Getting What We Want Or What We Need
December 9. 2007
2nd Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 11:1-10
Preacher: The Rev. R. Bruce Todd
At this time of year most of us are spending at least some of our time
shopping for Christmas gifts for our loved ones. That was true for an
engaged couple who was being married by Pastor John Jewell. He once
counseled with an engaged couple who wanted to be married on Christmas
Eve. This pair of love birds chose Christmas Eve because, as they said,
their love for each other was the greatest gift they could give. So
romantic, don’t you think?
Then, a few days before the wedding, the love birds showed up in Pastor
Jewell’s office with their feathers definitely ruffled. The young man
had given his beloved an early Christmas present. “That’s a bad thing?”
Pastor Jewell asked. The young man explained that this was a gift his
future wife really needed.
He should have known better. The future wife rolled her eyes and
announced, “It was a set of tires!” “They were Michelins!” the young man
protested. He couldn’t understand her lack of gratitude. And so Pastor
Jewell opened up a conversation on the differences between men and
women, wants versus needs, and many other mysteries that exist between
the sexes.
In order to resolve some of the conflicts between those who are from
Mars and those from Venus, someone has come up with a list of “Things
Wives Don’t Want to Hear Their Husbands Say on Christmas Day.” Here’s a
few of them: “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“Hey, the game’s about to start!” “That’s right, hon. Your own
subscription to Hunting & Fishing Magazine.” “It’s two sizes smaller,
darling–you know, for motivation.” And as good meaning as it may sound:
“But it’s something YOU REALLY NEEDED!”
I remember as a kid always getting 2 packages of new underwear from my
Mom. It’s not something I wanted - but Mom knew it was something I
needed - so I always got the underwear. Underwear, Tires, a Vacuum
Cleaner, Toothpaste... things we need are not always the gifts we
appreciate the most.
That was true the first Christmas. The people of Israel were living in
expectation of the Messiah. But the Messiah they got was not the Messiah
they wanted. They wanted a warrior king who would lead them to victory
over their enemies. Instead they got a tiny babe in a manger in the
tiny, obscure town of Bethlehem. If only they had read the prophecies of
the coming Messiah more carefully, they would have had a better
understanding form the words of Isaiah 11which foretells the coming of
Christ.
Here is some of what Isaiah had to say: “A shoot will come up from the
stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. “The Spirit of
the Lord will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. “He will not
judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his
ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he
will give decisions for the poor of the earth. Righteousness will be his
belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. “The wolf will live
with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the
yearling together; and a little child will lead them. “The infant will
play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand. “They
will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth
will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Maybe not what they wanted - but definitely what they needed! God knows
what was
needed by the people of Jesus’ Day. Isaiah tells of a Messiah that goes
beyond eliminating one’s enemies. God saw a world that was rooted in
evil, violence and war. The people wanted someone who would squash their
enemies for them. They wanted a Messiah that would put them on top. They
wanted to be able to “inflict pain” on others. But God had a different
view of the world. God saw a world with no more war, no more hatred, no
more pain and no more tears, and God knew what was needed to have a
world like that.
That is the kind of Messiah God sent. God didn’t give us what we wanted
- God gave us what we needed - what we needed to make the world the kind
of world God wanted it to be -
which is not always the kind of world we want it to be. It’s ironic how
many of the conflicts in the world today stem from “religious”
differences. Suni or Shiites, Christian or Moslem,
Catholic or Protestant, Gentile or Jew. All of these “Religious People”
still seem to want
a Messiah that is going to come and wipe out their enemies!
The prophecy form Isaiah is still as relevant today, as it was during
the time of John the Baptist. And the result will be the same. God will
send us what we need - and it is most likely not going to be what we
want! So what do we do? We need to begin working on wanting what we
need!
This week I read a story that comes from the days when the
African-American community in the South was not allowed to vote. This
particular story is set in Florida. During times of political elections,
a certain community of African-Americans would rent a voting machine and
go through the voting process. Now, they knew that their votes would not
be counted, but they voted anyway. When asked by members of the white
community why they did this every year, they replied, “Oh, we’re just
practicing. Just practicing.”
They could not vote now, but they felt in their hearts that a new day
was coming. They believed in a just God who had not forsaken them. One
day they would vote. One day they would take their place in society.
Right now they were “just practicing,” but one day the promise of
freedom, dignity and justice would be realized.
God is at work in the world. Not in ways that we will always recognize.
Not even in ways, because of our sinfulness, that we will always
approve, any more than Israel approved God coming to us in the form of a
baby. But God is at work in our world and in our lives. The prophet
Isaiah said: “...a little child will lead them.” Those words have
particular meaning for followers of Jesus Christ.
Mary Meyer tells a heartwarming Christmas story that might bring that
truth home for us. Her family had just gone to the mission field in
Liberia, West Africa. It was their first Christmas away from home, and
it was a busy time. She and her husband were working in an orphanage
where they were helping to supervise 50 children, along with their own
three small children. Mary was trying to make Christmas a special time
for the children at the orphanage and for many of the families in the
village as well. With the help of the older girls, she had popped enough
popcorn over a wood stove to fill a 55-gallon drum. They had also
prepared 300 yeast buns to give to the families on Christmas morning. At
the same time, she was trying to make Christmas special for her own
family and to instill in their children the true meaning of Christmas:
that it is Jesus’ birthday.
Because their children had always had birthday cakes in special shapes,
Mary made Jesus’ birthday cake in the shape of a Christmas tree. She
baked the cake, but because of the busyness of the season, she hadn’t
had time to frost and decorate the cake until she was preparing
Christmas dinner. She used hard candies to represent Christmas balls and
lights on the tree, and she put a tall, thin candle in the center of the
cake. The children were excited and surprised to see the special
birthday cake for Jesus. As they looked at it, one of the children piped
up, “Who’s going to blow out the candle?” Mary didn’t know how to
answer, so she said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait until later to
find out.”
They placed the cake in the middle of their table and enjoyed their
Christmas dinner. When they had finished eating, the family joined hands
and sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. Just as they completed the song, a
gust of wind came in through the windows and blew out the candle! Mary’s
three kids stared in amazement. One of them said, “Jesus blew out his
candle!”
Now some will say, it was only coincidence that a gust of air came
through the house at just that moment. It would have been hard to
convince those children, however, that it wasn’t Jesus. For them, it was
proof positive that Jesus was with them. We get proof every day that the
Messiah is present in our every day lives.
Even this Christmas Holiday that so many people are looking forward to -
is a reminder of the message that God loved us so much that he sent his
Son - as a gift of his love - to dwell among us. But that’s not the gift
many people wanted. So it is replaced with Reindeers, Snowmen, Santa
Claus Sleigh Bells, Credit Cards and Bills. God gave us what we needed -
but we still keep going after what we want! Maybe - like those
African-American southern voters - we need to start practicing accepting
God’s gift. And not only accepting this gift of love - but using it and
sharing it!
That’s what John the Baptist was challenging people to do. That’s what
God is challenging us to do. After all - who knows what we need - more
than God? Amen!