IIt is easy to complain aobut political leaders, so Isaiah’s king will not judge by mere appearance and hearsay. This will be a person of strength and strategy of wisdom. In our time, look at how we make judgements based on appearance. Social psychologists know well the impact of appearance on impressions we draw about people. So much of our attitudes derive less from behavior but from image, how something or someone is presented, what spin we put on reality. The aspiration toward objectivity falls away, and in its place is propaganda telling us what to think and feel, not inviting us to dialogue or reflection-the image of the messianic ruler here moves from predatory behavior to a different style of rule, note well it is non-violent rule as seemingly naked ot one set of eyes as the armor of “God in Eph. 6. Nature too is envisioned as a vast bloodletting to even possibly a new Eden? Trees can regenerate even though they may seem to be nothing bare a bare stump.
This passage from Romans is It tries to sum up Pauls’ desperate attempt to hold a church together of jewish Christians and Gentile without letting one faction judge another. for me the critical phrase is to welcome each other as christ has welcomed you. (Look at Gk for welcome).
Paul creates a string of citations that points to a union of Jew and Gentile in the For him this is a sign that God’s purposes are starting to fall into place, a new era in human relations has dawned, and it will culminate with the second Advent of Jesus Christ.Scripture that now has become a shared Scripture in this new Christian movement. Al organizations are threatened with factions at one time or another. Our political body is riven with faction to an alarming degree..Look at the words of Paul again harmony, togetherness, and peace.
In other words, the brave words of isaiah seem to slide into the dim future. Let’s look at the gifts of the Spirit here and apply them a bit to our day and time. wisdom, understanding,counsel might, reverence of the Lord. wisdom in Hebrews has a sense of being able to make distinctions, top analyze understanding has a sense of building up knowledge-understanding has the sense of building up from one point to another, a structure of knowledge. counsel has the sense of planning carefully together. Might is better as mighty in valor-knowledge itself is knowing fully and intimately, apprehending and comprehending
Not surprisingly, the phrase, welcome on another, as Christ has welcomed you reverberates. Perhaps in this season, it has special import as so many homes ring with the words welcome home, or welcome it is so nice to meet you or s to see you again; I’m so glad to see you again. I love the notion of Christ welocming us, with an open min, open heart, and open arms.To be welocmed is to feel comfortable and included. It is a sense of belonging. Its English root is one who arrival is well with us.It inldues a sense of acceptance and reception in Greek. Go with that for a moment in this holiday season-Jesus hold a reception for us, an elegant heavenly welocme party in our honor.In this Advnet season we do well to consider not only how Christ welcomes, accepts us, as Tillich said in his famous sermon, but how we welcome christ. At this time of year it is easy to welcome the birth of a baby in the romantic view of the manger. do we even consider the miracle of the Incarnation, the astonishing statement that God’s fullness resides in this baby in an outpost of Rome? do we accept and even welcome the words of the Sermon on the Mount, and try to walk the way pointed ot us as the church year begins?
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