Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 2:1-5
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  November 27, 2022

The theme for our school year this year is “It’s all about Jesus.” Everything that we do in our school here at Eastside leads back to that truth. And the same is in our church. And it especially becomes apparent today as we begin a new Church Year. By intentional design, the Christian Church Year is all about Jesus and in this season of Advent, we focus on Jesus’ coming. And while Advent certainly is a time to prepare for Jesus’ first coming at Christmas, this season doesn’t intend to recreate a period of Old Testament waiting. Instead, we prepare to celebrate its commemoration. We approach Christmas as part of a completed plan. We walk toward the manger already knowing what happens. That’s why the Gospel for the first Sunday in Advent is Palm Sunday. This is the point of it all. This is why Jesus came at Christmas. Jesus rides into Jerusalem, he goes to Mount Zion to be both the victim and the priest, to fulfill his destiny as the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. 

And so it’s on this day, as we begin a new Church Year, that the beginning and the end meet. We commemorate Christ’s past coming in the flesh to prepare ourselves for his coming again. We’re not just getting ready for Christmas, but for the final fulfillment of God’s plan in Christ for the world. 

And that’s what Isaiah sees in chapter two. “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.  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.”

The latter days are the last days. The mountain of the Lord’s house is Mount Zion. When it comes to mountains, Mount Zion is really not all that impressive. It’s only 2,100 feet tall. That’s not even half as high as the Rockies in Denver. It’s a baby compared to Denali or the Himalayas. But its height is not what makes it chief of the mountains, it’s what happened there. It’s what’s built there. The Lord’s House is what makes this spot the most important And for Isaiah, for his original audience,the Lord’s house was the Temple.

What a hopeful promise this was! Isaiah’s original audience had seen God’s Temple be ransacked and burned, torn down brick by brick. To now see that structure raised above the hills, restored to its former glory would have been so comforting for Israel. But that’s only part of the picture here. Remember, it’s all about Jesus. And so while Isaiah and his audience pictured the Temple restored and raised up, the ultimate fulfillment is Jesus himself. Remember what Jesus told the Jews about himself? “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 

So just to recap: Isaiah is seeing a vision about the Last Days, the days we are living in right now. In his vision. He sees the Temple raised up, but ultimately, this is talking about Jesus. Jesus is raised up as chief, as most important and all nations are streaming to him like a river. Many people will come and say, “Let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.” And that’s where we get lost. That’s where the questions arise.

Is this what we’re seeing? Nations streaming to God’s mountain? Yeah, right. People eagerly saying to one another, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD? Then he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”? Not so much? We just don’t see it happening. Or do we? Take a look around. Why are you here? I don’t think you’re here to be entertained. You’re not here because you have nothing better to do. I could think of a lot of things I could be doing instead of being here. You’re not even here necessarily to listen to me–don’t worry, I’m not offended. You are here to be instructed about the ways of the Lord so that you can walk in his paths. 

But here is the very sad truth. Sometimes, we don’t want him. We hear the invitation, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to house of the God of Jacob,” but we’d rather not. We like the path we’re on, our own path. We prefer to walk in our own ways and not his. We don’t like the tension that comes from the Christian life. It’s much more comfortable over here. I’ll come and find God when I’m ready or when I need something, but for right now, I’m good. 

Only we aren’t good. We live in a world of violence where swords and spears are necessary, where our children are forced to learn about war. We live in a world where sin reigns supreme, where the mountains of materialism and the peaks of pleasure are raised above the hills and nations are streaming toward them. But that is why Jesus came. He came to fix this problem. The vision Isaiah sees is the vision of the Holy Christian Church. It’s the vision of our King coming, just like he did on that first Palm Sunday. And what is the result of his coming? There is an absence of strife. How does Isaiah see it? “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.” Take your rifles and turn them into rakes and your guns into gardening tools. In Jesus’ kingdom, we don’t need them anymore. We no longer walk through the darkness but on Zion’s paths in the light of the Lord. And we see this fulfilled right in our midst as we receive the peace that the world cannot understand through the forgiveness of sins. We see it fulfilled as the Lord’s Word streams out from his Church as we gather around it. Jesus’ authority as our King is unmatched. When he speaks there is no need for war, only peace. Think of what the angels said when he was born. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.” But this isn’t the only fulfillment. This picture will see its final fulfillment in the new heavens and the new earth when Jesus comes again. There will be perfect peace that knows no end. 

I did a quick Google search looking for the most common Christian prayers. Not surprisingly, the Lord’s Prayer was near the top of most of the lists. And I thought for sure that I would find another prayer there, a prayer that I consider to be very common. But I didn’t find it. Not once. Not in any of the lists. And yet, I would argue that nearly everyone here has said it. And many of you say it every single day. “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed.” We even call it common! The common table prayer. But have you ever stopped to think about what you are really asking? Ultimately, we’re asking for this! We’re asking for Isaiah 2 to be fulfilled in our lives. We’re asking to be part of this vision. We’re asking that we be the ones that say to each other: “Come on! Let’s go! God is waiting for us!” And that’s why you’re here. That’s why you keep coming back to this place, to this church, because it’s here that we see the vision. Here God reveals to us, not that we are perfect people that got it all figured out, no, but that we are a mess, we are sinners who need a way out. And he shows us the way out. He paints a path for us. He teaches us his ways so that we will be with him forever in eternity. 

And we can see that vision playing out when we leave this place too! It’s there when you pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” with your kids around the dinner table. It’s there when you’re struggling with your health and you turn to the Word for comfort and you can’t help but think, “I’m blessed.” It’s there when you’ve be hurt by someone else’s words or actions but you find the strength to say, “I forgive you, because the Lord has forgiven me.” This is the vision. God’s people, God’s church, us, you, walking and living on the path which streams to Jesus in all that you do. This is God’s plan. This is what God wanted for you. He chose you by his grace. He brought you into his family. He’s kept that faith alive and strengthened it through his Word. He’s brought you the peace which the world cannot give. 

Today, members of Eastside, let us walk in the light of the LORD. And as we do, as we prepare to celebrate the commemoration of Jesus’ first coming, let’s look forward to his second, when we will experience the perfect peace that knows no end. And so we pray today and everyday until that day, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.