And His Name Shall Be Called – Wonderful Counsellor

Advent II

Reformation, Media

Larry V. Smoose

There are two kinds of burdens – those that are imposed on us without our permission or desire, and those that we impose upon ourselves.  Among the former are illness, the death of loved ones, disasters, disease, the impact of war or violence, job downsizing, where and when we are born, and our genetic make up. .  Among the latter are broken relationships within families or the community; meeting cultural expectations in terms of the number and value of gifts purchased, number of activities in which we are involved, amount of time we spend at work; the income we require for the desired fancier car or second home and the substitution of lots of things rather than lots of time as evidence of our love for children and spouse. 

The source of our burdens does not matter.  What matters is how we recognize them and how we handle them.  Throughout history, God has been concerned with us, and woven into the words and revelations of scripture are passages designed to help us lighten the load.  At the center of God’s plan is the one whose name shall be called “Wonderful Counselor.” 

As we read this beautiful passage from Isaiah 11, we begin to see the character of the one who is the source of our help and our hope – the Wonderful Counselor.  It begins, for me, with a scene that is still fresh in my mind from a vacation many years ago.  We were camping at Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina, and as we often did when at a national park, we took advantage of some of the free ranger-guided programs.  As we hiked through the trails of this beautiful old growth forest, the ranger pointed to some young saplings.  He explained that this entire forest was once covered with the mighty American Chestnut.  It was a grand tree, cherished in colonial days and lauded in poetry.  A terrible disease began to devastate the trees in the early 1900’s and by 1940 the trees were virtually extinct.  The ranger was pointing out young saplings that kept springing up from the stumps of the fallen trees – someday, he said, we hope that a disease resistant variety can be produced from these saplings.

Ever since that experience, the sapling sprouting up out of the chestnut tree stump has been my image of this verse in Isaiah – it reminds me of God’s promise that no matter how terrible the tragedy, not matter how difficult the problem, no matter how heavy the burden, no matter how long it takes, God will persist in overcoming all of the obstacles that prevent us from living the full, productive, peaceful, healthy life that we were meant to enjoy.  Why, when Isaiah wrote that verse, he was primarily concerned about all the problems his nation was facing, which, I might add, God took care of in the ensuring years. 

But God, whose purposes always exceed our thoughts and imagination, meant this to be an image for all burdened or oppressed people, for all time, and so some seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote this, God sent another one – A Wonderful Counselor for all people and all time, to help the fullness of this prophecy to come true.  The qualities of this promised one were the same that Isaiah had forseen, because the Spirit of the Lord rested on him.  Even before I begin to talk about the specific qualities that this entails, I want you to keep something else in mind – it is a phrase that we use at every baptism, and repeat at every confirmation.  We place our hands on the head of the person being baptized or confirmed, and we say a prayer, in which we ask for God to fill this person with God’s Spirit – the same spirit envisioned by Isaiah.  Listen again to those words we repeat:  “The Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. . .”

These gifts were initially meant for kings – those responsible to rule over nations with all of the difficulty and perplexity involved.  They were the gifts necessary for a sovereign to rule properly.  But in the new age, initiated by Jesus, we are all kings.  As I Peter proclaims, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.  So these gifts are meant for us.  As we embrace these gifts of the Spirit, we receive the qualities necessary to rule our lives, ease our burdens, and overcome every obstacle that life can through at us.  Not because we are so strong or great, but because these qualities ask us to rely on the power of God’s Spirit, which is so great. 

The Spirit of Wisdom and understanding – this is the capacity to make good decisions, to judge alternative courses of action.  There are two elements here – first, to be able to act in accordance with existing circumstances.  How many times have you said, “When I was a kid . . .”  Life was different when I was a kid, a lot less complicated.  We did not have all of the choices and opportunities that kids have today.  That’s both good and bad – but it’s also reality.  Our decisions have to be made within today’s context.  That’s why we need understanding, which is a clear appreciation of the situation.  It is not always obvious what the best course of action will be, we have to think it through, consider alternatives and try to set aside our own personal opinions and subjectivity in order to render an objective decision – yes, this is language of the legal system and judges, which was one of the functions of kings like Solomon, who was known for his wisdom. 

As we face life’s burdens and crises, we need to draw upon God’s gifts of wisdom and understanding to help us determine what our course of action shall be, always with the purpose of discerning God’s will.  These gifts are designed to help bring about agreement between our will and the will of God, because God wants what is only best for us. 

That brings us to the next set of gifts – Counsel and might.  This is the ability to distinquish between reality and appearance.  Wisdom and understanding provide the foundation for the gift of counsel, because it helps us distinguish between those who truly seek the higher good and those who are self-serving advisors.  Lobbyists, advertisers and special interest groups all would like us to believe they have our best interests at heart.  The Spirit of Counsel sorts through their ulterior motives and selfish ploys to be able to discern reality from appearances and make decisions based upon what will truly benefit your life and the lives of those around you. 

Might –  Might enables you to translate your decision into actions because the spirit not only provides you with good and honest counsel, but on heroic strength to act on those precepts that are consistent with what God knows is best for you.  We do not rely on our own power or abilities, but on the power of God.     

We also need the ability and power to push aside all the forces that claim “to know” what is best for us and pull us away from our allegiance to God and God’s ways.  This requires not only counsel and might, but also the gift of the Knowledge of God.  In the midst of all of the forces in our world, and they are considerable, to learn God’s ways and to have confidence to cling to God’s presence is so important.  You know the kinds of idols we have constructed in our culture today – they have great power.  Unless we can name the idols and understand how different their motivations are from God’s love of us, the burdens will only become greater, for idols are always meant to enslave us, weaken our resolve and use us for their own purposes. 

That’s why we also need the Fear of the Lord.  This is not being afraid – it is a sense of respect and awe for God which is evident in the values we express in our lives.  Where love is evident, when righteousness and justice are sought in our decisions, when our concern is for those with less and those who are pushed aside by society, we demonstrate Fear/Respect for the Lord.   

Where all of these qualities are nurtured and embraced, lives are lived differently, challenges are responded to in another way, and a sense of peace and confidence is pervasive, because God’s promises never fail, and he promises to sustain us – like the sapling coming out of a dead stump, God will keep on renewing us.

You have seen it time and again – a fire consumes our home, an illness devastates our body, a series of accidents pummel our life, a flood flattens our town, and some people are able to withstand the force, express their loss, renew their strength, and walk, or perhaps like Christopher Reed, or some of our injured soldiers, propel their wheelchair into the future with acceptance and purpose. 

Or, the way that some kids have every toy you can imagine and move from one package to the next hardly pausing to look at what they have received, but only asking “what else did I get” – while others, with far less, delightfully play and enjoy what they have.  “How can the people in Africa be so happy,” we ask, as if material goods are the answer to everything.  As one 7 year old, who was asked what love is said, "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Wasn’t it Isaiah who said, “a little child shall lead us, . . .”  In the end, that child is the one who is filled with and fills us with the Spirit of the Lord, so that casting all of our burdens on him, we may find rest in our souls.  I don’t know what burdens you bring with you today, but I do know this – you have been infused at Baptism with the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  If you draw upon those gifts, God’s promise is to sustain us, and finally bring us to that day when there is no more grief or crying, no more feuding among families or nations, no more false idols and empty promises, but only the peace of God.  May that peace be yours in these weeks ahead as you embrace the one who is called “Wonderful Counselor.

Amen.