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Posted: 12/02/2007

The Church and the Nations

ISAIAH'S VIEW OF ADVENT Isaiah 2:1-5 The images, the verb tenses, and the figures of speech with which Isaiah introduces this prophecy shed light on Advent. Though his perspective comes before the incarnation of our Lord, the prophet's view gives us insight into the biblical teaching on Advent. For us living in the days after the New Testament, we are accustomed to referring to the Kingdom of Christ as both "here" and "not yet". By that we mean that He has come and has brought the beginnings of His Kingdom, but the fullness of it will not be with us until His return in glory. For Isaiah it was a different perspective, of necessity. He could only anticipate that the Kingdom would come, that a Messiah would initiate its rule. This much he did see, and he expressed it in these verses. "It shall come to pass" (verse 2) Isaiah realized that the Kingdom had not yet arrived. He was looking into the future when he prophesied, "One day for sure in the future, this shall occur. This has not yet occurred, for it is impossible for God's Kingdom to arrive without His King." "In the latter days" was a common expression of time. The Chronicles were known as "The Days". For those living prior to the New Testament days, this figure of speech looked forward to the time of the reign of God's Messiah. There would be a definite change of epoch from the one they knew, a change arriving with the Redeemer. "The mountain of the Lord's house" was none other than Zion, the crowning mount of God's citadel, Israel. This was the home of the Law, the source of God's revelation, the locus of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was the highest image Isaiah could use to elicit the image of the presence of the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. "Shall be established" is in the perfect tense, tying the event into reality but a reality in the future. This shall have been established when the Kingdom arrives. "All nations shall flow to it" because then the Lord will no longer be a local deity of Israel as Chemosh is of Babylon. God will be known throughout the entire world and will triumph over all religions. Can we see what Isaiah saw? From his vantage point he knew the Kingdom would come to pass, that the latter days would begin on the arrival of the Messiah, and then the universality of His Kingdom would begin. What do we see that Isaiah could not? He had it right as far as he could see. What he couldn't anticipate was the "latter days" representing the interregnum of time between Jesus' time on earth and His return. The latter days would be the time for the Church's witness to the nations, drawing them to the mount of the Lord. Then will come the close of the ages, the return of Christ the King, and His eternal rule over all the nations.

		THE LEAST EVANGELIZED .... THROUGH THE EYES OF THE NIGERIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT Isaiah includes another statement, one that describes the call of the church to the nations. "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. He will teach us His ways, and we can walk in His paths." This is evangelism plain and simple. Nothing fancy, just proclamation by one sinner to another. In Nigeria earlier this month we met one of these sinners who was eager to tell others of the love of the Lord. Musa Tula was a priest of a diocese in Gombe, in northern Nigeria many years ago. His bishop picked him up one day to take him well into the bush where he knew of a group of villages that had never heard the Gospel. Off they went. They drove until the road became a path and until the path became a trail. Then they stopped. It was midnight. The bishop was convinced that if these people of that vicinity would but hear the Gospel, they would eagerly respond. No matter the time of night, no matter the strangeness of the surroundings. They pulled out the sheet used for a screen, cranked up the generator, and began showing the Jesus Film. The people stirred, checked it out, and then came, house by house, village by village, all of them, by the hundreds. The response was as the bishop predicted - overwhelming. Never before had these people heard of a God other than their own deities. Never had they dreamed of the Creator of heaven knowing and loving them. Never in their wildest dreams had they hoped for a kingdom that would right everything that was so rotten and a peace that would invade hearts riddled with fear. The counseling by the bishop and Musa continued until daybreak. Those watching were moved to tears over the cruelty of the cross. Musa and the bishop counseling them not to cry for Him but for your own sin before the holy God whose Son brought forgiveness to repentant sinners. Many did and learned of the Lord's ways and resolved to follow His paths. For them on that night with those truths, those hundreds of people of that nation flowed to the top of Zion, learned the Lord's ways, and took their first steps inside the Lord's Kingdom.

Church Steps . . . Towards the Nations The Book of Common Prayer makes a wise recommendation for this time of year. It recommends that we pray the Collect for the First Sunday in Advent daily throughout the season of Advent. Sunday Scenes gives a weekly comment on the lectionary for a cumulative perspective on the missionary theme of Scripture.