December 9, 2009 - My Personal Government

     'Seems as though poor King Ahaz was having some real trouble at home with his kingdom. It was in a shambles. There was a huge threat from the north, the Assyrians; and a huge threat from within, citizens who were expecting great things; and a huge issue of a collapsing army at the very gates of Jerusalem. King Ahaz was at the point of grasping at straws, (and that was about all he had left).
You see, poor old King Ahaz had become king following his granddaddy, King Uzziah. King Ahaz had never been quite the king his granddaddy had been, and everybody knew the grandson was a bit weak when it came to spiritual matters and military matters. They also knew he was pretty good at keeping a stable of wives, enjoying fine festive parties, and taking regular ski vacations to Mt. Herman with his friends. But all ‘this aside, the king had tried to hold off Assyria all by himself, and now, he was a miserable failure all hunkered down in Jerusalem awaiting the final sword to fall.
     As a trembling mass of failed kingship, the fearful king invited Isaiah over to the “War Room” to get some assurance that God was still on his side. He wanted some big assurance in the form of a great sign, so all the people would know he was a “real” king and had some great power in an alliance between himself and God. So the prophet Isaiah gives him a sign and says: “A young woman will give birth to a child whose name will be called Immanuel, God with us.”
     King Ahaz must have scratched his head, "skewed-up" his face, twisted his neck side-ways, and responded with something like, “Huh?,” whereupon, I am sure, Isaiah repeated the "sign" to the probable response from King Ahaz of something akin to: “Baby? I don’t need 'no' stinking baby. I need some weapons, brave troops, a plan, some pestilence to fall upon the Assyrians, or a way out of Jerusalem to my house over at the Gaza Strip. I don’t need 'no' woman having 'no' baby!”
     It was then that Isaiah added gravy to the biscuits when he said: “And the government will be upon his shoulders.” This caused a thundering and great "guffaw" from King Ahaz, for even if he was trapped, defeated, weak, and woeful, the king still had sense enough to know that none of this prophetic offering was going to help him out of his corner of anxiety. He also knew that, if you placed the weight he was carrying on his shoulders onto the shoulders of a baby, the result would be “nothing," “emptiness," “futility," and “uselessness." He did not actually recognize that having a baby in charge would bring much of a different result as compared to what he was accomplishing on his own, minus the ski trips.
     King Ahaz did not see any of this prophetic word from Isaiah as being good news. This proffered Good News did not give him any wiggle room within this situation in which he found himself sorely needing to wiggle. This Good News did not give him any peace that, in fact, "it was all going to be okay." This Good News did not give him a reassurance that what he had done to this point would be overlooked, and he would be pronounced a victorious ruler. This Good News did not give him a way to save face and avoid the ridicule and shame of being a faithless leader.
     The only news this saying brought to King Ahaz is the same news it brings to all of us today. The prophetic word of Isaiah delivered the news that King Ahaz (and we), are not actually the kings of our lives after all. The good words were the news that this baby would not only be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords but would, in reality, be the Lord of our lives in every way west of China. This Good News of a baby tells us that we are not in control, and there is no hope to be found in our good works and wisdom, and the only hope is in God.
     This Good News is that the Lord is going to take the burden of being in charge of our lives off our shoulders and put it squarely on the shoulders of the baby, called Immanuel. If we put ourselves in the place of King Ahaz, this bizarre promise makes no sense. The assuring prophecy may seem strange, sound unusual, may not appear to be an effective political solution, but nonetheless, the words foretell the work of God.
     I am personally thankful that “my personal government” is being borne on the shoulders of the Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Rev. Dan Martin is pastor of First UMC, Hendersonville. He can be reached at moose1953@hotmail.com