world we have not seen before. It is a journey of preparation with the fervency of being ready. This is, for me, what faith must truly be like. Are we ready to receive what we have been preparing for all the days of our lives? Are we preparing others to receive it as well when that “event horizon” is finally before us? Will we complain and despair or will we be like “a sheep before its shearers and utter not a sound.” Will we be speechless like the shepherds before the angel chorus which appeared around them on the day when Jesus was born? Will we break into a chorus of praise as Heaven and earth are blended into one knowing our salvation has been made complete? This is the Christmas story being revealed to us by God through Isaiah. Let us follow its lead and heed its word.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.