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Morning Devotion for the Season of Advent

December 19, 2022

Invitatory

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Isaiah 11:1-6

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.

Meditation – Peter Vanderveen

I once had the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. It required no small amount of training – logging many miles through the dark and cold of winter. And I distinctly remember being dropped off in Hopkinton on race day, 26 miles west of Boston, and realizing then that – somehow – I’d have to cross that entire distance in order to meet up again with my family waiting at Copley Square. The question of somehow – in what manner and in what condition I’d finish – haunted me throughout the whole of the race. I kept wondering where and when I’d hit a wall or develop a blister or have some muscles seize in cramps. I never felt secure until I turned onto Boylston Street with a half mile to go, amid the cheers of thousands of spectators.

Remarkably, when I finished, all the stress of the training and all the anxiety of the marathon itself instantly fell away. All I had in mind was the exhilaration of completing the race, medal in hand. For now I had a place in Boston Marathon history; and immediately I began imagining the thrill of finishing again – with nary a thought about the massive work of preparation and performance. These didn’t matter.

Of course, I couldn’t have been more wrong; but I was basking in the reward.

What’s most notable in the text appointed for today from Isaiah – what’s most remembered and celebrated – is its concluding vision of the Peaceable Kingdom: “the wolf shall live with the lamb.” It’s a magnificent culmination. Everything will work out. Every conflict will cease. The strong will no longer prey on the weak. A perfect harmony will reign. It’s a message of such promise that it easily overwhelms the verses before it. Do you remember what Isaiah said or how this finishing redemption would come to be? It’s a daunting path, full of challenge and unexpected twists that are of great importance and that can’t be forgotten amid the excitement of the establishment of a world reset in total peace.

What does it mean, for instance, that God’s Messiah “shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear?” Doesn’t the very essence of true judgment depend on such empirical evidence and proof of what is actually the case? And yet, Isaiah states that “righteousness” is a higher standard that might well decide God’s judgment in a wholly different way. What are we to make of this?

Isaiah also declares that this Messiah will “kill the wicked.” This may seem perfectly in line with justice: an eye for an eye; people will be judged according to what they deserve. But how does this fit with the vision of the Peaceable Kingdom? Isn’t the desire for this vengeance exactly what is overcome there? Why, then, does Isaiah mention it?

And why does Isaiah say that it is the “breath of [the Messiah’s] lips” that will accomplish this killing? It may be that Isaiah is stating something far different than we’d generally assume. For the “breath of God” is almost always characterized as a vivifying force. It creates life where, before, there was none. If so, then, perhaps, Isaiah is claiming that it is wickedness that kills and that God’s Messiah will dispose of wickedness by breathing new life into those who were formerly the very ones dealing in death. Which would make for a very different kind of peace. Which would upend the very judgment we tend to want and demand.

Simply basking in the reward of Isaiah’s vision means little – or is horribly misconstrued – if we don’t take account of what is redeemed and how. In retrospect, the satisfaction of completing a marathon comes from knowing well all that it takes to get there. Isaiah notes that the same is true of faith.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

         on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

         who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.