Something Special is Coming
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1 This is what Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it.
3 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God so that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in God’s paths.” Instruction will come from Zion; the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
4 God will judge between the nations, and settle disputes of mighty nations. Then they will beat their swords into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.
5 Come, house of Jacob, let’s walk by the Lord’s light.
Something Special is Coming
Something Special is Coming
In the musical Westside Story, the character Tony sings:
Could be, who knows?
There's somethin' due any day
I will know right away, soon as it shows
It may come cannonballin' down through the sky
Gleam in its eye, bright as a rose
Who knows? It's only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach, under a tree
I got a feelin' there's a miracle due
Gonna come true, comin' to me
Could it be? Yes, it could
Somethin's comin', somethin' good, if I can wait
Somethin's comin', I don't know what it is
But it is gonna be great [1]
Something special has come and is coming. Today is the first Sunday in Advent. We decorate with bright lights, pine branches, trees, and candles. They all symbolize the new life that has come through the light of the world, Jesus.
Christmas is coming. If we only think of Christmas as a day of giving and receiving gifts, we miss the point. We give gifts on Christmas as a reminder of the greatest gift ever given when Jesus was born in that little town of Bethlehem.
These verses that compose our text today are a message of hope. They look forwarded to the day when hope will be revealed for all the world to see.
On that first Christmas, there were angels and shepherds, a star and sheep, Magi and gifts. Within the first two years of his life there was a king who wanted him dead. There was a rapid trip to Egypt until the king died.
There was a time when he was 12 years old and he was teaching the priests and scribes in the Temple.
He offered hope to the blind, the crippled, the leprous. He raised people from the dead. He feed the hungry and he taught the crowds.
He was despised and rejected, beaten and crucified. He was declared dead and was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Three days late he rose from the dead. He appeared to his disciples and said to them “Peace be with you.”
He ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit descended and filled those first disciples with power to preach this hope filled message that there is a God who loves you so much that He came so that we might have life.
What does that mean for us today?
One pastor told this story:
A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas drama. Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters. Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play.
After much anticipation, the big night finally came. The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this Christmas drama. One by one the children took their places. The shepherds fidgeted in one corner of the stage. Mary and Joseph stood solemnly behind the manger. In the back three young wise men waited impatiently. Meanwhile, Jana sat quietly and confidently.
Then the teacher began: “A long time ago, Mary and Joseph had a baby and they named Him Jesus. And when Jesus was born, a bright star appeared over the stable.”
This was Jana’s cue. She got up from her chair, picked up a large tin-foil star, walked behind Mary and Joseph and held the star up high for everyone to see.
When the teacher told about the shepherds coming to see the baby, the three young shepherds came forward and Jana jiggled the star up and down excitedly to show them where to come.
When the wise men responded to their cue, Jana went forward a little to meet them and to lead the way, her face as alight as the real star might have been.
The play ended. They had refreshments. On the way home, even though she only had a nonspeaking role, Jana said to her Mother, with great satisfaction, “I had the main part!”
“You did?” Her mother asked, wondering why she thought that.
“Yes,” she said, “because I showed everybody how to find Jesus!” [2]
She sure understood her role. That is our role as a church, to show people how to find Jesus. To show them that something special that has come and is coming.
2 In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it.
Mount Moriah is the highest mountain in Jerusalem. It is where Solomon built that first Temple. It is the place that Abraham went to when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. It is near hear the Jesus was crucified.
Mount Moriah is about 2,500 above sea level. Here in Boswell we are about 1,800 feet above sea level. Compare those to Pikes Peak at over 14,000 feet or Mount Everest at over 29,000 feet and it seems that Mount Moriah is pretty puny, but God says that it will be the highest of the mountains.
I’m not convinced that Isaiah is referring to the physical height of the mountain. I think he is referring to the Lord’s house, the Temple towering over all.
Isaiah prophesies Isaiah 2:2 “In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it.”
What have we seen about the Jews? For nearly 1,000 years of their history, we seem them follow God for a period and then they worship the idols of the gentile people around them. They repent and return to God and then they go back to worshipping idols.
The Jews adopted the false gods, but Isaiah says that one day the Gentiles would abandon those false gods and worship the God of Israel, of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac.
Isaiah writes that peoples will stream to the mountain of the Lord’s house. It would be easy to spiritualize this verse and apply it to the Church today.
An interested aside is the idea of the people stream up to the mountain. Can a stream run up hill?
God is at work drawing people to him. Advent is a season of hope that God is still at work in the world.
3 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God so that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in God’s paths.” Instruction will come from Zion; the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
This is a prophecy about something future coming. There is coming a kingdom of peace and righteousness.
The world today is not a kingdom of peace so Isaiah is looking to the future.
In this year alone there have been over 600 mass shooting incidents here in the US. 642 have been killed and 2560 injured by the reckless violence.
In 2021 there were 20 armed conflicts going on around the world with almost 169,000 people loosing their lives.
One day people will be streaming to God’s house and their will be peace and righteousness in the world.
Hope will be fulfilled in that day.
People need hope. People need to know that there is someone beyond them who loves them.
Our young people need hope. They are turning to alcohol and drugs to cure their problems. Suicide rates among teens is rising. They need hope.
It is normal for me to have 30 plus people on my caseload at work. Right now out of the 33 or 34 people on my caseload, 9 are teenagers. That is nearly 1/3rd of my patients are teenagers.
Some are really struggling with problems that teenagers shouldn’t have to struggle with. They turn to drugs and alcohol as a means to self-medicate. For them to be numb by some chemical is better than having to face what they face daily. It is heart breaking.
Isaiah 2:3 (CEB)
Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God
There is coming a time when people will be drawn to God and they will come voluntarily.
Remember back to the Day of Pentecost.
5 There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
It was then that Peter stood up and addressed the crowd. He preached about Jesus and he said t them. Acts 2:24 “24 God raised him up! God freed him from death’s dreadful grip, since it was impossible for death to hang on to him.”
Later he said Acts 2:32-33 “32 This Jesus God raised up. We are all witnesses to that fact. 33 He was exalted to God’s right side and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit, and you are seeing and hearing the results of his having done so.”
The Holy Spirit was the one who drew the people to hear that first sermon preached by the Spirit empowered Peter. The Holy Spirit is a down payment on what God has in store.
Later there in verse 3 Isaiah wrote “we may walk in God’s path.” This is about the entirety of a person’s life. To walk in God’s path is to have your entire life transformed. Paul wrote Eph 4:1 “I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God.”
To come, to learn and to live as Isaiah says is about our response to God. This is about personal righteousness. This is about the church’s response to the call of God.
The world is not interested in what we say we believe if we do not really believe it. The world is not going to pay attention if we are not changed and living different from the rest of the world.
Getting back to the title of this message, something special is coming.
Look there at verse 4:
4 God will judge between the nations, and settle disputes of mighty nations. Then they will beat their swords into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.
There is a coming judgement. John in the Revelation wrote: Revelation 20:11-13 “11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who is seated on it. Before his face both earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Another scroll was opened too; this is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged on the basis of what was written in the scrolls about what they had done. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and the Grave gave up the dead that were in them, and people were judged by what they had done.”
That day is to come. God will judge because of idolatry, of not holding to the truth of God’s Word.
Before than can be this God given peace, there must be justice. There will be a transformation of the world.
Look at the economical impact of this transformation. In 2022, the US is projected to spend over 750 billion dollars for our national defense. That is about 2,200 dollars for every man, woman and child.
Nearly 2 trillion dollars are spent around the world on the weapons of war. That is about $250 for every person alive.
Violence breeds violence and war is not a pathway to peace. One author wrote:
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 17: Isaiah 1–39 The World’s Path to Peace
Training for war is like a football team that is forever practicing but never playing any competition. A time comes in every training camp when frustrated players will say, “It is time to hit someone else.” Training for war results in the same mental frustration. Sooner or later, the preparation for war requires the practice of war.
There is coming a time with swords will be beaten into plows and spears into pruning tools. There will be no more practicing for war.
Jesus said in the Gospel lesson that was read to us earlier:
36 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows.
So what do we do in this in between where the kingdom has come, but is not yet? Something special is coming.
Do we just resign ourselves to the evil and injustice in the world?
Do we give up and think there is nothing that we can do?
Do we just isolate ourselves and wait for what God is going to bring?
Or, do we wait in hopeful expectation that we live in that king of God that is here but not yet here?
“For the Christian, certainly, "the best is yet to be." That means that every moment of the day is already alive with the promise of God's future bearing upon us. Like Isaiah of old, those who trust in the promise of God's coming kingdom know that history must have an ending, and that God must be a part of that ending! Those who trust in the promise of God's coming kingdom are able to see the advance signs that, even now, something is about to happen.
Every time we as a congregation recite those time-honored words from the Apostles' Creed, "He will come to speaks a word of forgiveness in a situation of bitterness and hatred, that Christian is speaking in the future present tense. We are giving the world a foretaste of how God will help us to live together in God's kingdom.
Let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Every time a congregation stands up and sings from the heart, "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Born To Set Thy People Free," we are joining Isaiah in the prayer that one day that whole world will indeed walk in the light of the Lord. Every time we sing those words, we are celebrating our conviction that someone is coming, someone great!
Even so, Come Lord Jesus!” [3]
[1] Something’s Coming —. (n.d.). West Side Story. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.westsidestory.com/somethings-coming
[2] Sermon and Worship Resources. (n.d.). Sermons.Com. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.sermons.com/
[3] Sermon and Worship Resources. (n.d.). Sermons.Com. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from Isaiah 2:1-5 | "Something's Coming" | Sermon and Worship Resources (sermons.com)