Wouldn’t it be great to live in a perfect world––where there were none of the imperfections, troubles and worries that we have at the moment? In a perfect world people who are 50 would feel as good as they did when they were 16.
In his dream Jonah said, “God, I know you. You’re gracious and merciful. You abound in steadfast love. Why should I risk my neck? You’re going to forgive them anyway.” But Jonah was too smart to say this out loud.
Isaiah wrote about the peaceable kingdom almost 3,000 years ago. We’re no closer to making it a reality today than the people of Israel were then. But let’s look for a minute at what Isaiah said would happen before the peaceable kingdom came.
How strange that shepherding would be such a lowly profession, yet it was the way God, through the prophet Jeremiah, described the king. It is also a common image used for God.
In the hospital, I asked Vanessa what her favorite Bible story was. She spoke of the boy Jesus staying behind in the temple. She liked it because—“Sometimes kids just do things. Even Jesus got in trouble once in a while when he was a kid.”
The story of Jonah begins innocently enough: “One day the Lord spoke to Jonah, son of Amittai. He said ‘Go to Nineveh.'” Tthat sounds like an easy instruction; sort of like God saying “Go to Omaha.” But to Jonah, God’s command was a curse.
Donald Woods, a South African, had defended apartheid. Then something changed his life. It was a small thing, but it made a big difference. He read these words by Abraham Lincoln: “What is morally wrong can never be politically right.”
Where is a reliable voice to reassure us? The voice of Isaiah was such a voice. He spoke to a people who had little hope. They were desperate. Isaiah proclaimed that God would send them a leader who would guide them through their hard times.
This is a story about three groups of people headed in the wrong direction. First, there was Jonah, chosen by God to be a prophet. Second, there was the crew of a merchant ship. Third, there were the people of the city of Nineveh, who were evil and offensive to God.
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth, all right, but that’s only the beginning. What we celebrate at Christmas is actually the beginning of a new way of life made possible by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.