The Ultimate Intrusion

Pastor Tommy Thompson
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Advent 1B / Nov 28 2010


Happy New Year! ... Advent is here; it has intruded into our ordinary time like an unexpected and extravagant gift left at our door step. Whether we are ready or not...whether we were expecting it or not, Advent it is here with its message of joyful newness and transformation.

This really is what Advent is all about: newness and transformation--joy! God’s coming is not something to run from but something to prepare for --something to run to...like that time I observed a husband and wife running toward each other at an airport. The husband had obviously been away for a while...when their eyes met, there was nothing stopping their eventual embrace. This is what God’s coming to us is like...running towards one another for that ultimate, eternal embrace.

The new year begins with this kinda of joyful end-time perspective.

And when we speak of end we don’t mean “end” like the “end” of a movie, as if it is over with no sequel, or the end of a race, or even worse, the end of a good relationship. The end Advent longs for and celebrates is the “end” in the sense of the “goal” or the “fulfillment.” Truly, this end is a beginning...a new beginning. This new beginning is the focal point of the prophet’s Advent proclamation.

In the midst of destruction and despair, Isaiah sees the Word of the Lord. In ancient Israel words were more than those sounds that come forth from the mouths of human beings for the sake of communication. In ancient times, it was understood that words create worlds. They believed that the Word of God created this world. Now the prophet Isaiah gets to see the Word creating a new world which is the redemption of the current one.

The Word Isaiah sees is a promise. “In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.”

What a word for God’s people who are currently reaping the consequences of their sin. Where all that is deserved is wrath, a river of mercy flows! God will, with our without His covenant partner, draw the nations to Himself. He will not give up on His beloved creation. He is going to act.

Note that what is seen by Isaiah in this vision is not the result of time progressing into some sort of utopia brought about by all the right social programs. No, what Isaiah sees here is God’s time intruding in our time like Advent into ordinary time, like the joy of a baby intruding into our lives even if we’re not quite ready for her. What Isaiah sees is the fulfillment of God’s invitation to Abraham except God is fulfilling the role Himself.

When God’s time intrudes into our time, the nations will stream to the house of the Lord...they will come seeking instruction in the ways of God...wanting to walk in the paths God has cleared for us to walk in -- the paths that lead to life and life more abundantly.

When God’s time intrudes into human history, God will teach and God will instruct.

When God’s time intrudes into human history, God will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. I love this picture. Many have taught us that God’s judgment is like a once and done decision. “you’re in; you’re out.” “you’re right; and you’re wrong.” “you’re innocent; and you’re guilty.” But that’s not the picture Isaiah sees. Rather, God himself becomes arbitrator. God brings the nations together, like an effective United Nations, and through divine diplomacy, settles matters between the nations equitably, without recourse to violence, force, or war.

God’s arbitration is so wise, so patient, so trust-worthy, it becomes more than ideal...His words create worlds. By God’s counsel, the nations chose to beat their weapons intended for destruction into instruments meant to cultivate life. The instruments of war are transformed into farm equipment. Swords are beaten into plowshares...spears into pruning hooks.

In this vision, the nations no longer learn war...instead all investments have been made into the account of world peace.

Note here that the vision anticipates difference and not uniformity. Nations are coming together in God and making compromises for the sake of unity. The future hope announced by the prophet Isaiah is a world of difference unified; Nations taking the necessary steps to come together without the intimidation of swords, guns, or bombs. True peace brought about by God’s time intruding in human history.

Once Isaiah reveals the new world God’s Word has called forth into existence, he gives the people of God the opportunity to take the first steps. “Come...let us walk in the light of the Lord!” In other words, “Okay, people of God, the promise of God, the hope of the world, has been revealed to us. Let us now take the first steps on the path that all the nations will tread one day....let us actualize hope through obedience!”

Isaiah’s vision of the world renewed through God’s Word reveals God as the primary actor. God fulfills Israel’s role as the One who draws the nations to the light of God’s presence. God becomes teacher/instructor and God is revealed as the ultimate arbitrator and judge. The outcome is life-giving...not widespread wrath poured out upon the nations.

For Israel, this is a future hope. All they know is that this will become reality “in the days to come.” It is from God; it is as good as certain. But Israel does not get to know when or even how God will do this.

Many years passed by...nations still waging war and learning war...all attempts of diplomacy seem to fail...there seems to be as many swords as plowshares in the world. Will it ever come to fruition?

Then it happens...God truly intrudes in the middle of human history when and where we least expect. God becomes Israel, literally. He takes upon Himself the flesh and blood of the people of Israel by being born into the world through Mary’s life-giving womb. And as soon as the Word takes on flesh, the nations stream, as the light of the star leads those sages from the East.

He grows and even at a young age the Word of the Lord goes forth from Jerusalem as he teaches the teachers in the house of the Lord. As he grows, the eloquence of His words create new worlds for humanity and all of creation.

And Jesus reveals to us God’s judgment and arbitration. He judges evil -- he takes it head on. It throws it’s worst at him. He takes it, and in His resurrection, His love conquers it.

He arbitrates beautifully. He doesn’t deny evil; he names it. He embraces the offender while excluding the offenders sin. He embraces the offended while healing the offended's hurt. In Him true reconciliation occurs. The reconciliation of God and humankind which leads to the reconciliation of man and man, man and woman, woman and creature, and even creature and creature.

It came unexpectedly. We didn’t realize the depth of God’s time. We might have expected God to come and bring the totality of Isaiah’s vision to fruition in seconds, minutes, days, or at most a couple of years. But God’s time intruded and continues to intrude. It has intermingled with human history and is hear to stay, bringing the world closer and closer to that day when there will be no more war, suffering, pain, or death. Truly salvation is nearer to us today than when we first became believers!

God’s time has been inaugurated in the midst of human history. The down payment of the future world has been paid. Christ is risen from the dead. All signs indicate that the night time is coming to a close and the dawn from on High is breaking upon us.

So Paul invites us to live already as children of the day and no longer as children of the night. With Isaiah, we are invited through obedience to actualize ultimate hope. Live the future day even now, giving the signals of the new day to the world who is being led to God’s holy mountain. Put away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, which is nothing less than the Jesus we put on in our baptism!

Why? Because like the inauguration of this new world, the fulfillment, the goal, will intrude into human history when we least expect it and where we least expect it, just like it did in Bethlehem's cave and the garden’s tomb. When it does intrude, may our lives already be in line with it...so that what is revealed is consistent with the way the church had been living all along, giving the world one ginormous “aha” moment.

That day will come, as Jesus says, like a thief in the night...or like the flood in Noah’s time.

How will the ultimate intrusion find us? Living life as usual? Going from party to party even in the season of Advent, paying no attention to the prophets call for repentance and readiness?

It is advent. We have the opportunity of a life time. We do not know when ultimate intrusion will happen. Not even Jesus Himself knows...and he is content with not knowing...content because He fully loves and trusts the Father without question. We have the opportunity to join in faithful trust...to practice spiritual disciplines that make us ready for the coming day. There hasn’t been a better day for us a community to renew our interest and faithfulness in and to the means of grace.

Let us discern together as a community how God is calling us to take more and more steps in the the path that God has cleared for us, that the nations one day might walk in our footsteps.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Amen.