Sermon: The Promise of Incarnation

Scripture Text: Isaiah 9:1-7

Quotes for Reflection

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas
Look up, you whose gaze is fixed on this earth, who are spellbound by the little events and changes on the face of the earth. Look up to these words, you who have turned away from heaven disappointed. Look up, you whose eyes are heavy with tears and who are heavy and who are crying over the fact that the earth has gracelessly torn us away. Look up, you who, burdened with guilt, cannot lift your eyes. Look up, your redemption is drawing near. something different from what you see daily will happen. Just be aware, be watchful, wait just another short moment. Wait and something quite new will break over you: God will come.

John Oswalt, Isaiah
Have we allowed the Child-King to take over the government of our lives? Only then can we know the benefits of God with us. We cannot have the light, the honor, the joy, the abundance, the integration that he offers in any other way.

Alec J. Moyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah
The eye of faith looks at all this but affirms that, real though it is, it is not the ‘real’ reality. As always, the people of God must decide what reading of their experiences they will live by. Are they to look at the darkness, the hopelessness, the dreams shattered and conclude that God has forgotten them? Or are they to recall his past mercies, to remember his present promises and to make great affirmations of faith? Isaiah insists here that hope is a present reality, part of the constitution of the ‘now’. The darkness is true but it is not the whole truth and certainly not the fundamental truth.

Application Questions

1. How do we see tangible evidence that the government of Isaiah’s child-king provides a stark contrast to the chaos of worldly kingdoms?

2. How does “the zeal of the Lord” transform the way we face the darkness of this world?

3. Reflect on the meaning of the four titles of the child-king in verse 6. How is Jesus the specific answer to a darkness you are facing right now?