Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
We know how the story goes: Unmarried pregnant teenager; no room at the inn; baby born in a manger; Emmanuel, God-with-us. It’s so familiar — prompting one little boy to ask his pastor with that blunt, no-holds-barred, child-like honesty: “Do we have to hear that same story again?“
Over-familiarity is challenging for preachers, too, an occupational hazard for those whose job is to listen to ancient texts and proclaim a fresh message from God. It takes commitment. But it also takes courage. Presbyterian pastor James Lowry warns: “Any preacher who can sleep soundly on Saturday nights. … Any preacher who has no form of gastrointestinal distress on Sunday mornings” — or on Christmas Eve! — “has not dealt with the texts … and is not to be heeded.”
In Isaiah 9 we dive headlong into the messy world of politics in the 8th century before Christ. Amid talk of governments, warfare, and the economy, verse one establishes the current political situation: Assyria, the reigning superpower, has invaded Israel. The New International Version describes how the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali have been “humbled,” a sanitized way of saying “wiped out.” They are occupied territories.
Sound familiar? Sure, the names and places have changed … well, sort of. Today there is warfare in Iraq, and violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East spirals out of control. Throw in massacres and starvation in Sudan, and electoral upheaval across the globe, not to mention deep ideological divisions right here at home, and it’s the familiar messy world of politics all over again.
But Isaiah assures God’s people the chaos won’t last forever. God is Sovereign, and will intervene. God is determined to reign: “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!” So far, so good. This will preach.
But what if by promising to establish God’s Kingdom right here on earth the prophet is challenging the seduction of a superpower’s imagined autonomous power?
What if this means God is not limited by any one nation’s agenda … including our own?
Do we have the courage to say it?
At a Christmas Eve candlelight service?
Especially when the sentiments that “faith and politics don’t mix” or “the pulpit is no place for politics” seem to be running at an all time high?
Religion and politics don’t mix — and we get a text like this?
The pulpit is no place for politics? Just try and tell Isaiah that!
It might be helpful to remember that we Presbyterians are the theological descendants of a religious tradition that mixed faith and politics early on. During the 16th century Reformation, when John Calvin was getting the church going in Geneva, Switzerland, he made the city council and the church Session the same people. Presbyterian pastor P. C. Enniss notes that under Calvin’s leadership the Session passed laws for everything from requiring railings on balconies to protect children, to regulating weights and measures in the butcher shop, as well as providing for the wellbeing of the poor! Because the city council and the church Session were the same people.
Not that we should argue for that kind of theocracy today. Our pastors and elders already have their hands full, and besides, nominating committees across the land would revolt! Still, the question remains: Do we as American Christians have the courage to say that we must balance our loyalties as citizens of a particular historical nation with our ultimate citizenship in the kingdom of God, which crosses all political boundaries, which is international and multi-cultural? Do we have the courage to say that a Christian’s loyalty belongs to no single nation or political party?
When someone says faith and politics don’t mix, what they usually mean is that “your religion does not mix with my politics.” Faith and politics do mix; we just can’t agree how they mix. So now what? One option is to go find people or a pulpit that agree with you … although good luck finding a perfect fit. Or, we can continue to hang in there and with a deep sense of humility grapple together — left and right; Republican and Democrat; management and labor; conservative and liberal; rich and poor — with what it means to live under the Sovereignty of God, in obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Dale Bruner explains, “Every Old Testament text has its partial ‘fillment’ in its immediate historical context. …” The ‘fillment’ of Isaiah 9 occurred in the 8th century at the end of the Babylonian exile. After Assyria destroyed the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, the political landscape changed again for God’s people under King Hezekiah when, “The yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor” were destroyed. All the accoutrements of war, including the soldiers’ bloody boots and uniforms, were decommissioned. Under Hezekiah’s reign, freedom, joy, and peace prevailed. Well, for a time, at least.
The full-fillment of this passage did not happen for another 700-800 years, when Caesar Augustus ruled. God’s sovereignty was established not through military force this time, but through vulnerability. Imagine: God reigning in power through the weakest of creatures, a human being, “the only mammal on earth that cannot care for [itself] upon birth” (Verity Jones). No wonder it was not obvious to all.
The independent film, Whale Rider, is about a remote tribe on the coastland of New Zealand that is waiting for a new leader to emerge for its floundering people. Little do they know that there is a leader right there in their midst who has been endowed with powers from on high. And the reason they don’t know it is because it is a little girl. It’s just not what they expected. Only when they finally see a sign of her power and her special calling do they finally look to her to lead them.
We all need eyes to see, and the courage say: In Jesus Christ God comes to reign with justice and righteousness, and “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end!”
Heidi Husted Armstrong recently completed a term of service as Christian Impact Director at World Vision US, after serving as pastor/head of staff for ten years at Columbia Church in Vancouver, Wash.
