image from truthnet.org
Advent means Get Ready for Some Crazy Unheard Of Things!
From Isaiah 11: 1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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. 3 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; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek 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. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
I'm sad parents don't take advantage of the greatest free deal in town which is Sunday school. From one perspective, it's a free hour of child care. From the true perspective, it's an hour's encounter with God's love and truth. I remember loving Sunday school once I understood it for what it offered to me, and I clearly remember declaring to my parents that I wished the world was the other way around. "I wish I could go to Sunday school from Monday to Friday and then on Sunday regular school!" My parents laughed and they must have realized that I would eventually wind up working for the Lord. I didn't realize that at the time, I just knew that Sunday school was more fun than regular school. One of the things I loved was seeing pictures that made me think. One of those appears above. As a child I loved animals of all kinds and to see this picture of a little child in the midst of what I thought was a zoo was incredible and beautiful. In my opinion there are two of the greatest zoos in the world; the San Antonio Zoo because that was our main annual vacation from Kingsville; and the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville because they have done a great job in putting a zoo together that ranks up there among all zoos. The picture shows that this child is safe even among a lion, a wolf and other animals. I didn't see the bars and barriers of safety and protection of a zoo between that child and the animals of that zoo. It would be years later that this passage of Isaiah would explain the picture to me.
The prophet said that something outrageous was coming in the form of a gift from God. A person straight from the royal line of Israel, anointed with God's Spirit and blessed with wisdom and understanding, counsel and might; a spirit of knowledge of and fear of the Lord God. A person whose joy would be to fear God and not judge what he sees or decides with what he hears, but instead by righteousness bring justice to the poor and equity for the meek. What he would share would strike at the heart of all people, even death to wickedness. And here's the picture; nature turned upside down. Natural enemies becoming friends. Predators turning into protectors. Natural eating habits will not involve the eating of each other but the sharing of straw. And in all this upside-down-ness is a child that will lead them.
The prophet was speaking for God and the coming day of this child who would meet all of the above shared qualities and gifts. The people hearing it from the prophet did not quite understand it if at all; and those reading it before knowing Jesus did not either. In the realm of the knowledge of Jesus comes the understanding of that which God can and has done for humanity and nature for that matter. The kingdom of heaven becoming the kingdom of God among all people. Do you believe?
It will take our faithfulness to bring about this new fruitfulness. Are you ready and willing to be a part of it?
PRAYER: Come, wondrous God again to my life and being. Let me be part of that peaceful kingdom even in the midst of the strife and enmity that exists among us still. I believe and I want others to believe and belong. In the name of the child who came, Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
