Looking for a Breakthrough

Isaiah 64:1-9

Introduction

There is a lot of pressure put on people at Christmas-time. The expectation is that people at least pretend that they are happy and that everything is going well. Consider even our common greeting: Merry Christmas. I realize that it is a polite wish, but what about those whose options for a merry Christmas are slim? Think about all those one plot Christmas movies that come out every year. They all start with some kind of discouragement or disillusionment but by the end of the movie, all the problems are solved, relationships are restored, and everyone is happy. Except that is not the way life usually works. Is the message “Everything is okay and I am happy” essential to the Christmas season? I would say it is not essential and that it even misses the point of Christmas.

During this Advent season, the weeks leading up to Christmas, we are going to focus not on the Christmas story, at least not directly, but some of the Old Testament passages that anticipated the Christmas story. The hope is that we will understand the meaning of Christmas in a fresh way, and one that makes sense in the real world.

The real world that we live in is one of great stress. This includes things happening on the world stage, in our community, and within our family or just to us. The Bible understands this anxiety and even assumes that life is difficult. 

The question that many people ask in such circumstances is that of where God is. Where is God in suffering and pain? If God is real, why are bad things happening? I do not promise to give you an answer to that question, but I am willing to explore it together.

When is God Coming Down?

There was a lot going on in the time of Isaiah. Basically their problems fell into two categories: troubles without and troubles within. During the life of Isaiah, the primary outside threat was that of Assyria. This was not a conflict between two equal nations. When thinking about how Israel felt about Assyria, think about Europe during the early years of Hitler’s rule as the Second World War was just breaking out. Germany annexes Austria, then takes a large chunk of Czechoslovakia, before invading Poland. How are the other countries of Europe feeling at that time? This is the position that Israel was in. Israel was fine to defend itself against the other comparable neighbouring nations but Assyria was an empire and they lived to conquer. When Assyria would finally arrive, it would not be as simple as paying some tribute and watching them leave. They knew from the fate of the other nations how bad it would be.

That would be difficult enough but there were other things going on. Israel was far from faithful to their God. At this time, the old kingdom of Israel had split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah vacillated back and forth when it came to faithfulness but Israel had seemed to be in a permanent state of spiritual decline. Isaiah, who was fully dedicated to God, knew this and grieved the spiritual state of Israel.

What Isaiah shares here is basically a lament. There was a sense that God was up there somewhere and that the people were down here. If only we could get God’s attention and get him to break through the sky, then things would get taken care of. It was like a child getting beat up by a bully and hoping their mom or dad would walk by and stop the fight. Isaiah knew that if God came down from heaven that God could take care of both the Assyrians and the spiritual struggles of the Israelites. If only God would come down!

Can you identify with this? Do you look around at the things happening around the world or around your family and wonder where God is? Do you feel like God is way up there somewhere, distracted from your troubles, and that you are left all alone down here? If only God would come down from heaven and reveal himself. If only God broke through the clouds and took care of things, your life and the world would be so much better. If only…

When God Came Down

One question we should ask is about what it would even look like for God to come down. Probably Isaiah was thinking of the glory that descended on Mount Sinai in the days of Moses or the fiery chariot in the days of Elijah. Those were awe inspiring events but they were very temporary and were only for prophets. How could God come down in a way that really made a difference to a lot of people and for a long time?

While Isaiah prophesied many things that we recognize as dealing with the coming of Christ, I don’t think that even Isaiah could have fully understand what God was going to do in Jesus, son of Mary. 

That little baby that was born two thousand years ago, the one we use as an excuse to exchange presents, was actually the answer to the heart cry of Isaiah. Jesus was literally that which Isaiah held onto in hope. Jesus was not just a baby, not just a special baby, but rather God coming out of heaven. Jesus was the solution to the problem of God up there and us down here. God understands that life is difficult, that the world has many problems, that we feel alone. What we need, for those challenges both outside and inside is God coming to us in Jesus. The word Advent means arrival and that is what we celebrate. We don’t celebrate that everything is okay because it usually is not. We celebrate that God has arrived in that little baby.

But where is Jesus now? If the answer is that God comes down to earth, didn’t Jesus return to heaven? And isn’t life just as difficult now as before Jesus arrived? Where is our hope now? The answer is still Jesus. While the physical body of Jesus is not on planet earth, Jesus’ presence is still here. It is here in two interconnected ways. One is through the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out. Jesus, as he anticipated his return to heaven, promised this very thing. The Holy Spirit minsters Christ’s presence to us.

The other way Jesus is present is through the Church. Not just a local congregation but the Church, which is the body of Christ. If Jesus is the coming of God into the world to bring hope and the Church is the body of Christ, we are ambassadors of hope. We bring a message not of personal comfort and prosperity but of hope. And we do this as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Isaiah lived in a difficult time. We live in a difficult time. Isaiah longed for God to step out of heaven and help his people. We long for God to step out of heaven and help us. We have one advantage over Isaiah and that is we know that God did step out of heaven and entered into Mary’s womb. That baby that looked like every other baby in that area of the world was Emmanuel—God with us. It is in Jesus that we have hope. This does not mean that the world is any easier or that life is less painful but it does mean that there is hope. 

I think of these words from Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” For you are with me. We are not protected from going through the darkest valley, we are only protected from going through it alone.