With In and With Out
“With In and With Out” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! It is great to be able to be in the pulpit this second Sunday of Advent. I was with a group of area Church of the Brethren pastors this week, and we shared stories of how we handled services last Sunday, how we got the word out that there were cancellations, etc. The decision to cancel Sunday worship always comes with regret for a whole variety of reasons which I won’t get into, but I missed you all last week, and hope you now have a chance to appreciate all the arrangements for the season which have been made by our worship team and others who prepare for these services.
This morning’s sermon will include material for both the first and the second Sunday of Advent; I know Mike Kauffman’s been looking forward to the double-header sermon. I’m not serious, but I do want to honor both of these biblical names, or titles, for Jesus, because they help expand our understanding of how much promise, anticipation, and even trepidation came with the birth of one baby. I believe these identities of Jesus also speak directly to how we live our lives and conduct ourselves today.
The name for last Sunday was Emmanuel, God With Us, and the primary biblical text I was going to reference is from Isaiah chapter 7. The prophet Isaiah is addressing a political situation, a war being waged on Jerusalem by Aram and the Ephraimites. Isaiah frames God’s promise in the symbolic names of three children. Hebrew names are words — sometimes combinations of words — which have symbolic meaning. The first child’s name means “a remnant shall return,” and the third child’s name means, “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens,” which is just as confusing as it sounds. I feel sorry for that kid’s kindergarten teacher. But it is the name of the second child which Isaiah elaborates on, and which sets the course for our Advent services. That name is Emmanuel, God With Us.
Part of the reason Emmanuel is so significant to Christians, besides the fact that even non-Hebrew speakers can pronounce it, is that this prophecy in Isaiah is referenced at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, specifically linking the birth of Jesuss, son of Mary and in the lineage of Joseph, to this 500 year old prophecy from Isaiah. What was a political and military promise in Isaiah becomes both intimate and divine and much, much broader in the gospel of Matthew. The Emmanuel of Isaiah’s prophecy is a promise for a certain people at a specific time; Matthew’s Emmanuel is salvation for all people for all time. Same name, entirely expanded scope and scale. I was inspired by the beauty and economy if how John Fillmore describes this on Day One of our Advent devotionals, “In Jesus, the Creator chooses to become like the creation, and to live among us. We cannot reach him, so he reaches us.”[1]
This is not simply God watching humanity from afar, likely with annoyance, frustration, or even sorrow. Isaiah 7:13 says (with some humor, I believe) “Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also?” In other words, is it not enough that you drive people crazy, but you have to make God crazy, too? In Jesus Christ, God reaches down to us and becomes human, God With Us, and changes all the rules of divine intention, divine intervention, and divine intention.
A little further on, in chapter 9 verse 6, we get another promise from the prophet Isaiah: For a child has been born for us, a son given to us: authority rests upon his shoulders and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This verse gives us the second title of Jesus: Prince of Peace. But the text I want us to consider is even a bit further into Isaiah, the one which Anne read for us. It’s a beautiful text, about the leader whom God will raise up, who will rule with righteousness and justice and equity for the poor. Even the creatures of the fields and wilderness will lay aside their enmity for one another, and the wolf shall live with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and calves and bear cubs will lie down together. This vision of the world in harmony is sometimes called The Peaceable Kingdom — it may have that heading in your Bible. Jesus is the ruler of this utopian vision of peace. To which I say, yeah, right. I always think of Woody Allen’s assessment of this passage which is, the lion will lie down with the lamb, but the lamb isn’t gonna get much sleep. I mean, c’mon, we know what animals are like and wolves and lambs are not going to suddenly become friends. Or if they do, it’s probably not going to end well for the lamb. People aren’t much different: it’s just crazy to think that people who have made a point of disagreeing or even killing each other are going to suddenly start getting along: Russians and Ukrainians; Palestinians and Israelites, Dinka and Nuer tribes, MAGA Republicans and radical left-wing Democrats, Ohio State and Michigan fans, are you kidding me?
It is worth pointing out that believing in Jesus Christ does not necessarily resolve these differences. For at least some of these pairs, including Russia and Ukraine and possibly Ohio State and Michigan, both parties would describe themselves as Christians. So what does it mean to claim Jesus as the Prince of Peace? I believe this answer gets to the crux of who Jesus is and his ministry on earth. And by crux, I mean cross, as in crucifixion — the point where Jesus’ humanity and divinity intersected. Peace is a fine thing to pray for and wish for other folks and to want for ourselves. But where the rubber hits the road is power. Are we able to be people who give up power, willingly, nonviolently for the sake of someone else’s good? It is the people with more power — the lions–who need to give that up for the lambs. Asking poor and vulnerable people to give more is another form of oppression. I will be the first to acknowledge that this is a terrible military or national security strategy. It likely won’t go far in ruling a country or staying in political office. It may not even work in office politics.
But I would remind you, friends, that Jesus intentionally did not become commander-in-chief of an army — a host of angels — a ‘host’ is a Roman term for a military unit. He did not claim political power — that was a temptation early in his ministry which he turned his back on. He wasn’t even in charge of a group of religious leaders. Jesus claimed a different kind of power. He gave up all those other kinds of power and gave up his life for our sake so we could have peace with God through the cross. There are Christians who are following this example every day. Nigerian Christians have been persecuted, and continue to be persecuted by the Muslim Boko Haram. There was recently another kidnapping of students. As far as I know, there is not one incident of Ekklesia Yanuwa a Nigeria Brethren retaliating with violence. You heard about some of the church planters in S. Sudan; people who are willing to continue to witness to Christ in a place of civil war, but just want to be sure their families are moved to safety — in a refugee camp. Maybe you think these people are crazy, but they are living out what it means to follow the Prince of Peace. I am so grateful for the stories which Sharon has shared with us today, and for the work and the witness of the Church of the Brethren. The Brethren in S. Sudan are courageous in ways I have never had to be. Thank you, and may God bless your ministry and protect our partners around the world as they model what it is to follow the Prince of Peace. Amen.
[1] John Fillmore, Word Among Us Brethren Press, Elgin, IL 2025. November 30.