“he shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”
Isaiah 11:3
“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,” Isaiah writes “and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” With those words, a prophet from 29 centuries ago offers a message of joy. Jesse was the father of the beloved King David. God had promised David before his death that one of his descendants would always reign as king and when Isaiah wrote our passage two hundred years later, the people were looking for one to restore the nation’s fortune.
In his poetic words, the prophet describes that future king in this way: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding.” That judicial nature of that sovereign will be a blessing for “with righteousness [he] shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Peace will reign in the natural order, too, as ”the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid…and a little child shall lead them.”
I suspect for many of us there are phrases from that ancient text which sound familiar. The account of predator and prey in the natural world living side by side in harmony is the basis for that Edward Hicks’ beloved painting “The Peaceable Kingdom.” Those words from Isaiah are often read in the Christian season of Advent, too, as followers of Christ understand Jesus to be the fulfillment of that prophecy, a descendant of David who will yet judge with righteousness. Yet those same words recall another theme of the Christian tradition; the promise that one day Jesus will return and when he does life will be transformed.
Despite periodic claims to the contrary there is no indication to suggest the Second Coming has occurred as instead there is much more evidence to support the understanding that Christ has not yet come back. If we were to compare human existence now to the vision articulated by Isaiah things would clearly come up short in all kinds of ways. Let’s take just one example of the contrast between our reality and what the prophet described.
Isaiah proclaimed that the root of Jesse “shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Those words contain the promise that when Christ reigns persons will be judged on the basis of what is important; that instead of being evaluated by all sorts of surface criteria or biases that individuals will be seen for who they are and dealt with fairly. To be sure there are times when that kind of thing happens already in formal judicial settings and in the more informal dealings of life, but in many other instances, people are still chosen or passed over, favored or turned away on the basis of criteria that should not matter.
Thirty-five years ago, I was in a process of discernment as to whether or not it was time to leave my first pastorate. As part of that time, I began a conversation with a church in Virginia. I had read through their form and liked what I saw. I sent my form to them, too, and a short time later, arrangements were made for a phone interview with their Pastor Nominating Committee. A day or so before that conversation, the moderator of the committee called to confirm details. As part of that chat he said to me “When we were thinking about the kind of person we were seeking as our next pastor, we decided that the individual had to meet certain criteria and you have them all.” I was, of course, flattered and began to wonder if it was my theology or leadership style, work prior to seminary or accomplishments in my first church that led him to think I might be a good fit. Yet before I could reply, he went on to add “Yes, you meet all of the criteria we set before beginning the search as we want a pastor who is young, male, and married.”
I’m sure he meant those words as a positive, but I actually heard them as demeaning for it sounded as if I was being considered only because of things that had little to do with me as a pastor. My age and gender had been established by others. I was honored then and remain so still to be married to the woman who has shared my life for 39 years, but to be evaluated on the basis of such criteria left me feeling like a category instead of person. So even though I went ahead with the phone interview a day or two later, I knew even beforehand that the conversation would not proceed.
That sort of thing happens in our world far too often as salespeople can walk up to adult customers in the store first even when teenagers have been waiting for assistance longer. Decisions about promotion and compensation can be made on criteria other than qualifications or performance as women still face a “glass ceiling.” Persons of non-white ethnic or racial groups have known times of speaking to a realtor on the phone about an available house for sale only to be told upon pulling up to the driveway a few minutes later that the house is no longer on the market.
Whenever that sort of thing happens there is no justice. Whenever persons are treated on the basis of categories they fit instead of as the unique people they are there is no peace. When Christ returns that disparity will end. The hope of that future event doesn’t mean we are to give up seeking to make the world more just now, though. We all have ways that we can strive for the kind of peace God intends for creation. Yet what Isaiah depicts is a time when our own efforts will be transformed and the world as well.
What a wonderful day that will be.
Come, Lord Jesus and transform creation into what your father intends. Until that day, use my hands and feet, my words and my deeds to move creation closer to that plan. Amen.
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