FILO: Advent for the Church Technical ArtistPrimjer

Today, we are looking at a passage from Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1-10.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

The prophet Isaiah talks about the coming Messiah, who it will be, and what he will be like. In chapter 11, Isaiah lists some of the coming Messiah’s characteristics; as a tech person, verse 3 stood out to me.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;

This sounds like the person I wish would visit the booth from time to time, instead of everyone with an opinion on my mix! More than that, it is a great reminder that you and I aren’t defined by what we do or how well we do it. The Messiah that Isaiah talks about will see past the lights, the mix, and the color grade on that exceptional Christmas video and look upon our hearts.

As you work hard this Christmas season, remember that you are more than what you do or how well you do it. When Isaiah wrote this, the idea that someone would come and judge humanity differently from how it had historically been judged probably seemed like a revelation. For those people hearing Isaiah’s words, I can imagine the longing for someone who would create a world where:

The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

In our world, maybe we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we are putting our hands into a snake’s nest, but there are plenty of situations I can think of where it would be nice for people on opposing sides to work together harmoniously. Tech people and worship leaders, I’m talking to you!

We have the chance to take part in a life with Christ, which is something that Isaiah’s contemporaries could only long for.

As we enter this first week of Advent, contemplate what life would look like if we anticipated Christ transforming our lives in the ways Isaiah describes.

For us today, the beauty of waiting for Christ is that we don’t have to.

- Todd Elliott