1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word this 2nd Sunday in Advent is taken from Isaiah 11:1-10. It’s entitled, “Provision for the Improbable,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. As we think about our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 11 this 2nd Sunday in Advent, we all may be thinking of events that most of us would have regarded as too improbable to happen, but that did happen. For example, a generation ago the collapse of the Soviet Union would have been considered too improbable to happen, but it did. Also, back in 1996 it was improbable that Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth McCaughey of Des Moines, Iowa, would conceive children, but then septuplets were born! Or, who here this morning has heard of, “The Curse of the Bambino,” the 86 year old drought of World Series titles for the Boston Red Sox from 1918 to 2004… The Curse of the Bambino was supposedly a bad omen placed upon the Boston Red Sox baseball team after they sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees after their 1919 baseball season. The "Curse" was used to explain the lack of a World Series win by the Red Sox, for an 86-year period from 1918 until 2004 when the Red Sox won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Red Sox winning the World Series was improbable, but not impossible.
3. These illustrations show that because something seems improbable, it’s not necessarily impossible. In today’s text from Isaiah a most improbable kingdom is described. Here enemies become friends, wolf and lamb live together, and children and poisonous snakes play together without fear of harm or danger. Could such an improbable kingdom ever exist? Yes, if provision were made for the improbable to happen.
4. God provided for the improbable restoration of the “dead” kingship of Israel. When the kingly line of Israel, corrupt and exiled, was considered dead and lifeless, God foretold through the prophet Isaiah a renewed kingship, a new shoot growing out of a seemingly dead stump. It seemed improbable, but God brought it to pass, bringing David’s kingly line out of exile and back to Jerusalem. This kingly line found its full growth in the birth of Jesus. He was a physical descendant of Jesse and David, the “shoot of Jesse’s stem.” God had Jesus in mind in these words of Isaiah. The child Jesus born in Bethlehem may have seemed an improbable candidate to lead the world to salvation, but God’s power provided for that improbable event to take place in history.
5. In Jesus God makes provision for the most improbable act of all, making saints of sinners. Isn’t this improbable, to consider us candidates for inclusion in heaven? Improbable because we know our sin, both our outright transgressions of God’s commands and our sins of self-righteousness. The latter creep into a Christian’s heart, leaving us thinking that we will be saved simply because we are confirmed Lutherans. But, John the Baptist cuts through this charade by telling us who we are in our sin! But God has made provision for the improbable, the provision of his own Son, the shoot from Jesse’s stump. Although we have no righteousness or holiness of our own to qualify for heaven, God provides Jesus to be holy and righteous for us. Jesus is the provision God made to remove our sin through his sacrifice on the cross. It may seem improbable for sinners to become saints, but it has actually happened because a loving God has made provision for the improbable. God counts us righteous and holy through faith in Jesus.
6. In Jesus God makes provision for his improbable kingdom to be previewed in the church. The kingdom of harmony prophesied by Isaiah may seem too improbable ever to be found on earth, but God makes provision for the improbable. In the Christian church God draws us together as a unified people through our Baptism into Christ. In the church we are safe, for in the church the forgiveness and healing of the cross mend all of our wounds. In the church love reigns, not wealth or power. In the church God leads people of all kinds to live in harmony. All of us share a singular devotion to the King, just as Isaiah had predicted. Although by nature some of us may be lambs and some of us may be lions, we are not here to devour or to be devoured, but to display the harmonious joy of our unity in Christ. Since we are still sinners, our harmony now is imperfect. But, we work to demonstrate the peace and unity we have in Jesus. Our unity will offer the rest of the world an insight into the transforming power of the Gospel, and the nations will be drawn to him.
7. Days are coming when the imperfect will give way to the perfect. When Jesus returns at the end, the perfect kingdom of peace and harmony will fully be ours. Then no war, death, injustice, or enemies will threaten us. We will be safe, secure, and at peace. Then believers in Christ will receive a glorious rest.
8. The promise of this future perfect kingdom gives us hope during the present troubled times, especially when we see the poor and powerless ignored, officials bribed by the wealthy, and wickedness going unpunished. A kingdom is coming where all will be set right. A kingdom is coming where we will live no longer by faith, but by sight, beholding the face of the King of kings.
9. Until this kingdom comes, we will strive to live in righteousness and harmony now. We will hold up the truth of the Gospel, calling those broken by sin to rally around it. God has made provision for us to live in this remarkable way, feeding us with his Word and with his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Improbable for us to live as God’s saints? Not with God on our side, the God who makes provision for the improbable.
10. God has provided a true wonder in this King and kingdom. They are ours now through faith as God considers us saints for Christ’s sake. Following our Child-King in faith, we will live in harmony with one another in the church. Now we can give the world a picture of the perfect kingdom still to come. We await such a kingdom with confident hope. While it may seem an improbable kingdom to the eyes of this world, we trust our God who makes provision for the improbable. We believe this kingdom is not only possible but certain. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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