Stream services online at www.sjlc.com/live

December 9, 2007

A little child shall lead them

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Category: Biblical

Second Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10

"A Little Child Shall Lead Them"

One of the dangers of growing up is that we lose our ability to dream and see beyond the boundaries of reality. All too soon we lose our youthful ideals, our childlike hopefulness about the world. We become locked into what can and cannot be; what is and what is not. And so, we lock ourselves into predictable, comfortable, and deadly routines where everything can be neatly filed away, and the awesome mystery and wonder of life itself is organized into manila folders. Not so with children! They have an innate sense of this mystery and wonder of life. They are not bound by what their eyes see; they are able to look beyond to greater possibilities and larger potential - things that we adults often dismiss out-of-hand as being unrealistic and impossible. Is it any wonder, then, that God's vision for his new world is to be led not by an adult, but a child, as he tells us: "And a little child shall lead them?" (Isaiah 11:6). Advent challenges our notions of what can and cannot be. Advent calls us to a reality beyond our present, rigid and inflexible notions of what is reality. Advent speaks to us of the new thing which God is doing in the world. Do we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear this? Do we have the child-like ability to see and comprehend God's vision for his creation? May the Lord bless the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word, for Jesus' sake.

Isaiah's vision of God's future is a description of life as it will be when all is made new. The image of animals living together in peace describes the effect of that shoot coming forth from the stump of Jesse, and his righteous judgment. It's no longer, "Lions and tigers and bears; oh, my!" but "Lions and tigers and bears; oh, wow!" The weak are symbolized by the domesticated animals: the lamb, the calf, and the cow, and the strong are symbolized by the wild animals: the wolf, leopard, lion, and bear. The effect of God's righteous judgment is that the weak no longer need to fear the strong. This peace is accomplished by the mighty becoming like the lowly, rather than the other way around. The end time will be very much like the beginning. Life as it was intended by God to be in Eden is recovered. In fact, it's new and improved! This time, even the serpents will be harmless: "The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den" (Isaiah 11:8). All of this will happen only when, and not until, the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord (Isaiah 11:9). So for now, for the time being, the spreading of that knowledge remains our primary task. And if ever there were a time when people are in need of the knowledge of the Lord, it is now. You and I are called to be part of spreading this knowledge. How? Invite that person who's been on your heart and mind to come with you to Prayer Around the Cross during Advent, or worship services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Be in prayer about this, that the Holy Spirit would provide the right opportunity, putting the right words into your mouth. Special materials to give to others have been prepared and are available for your from the ushers. How will they know unless we tell them? How will they come unless we invite them?

Only children can enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is very clear about this: "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:2-3). God says, " I don't want adults. In my kingdom I want only children: young, expectant, eager children with five-year-old eyes, old bent-over children, grown-up children, and little children; only children." Last weekend, I, along with more than a dozen members of our congregation, attended a workshop led by Dr. John DeVries, author of Why Pray? and founder of Mission India. The focus of the workshop revolved around the experience of children in Mission India's Children's Bible Clubs, and their four experiences of prayer: love, joy, hope, and power. It was an incredibly powerful and moving presentation! I am firmly convinced that God is calling us here to follow his lead of what he is doing in India: using children as evangelists to bring other children and their families to faith in Christ Jesus. It's exciting, and holds enormous possibilities to completely transform our mission. For the better part of a year, since my trip to India last January, I have been meeting with a few people from Prince of Peace in Springfield on an almost weekly basis to pray, listen, and discern God's direction here. God truly is preparing us for something big through something small - the children.

You may be thinking to yourself: "That's all very nice, but none of this is ever going to happen." We look at the world, and conclude that the way it's always been is the way it's always going to be. Greed, corruption, violence are all we can see. Perhaps in our adult minds we have become so dulled to the way things are that God's dream, God's vision, for the world and for us has died inside us. But God is able to raise the dead! Into this broken and chaotic world comes a Child, that Child of whom John the Baptist spoke: "... one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11). This Child whom prophets like Isaiah and John foretold is the One who is, who was, and who is to come. He is Jesus, the promised Messiah. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He is God-with-us in this world where we do not yet see the kingdom of God fully revealed, where we see the strong exploiting the weak, where we see greed, corruption, and violence. Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He is also God-for-us. This is the good news of his coming into our world. He came into our world to break the power of all that is opposed to God - what Scripture calls sin. Through his atoning blood shed upon the cross, he has accomplished this and more, opening our eyes to that new kingdom already here among us now - not yet fully revealed, but here among us. And it all begins with a Child! May God help us to become like children! Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.