Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 2:1-5
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 1, 2019

If you could go back in time, what one thing would change? If you had a remote that could reverse history where would you travel? Would you tackle John Wilkes Booth before he shoots Abraham Lincoln? Would you prevent Hitler from creating the Third Reich? Would you pause time and erase the plans for the atomic bomb? Or maybe you wouldn’t go back that far. Maybe you’d return to the shot you missed at the end of the basketball game and make sure it goes in. Maybe you’d rewind to a certain conversation and take back the words you said. Maybe you’d go back and tell someone not to get in the car to avoid an accident. What would you change if you could press reverse? We all like the idea of do-overs, mulligans, second tries, and so on. But the problem is that even if you could go back and change things, it wouldn’t make everything right. There would still be sin and hatred in this world. Eventually someone else would create weapons of war and more blood will be shed, relationships would still bring pain, and even if you could cheat death once, it would come for you again. 

But we worship a God who says that one day he will make all things right. That’s what we celebrate in Advent! Jesus came to our earth and shifted sin’s effects into reverse. And he promises to come back again one day to end all war and hatred, to make all things new! This great reversal is what Isaiah sees through prophetic eyes in chapter 2: This is the message that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. This will take place in the latter days: The mountain of the Lord’s house will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it like a river. This is a scene in reverse. Isaiah sees a mountain, not eroding, but growing; rising up so high that Everest looks like a speed bump. And rivers of nations stream upward to this peak that scrapes the sky. Rivers of people streaming in reverse, flowing uphill. The magnetism of this mountain creates a current stronger than gravity as skyward, the nations flow up to the peak. At the tower of Babel people descended and dispersed across the whole face of the earth due to evil ambition (Gen. 11). But on the Mountain of the LORD people from all nations will be reunited once more. As one family, they come back and ascend to live together in peace again. 

The great reversal continues: Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. Then he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For from Zion the law will go out, and the Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations, and he will mediate for many peoples. Then they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into blades for trimming vines. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore. On this high mountain of the Lord, Isaiah sees that God’s law which was once rejected and thrown away is now pursued and received with joy. He sees that the fighting and war which sin has wrought gives way to true and lasting peace on the mountain! Swords once forged to kill are now hammered into the blades of farmer’s plows—peaceful tools made to sustain life. Spears become pruning hooks to trim vines. Warriors become farmers. Everything runs in reverse, the opposite way it degenerated when we fell into sin. Even war will be forgotten as no one will even learn how to fight, as if it had never taken place at all. This is the great reversal that Isaiah sees on the Mountain of the Lord.

So why did God show him this? Well, we know from the rest of his book that his people had begun to follow other gods, they had begun to worship idols on different mountains. There was no peace, only hostility among them. They had stopped pursuing God’s laws and had begun to give up their faith. Perhaps they needed a vision like this to remind them what God will do for those who stay true to him. They needed to hear that it was worth remaining faithful and following his laws. They needed to hear that God could reverse all that sin and hatred had created. So why do we need to hear it today? Well, because we also are tempted to give up on God…

I’m going to introduce you to four people and just see if you can relate to any of them. Person #1. “I remember when we were happy together and how it felt to be united as a couple and a family. What I’d give to reverse the years where we drifted apart. But it doesn’t seem like they are even willing to try anymore. I’m not sure it’s worth trying to honor God and work on this marriage.” Person #2. “I remember those days when I felt good when I prayed to God. I felt clean. That was before I began to visit that website repeatedly. I was so strong back then. It felt great to be free, not dependent on anything. But I’ve tried to stop this addiction a thousand times and I’ve failed again and again. It’s not just that I feel defeated, I’m just tired of trying.” Person #3. “I wasn’t always this way. I used to be pretty optimistic. I used to laugh more. But I’ve poured out my heart praying that people might change and it feels like I’ve been pouring it out on sand. I’ve seen so many train wrecks in my life and despite my best efforts I couldn’t stop any of them. I’m not negative, I’m just a realist. I know people don’t really change.”

There’s a part of each of our hearts that scoffs when Isaiah speaks about reversal on the Mountain of the Lord because it sure seems like sin and its effects keep rushing forward in this world. It’s hard to believe that God can truly reverse it all one day and bring the peace we so long for. It’s hard to believe that through his Spirit we can start reversals in our own lives. The problem is that when we doubt, we don’t just doubt ourselves or others, we are giving up on God and his promises. That’s why we need this vision of the Mountain of the LORD. We need to see clearly and vividly that God specializes in reversals. After all, that’s what we celebrate during Advent and Christmas. We celebrate a reversal each year as Jesus, the eternal God, became a newborn in Bethlehem. And this Advent is no different. Jesus comes again in backwards love. He comes through Word and Sacrament and he puts everything bad about you in reverse: He moves guilt to forgiveness; he erases lies and instills his truth; he undoes your shame and lifts you up in joy; he even destroys death and covers you with life. Adam and Eve were booted out of Paradise, but you are pulled back in through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

My friends, I’m not promising that if you trust in Jesus, all your problems will disappear. We know that’s not true. But don’t listen to those voices in your head that try to convince you of some unstoppable law of repetition. Don’t listen to people who speak of some inevitable future. If you want to change, if you want things to be different, don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise; listen to the God who has reversed and unraveled sin’s power. You can work to reverse what is wrong in your life through his power. You can stand up under temptation in the Spirit’s strength. You can be optimistic and joyful about the future, because you know that the Lord has good plans for you! You can boldly live a Christian life because you know it’s worth it! That’s exactly how Isaiah applies this great vision: O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. After the vision in reverse on the Mountain of the Lord, Isaiah invites believers to walk in the light of the Lord, to walk in faith boldly and purposefully as we await our Savior’s return. The view on the mountain provides motivation to keep walking,

There were once a group of hikers who began climbing a mountain early in the morning. It was still dark and there was a lot of fog at the bottom of the trail. They couldn’t see more than 10 or 20 feet in front of them. As the terrain got steeper, some turned back. More and more left, until only two remained—a brother and a sister. Should we keep going?” she asked. “It’s hard to see.” He replied, “I’ve been to the summit before, and I promise the sunrise will be worth it.” So they pressed on. It was difficult and dangerous but they kept going. When they finally reached the top, the fog gave way and the view before them stretched for miles. It was breath-taking. They could see the small winding trail they had taken and the lights of the town in the valley below. And then the sun began to rise just beyond the horizon. A small slice of brilliant white multiplied into rays which lit the sky with color. And a river of golden light flowed right up the mountain to that small fellowship on the peak. The brother turned to his sister and smiled, “I told you so.” he said.

Right now we are walking in the valley of the shadow of death as the Psalmist says, and it is tempting to become tired or apathetic in the walk of faith. But don’t give up. Fix your eyes upon the Mountain of the Lord where all that is wrong will be reversed. Step in the Spirit’s power and the fog of sin will not overcome you. Your Savior has risen and the view at the top of the Mountain will be more than worth it. Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Amen.