December 9, 2018 Pastor Tim Burchill Unwrapping the Names of Jesus: Lion and Lamb Scripture: Revelatiaon 5: 1-6, 11-13; Isaiah 11:6-9 Lion In Sheep s Clothing or Lamb in Lion s Clothing? So many glowing tributes to the statesmanship of the late President H.W. Bush. I wanted to share with you the headline that stood out most for me. [Show the slide]. You ve got to appreciate a leader who is commanding enough to take an uncompromising stand on Cruciferous vegetables. Okay, strong stand, weak issue. And even then, this was obviously a partisan stance that did not take a creamy cheese sauce into account. I had a conversation with an acquaintance about Christmas cards, I think it was. And she was saying how much she loved it when she got cards with a lion lying down next to a lamb. This person is a Christian and mentioned that she loved the prophecy that image came from. I told her that actually the lion isn t lying down next to a lamb it s a wolf. No, she was sure it was a lion. Actually, I said, the lion is lying down with a baby cow, or at least they were munching some hay together. She hated to call a pastor out on things biblical so she didn t say much at the time, but she was clearly not convinced. I went home and did a key word search just to be safe, and nowhere could I find lion s and lambs lying down anywhere near each other. A few days later I ran into her and she gave me a rather penetrating look and asked me point blank: So where IS the damn Lion? I grew up with a lion and a lamb and they were snuggling together all warm & cozy, where s that come from if not from the Bible? Here s the passage in question, which comes from the 11 th chapter of Isaiah. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper s nest. 9 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. You know, she still had a pretty good question. Why are we so determined to get the lion to lie down with the Lamb? I think it is no accident. In fact, I think it might be a key to helping us understand God s vision of the way the world should and will one day be. In the verses right before this passage, Isaiah the prophet offers a glimpse into what God s Kingdom is going to look like. In this vision, the Ruler God puts on the throne for his people is going to be patient and understanding while at the same time he won t be shy about giving direction and being strong in his approach to governing. This Ruler isn t going to judge by appearances he isn t going to defer to the rich and powerful, but will judge each person gently, according to his or her own merits. Actually if you look at the job description for the coming King you begin to see someone who is one part Lion and one part lamb. [Use chart with slide] As for the lion traits, the new king David will be Strong, Independent, principled, and decisive. After all, his presence will inspire awe and his breath will slay the wicked. As for the lamb characteristics God s anointed one will be Steady & loyal, able to follow God the way sheep follow a shepherd. This king will be busy looking out for whole flock the poor and overlooked lambs as well as the loud and large ewes and rams. This is not a distant and aloof monarch. This is a ruler set apart by his ability to understand and to give wise counsel. I say this King is one part Lion and one part Lamb because the shalom the harmony and peace of his reign will be so deep and so profound that it will resonate and alter even the natural world. Hence the wolves and sheep, the leopards and the goats, the lions and the calves, the bears and the cows will no longer prey on one another. The weak will no longer be at the mercy of the strong even out in the wilds of God s creation. The predator will no longer need its sharp claws or teeth and the prey will no longer fear the scent of its enemy or what hides in the darkness of night. The lion chews straw like a lamb and a lamb pounces and flounces with the lion as if it were one of its cubs. In God s kingdom lamb-like and lion-like
characteristics are both virtues depending where you are and what is going on around you. We live in a time and place in which being a Lion is valued a whole lot more than being a Lamb. Strong leaders who know what is right and do what is right who take control in chaotic situations: charming their enemies into cooperation, and keeping their friends moving in the right direction this is what gets held up in business school, in national office, and even in seminaries, training the next generation of pastors. We love lions. Well we do and we don t. Don t forget that Herod was a lion s lion. He ruled little Judea with an iron hand. He was rich, powerful, as diplomatically brilliant as he was politically ruthless. If there is a villain on the scene when Jesus comes into the world it s Herod. Herod hears that a new King has come, born in Bethlehem, he decides it s his safest bet to kill all the male children in that town two years or younger. Caesar Augustus was one of history s greatest lions. Rome s greatest and most powerful Emperor forces a poor carpenter to take his wife-to-be in the last stages of her pregnancy across rough roads to complete a census so he could better fuel his Imperial ambitions. Caesar didn t know the meaning of the phrase tax cut. And just as all lions are not created equal, not all Lambs should not be dismissed out of hand either. We don t value lamb like qualities a whole lot today. It s become something of a idiom to describe a group as sheep or even sheeple meaning the wooly-headed mob that will move blindly forward at the prompting of the first shepherd they see. Loyalty, and reliability though great qualities to have in your friends or coworkers are hardly the virtues we covet for ourselves. But isn t Mary a lamb? When the angel comes and communicates to her the miracle of what God had planned for her Mary doesn t quibble, argue, or stand up for her rights. She simply says, let it be so. And yet without Mary s willingness to follow God s leading our Christmas story would never get started. For that matter isn t Joseph also lamb like? He is a kind man and when he finds out his betrothed is pregnant he decides to break off the engagement quietly so as to spare Mary further public humiliation. And when God comes to him in a dream, Joseph chooses the hard path the non-testosterone driven, not the what kind of sucker do you take me for path, but he too stays loyal to God and loyal to Mary. The poor & downtrodden of Israel are lambs: shepherds, pilgrims traveling in and out of Bethlehem, soldiers and census bureaucrats, innkeepers
lots of folks trying just to make it through to their next pay check, trying to feed and clothe their children, hoping and waiting for God to fulfill his promise. The lion and lamb are forever wedded together in our minds. It is an image from which so much of our understanding of the Christmas story comes from. The King that is to come must be lion and lamb. The Kingdom God that is breaking into this world through Jesus Christ requires both lambs and lions to make the shalom, the balance and harmony of God s peace a reality. God s people today need lions and lambs. In fact, on any given day we lambs might have to act more lion like than we are comfortable in order to stand up for our faith or for a weaker sister or brother. If you re a lamb how might God need you to step up and roar like a lion? Racist joke, coworker being taken advantage of or harassed, a child that refuses to learn from their mistakes, confronting a loved one who is destroying their lives through alcoholism. On any given day we lions might have to step back and act more lamb-like. Maybe it s time to let someone else take the lead, let someone else share the insight, let someone else take the credit. Lions might have to let others learn the hard way and not try to step in and fix things right away. They may have to stop long enough to hear that still, small voice and substitute God s leadership for their own. In doing the right thing, at the right time, means that every one of us may have to go against our natural temperament for the sake of the Kingdom. At the core of Isaiah s vision is the promise that with God lion s can contentedly feast on straw and God s lambs can push aside wolves in order to nibble a choice bit of grass. Isaiah vision is a balancing act of complementary gifts & virtues that bring with them a promise of abundant and eternal peace. Here s the reason we so much want the lion lying down with the lamb. It is because the Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ is the lion of Judah and he is the lamb of God. Two titles both ascribed to Jesus Names that we ve unwrapped this morning. Jesus is the bold prophet who has brought the light of God into the darkness. He fearlessly speaks truth to those in power, drives corrupt merchants from the Temple, sends the forces of evil packing and conquers death itself. But Jesus is also the lamb of God. He is the worthy sacrifice a lamb without blemish or moral compromise-- who lays down his life in order to take away the sins of the world. He who was without sin became sin so that we who are steeped in sin might be forgiven and made clean.
We want the lion to lie down with the lamb because the One we wait for is the Lion who also a Lamb. Somehow we intuitively know that we will need both if we are truly going to be saved. Benediction: When the word becomes flesh, we witness the Lion who willingly becomes a lamb. Here is the lion above all lions who shaves his mane, loses his roar, and pulls out each claw solely for the sake of us lambs. This is unlike any lion we have ever known. In Jesus Christ we have the sacrificial Lamb who is exalted to King to whom every knee bows, every tongue confesses the highest worship for the humbled one. This is unlike any lamb we have ever known. And that is just the point. God s power is unlike anything we know in this world. It is made perfect in weakness. Amidst the hay and swaddling cloths, the lion and lamb lie down together in that manger. And even from our vantage point we cannot miss the strength and obedience that emanates from within. There is the power to save me. The power to move me The power to stop me The power to make me confident The power to make me humble. The power to love what is unlovable The power to stand up to what is unconscionable