Our time? Check your watch. God's time? Ask a prophet. We consult with Isaiah and John the Baptist about God's time at hand. What will God do next and what does God expect from us? The Advent season of preparation can get us on the right track.
God's time - in Greek kairos - is different from our time - in Greek chronos; yes, ancient Greek has two different words for two different kinds of time. God's time is rather indistinct. We don't know exactly when God will act, but the prophets assure us that God will act, prophesy what God will do, and that may include both warning and blessing for God's people.
In First Isaiah, the time is coming when the old, decayed stump of Jesse becomes the unlikely place where God will cause a new shoot, new life, to grow. Although coming from Jesse and the royal line of David from long ago, this regent is clearly empowered by the Spirit of God. It is not wealth, power, lineage, or any other worldly attribute that defines his rule. It is all about justice and righteousness, fulfilling God's will in the world for the poor, weak, and vulnerable - God's priorities.
This regent will bring a spiritual transformation to all creation - read on Is. 11: 5-9. The peaceable Kingdom will extend to transform the spirits of the animal world as in the human world, bringing peace, justice, and reconciliation. All creation will be transformed as God's Chosen One restores God's rule over creation.
John the Baptist is also in the prophetic role as he announces that the Kingdom is at hand, the Kingdom is near. He urges repentance - changing one's life that ignored God's will to alignment with the coming Kingdom.
John chews out the Pharisees and Sadducees who are looking for him to do something that they can report to Jerusalem authorities. He chastizes them for believing in their comfortable self-righteousness, demanding their repentance to bear fruit for the Kingdom. Since they fail to produce fruit, there is no good news for them. The stump appears again - did you catch that?
Get the whole story in the sermon video below.
God's time - in Greek kairos - is different from our time - in Greek chronos; yes, ancient Greek has two different words for two different kinds of time. God's time is rather indistinct. We don't know exactly when God will act, but the prophets assure us that God will act, prophesy what God will do, and that may include both warning and blessing for God's people.
In First Isaiah, the time is coming when the old, decayed stump of Jesse becomes the unlikely place where God will cause a new shoot, new life, to grow. Although coming from Jesse and the royal line of David from long ago, this regent is clearly empowered by the Spirit of God. It is not wealth, power, lineage, or any other worldly attribute that defines his rule. It is all about justice and righteousness, fulfilling God's will in the world for the poor, weak, and vulnerable - God's priorities.
This regent will bring a spiritual transformation to all creation - read on Is. 11: 5-9. The peaceable Kingdom will extend to transform the spirits of the animal world as in the human world, bringing peace, justice, and reconciliation. All creation will be transformed as God's Chosen One restores God's rule over creation.
John the Baptist is also in the prophetic role as he announces that the Kingdom is at hand, the Kingdom is near. He urges repentance - changing one's life that ignored God's will to alignment with the coming Kingdom.
John chews out the Pharisees and Sadducees who are looking for him to do something that they can report to Jerusalem authorities. He chastizes them for believing in their comfortable self-righteousness, demanding their repentance to bear fruit for the Kingdom. Since they fail to produce fruit, there is no good news for them. The stump appears again - did you catch that?
Get the whole story in the sermon video below.
| 12-08-19-sermon-b.mp3 |
| 12-08-19-ff-answers.pdf |
| 12-08-19-kingdom_is_near.pdf |