Thirsty for Justice; Desiring repentance (Sermon on Isaiah 11:1 - 10)

 

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

 2  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 3  And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

     He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

 4  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips she shall kill the wicked.

 5  Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 6  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

 7  The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

 8  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

 9  They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

At least there was once in our lives where we faced such injustice, cascaded effects from the injustice done by our government, institution, family or even our elders. In the recent weeks when the whole nation was on edge over political instability, when the whole world anxious over which of their favorite teams qualified to the Round 16 of FIFA World Cup, a little injustice could literally push people of the edge and riot could break out - for example, in Brussel after the elimination of Belgium's team from World Cup. Such is the reality, in which we human desire justice although most of the time our justice would be in the expense of others' justice. Faced such situation, almost immediately we would cry a well-deserving justification.

The people of Israel (those who were not part of the large communities who were sinning against the LORD) crying out justification when, because of the transgressions of their forefathers, they are the one who suffered the immediate consequences of the sin. Israel defeated by Asiria while Judah defeated and deported out to Babylon for hundred of years until their return under the Persian Empire. The reality is this, all the injustice, unrighteousness, evil or to put it plainly; sin were all caused by the need to satisfy one's desire no matter what the cost. When ends justify the means (in this case, the end is personal gratification) evil prevail, and society suffered. In other word, you really cannot spell SIN without an "I". "I need this," "I want this" "I am right" the "I-centric" way of living will drive the society into adulterous, idol-worshipping, and God-rejecting society (in this case, nation).

The irony here, the people that falls into this destructive pattern is none other than the people of God; God's chosen people whom He called to be the kingdom of priest, the holy nation (Exodus 19:5 - 6). If only they were to obey God as God has instructed them, the suffering they suffered would not befall upon them. A clear reality presented by Isaiah to the people of Judah here was the fact that it was sin (their rebellion against God's rules and reign) that drives them away from the land, ultimately separate them from the Lord Himself. 

Now, here's the good news. The long-overdue justification slash salvation for the people of God who choose God over continuous adulterous lifestyle (Isaiah 11:1 - 10). What makes this promise of God so significant are the situation when it was spoken and the conditions of the people whom the promise intended to (notice that the promise is singular because the salvation of God is the ultimate and only promise intended for His people). Just as they were appalled by the cultural humiliation brought to them by the Babylonian (Psalm 137 - showed us the angst and the humiliation faced by the people, especially when they were asked to sing the songs of praises to the LORD to entertain the Babylonian),  at times, we will face degrading humiliation of which will drives us to call out to the LORD for the salvation. In Isaiah 11, the LORD assured the people that it is coming soon; begins with putting things right in the government. 

The word of prophecy begins with the rightful place of Judah as the reigning tribe put back in its place (verse 1). Here God acknowledge that the day of the kingdom of Judah is over, but not to dwindle in sadness over the destruction of monarchy, they were given the hope that Judah will reign again. Not any Judah-born king, but the one who is born of Jesse, of David - a king who will after God's heart and please to follow God (verses 2 - 3). Unlike the kings who came after Him who desire nothing but political leverage, economical flourishment, and their own well being in the expense of the specific identity of the nation sold for idolatry, this Davidic king will be the one and only king Who will preserve God's laws and those who falls under His reign will experience the kind of peace that this world could never get to offer (verses 6 - 9).

However, in order to get to that amazing vision of peace, one is required to make a choice. A choice which will change our whole being. A choice which will change our allegiance since this amazing king is to reign. The series of prophesies on the return of the exiled to the land which spans from chapter 2 to 12 reminded the people of Judah (and Israel alike) of the predicaments faced serve only one purpose; for the people to turn their back on sin and rightfully putting God in His place as the king of the nations. Ironically, even until the time of Jesus the "returned" never actually turned their hearts. To that end, John the Baptist rebuking them for their pretentious in reducing the salvation to merely rituals (Matthew 3:7 - 10). Modern day churches has been successful in making the same mistake. The lack of proper discipleship (in which it supposed to induce repentance to the heart of sinner) causes the people only viewing baptism as a rite to become a Christian but loses its meaning to bring true repentance and a change of heart. 

The coming of Jesus Christ as the true King from Davidic kingdom will be a testament of Judgement rather than a mediocre proclamation of peace (Isaiah 11:10 - 11; Matthew 3:12). His righteous people will gather and raise their banner to win against the evil; in other words, the people of God will intentionally fighting the evil of present days. Not compromising with the evil. When the world shouting foul over not fighting for the same-sex marriages, the church should be the active voice to fight against that agenda. We should be clear of one thing about Jesus' ministry; He came to save the sinners, not to allow sin prevail. We are to hate the sin, but not the sinners. When the normal practice of the world is to offer bribes or even normalizing evil practices, the church must stand firm and be vocal in rejecting it! The question is, how do we know exactly what to reject or perhaps, on what we base our rejection of the evil practices of the modern day society? Paul in many of his letters mentioned the centrality of the Scripture to be the basis of our decision making.

In Rome 15:4 (one of today's reading) shed light on the function of Scriptures to our decision making. He says that the Scripture was written to teach us (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). To teach us of what? To teach us to have hope; hope that in sustaining our faith and walk in holiness with God means greater things than to compromise our salvation for the goods of the world. The reality of that peaceful reign and lifestyle as prophesized in Isaiah 11:6 - 9 could only be a reality when we put Christ as the King of our lives - disregarding the constant God-rejecting views of the world. And the only mean for us to acknowledge Christ as the King is to truly know Him and accept Him in our lives just as God has revealed to us about Him in the Scriptures. In other word, we believe in Christ of the Bible not the romanticize Christ of the Hollywood! And when in doubt whether we could sustain our faith, the Holy Spirit that is in us will teach us the wisdom needed for us to delight, to know, and to obey Christ as revealed in the Scripture. Perhaps, that is what Paul meant when he said that God being the source of patience and encouragement could enable us to see Christ as who He truly is (Romans 15:5 - 6) so we all can come together praising His victory over sin and death - the true King of Peace.

So, friends, look ahead to that finishing line, set our mind on things above, and put Christ as the true King of our lives for the glory of God. Amen.