“Trust the Spirit to Tame the Wolf”
a sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
2nd Sunday of Advent, December 9,2007
Text: Isaiah 11: 1-10
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf
Big bad wolf, big bad wolf?
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
Tra la la la la
According to a variety of online sources, the Big Bad Wolf originated as a villain in European folk tales of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Big Bad Wolf made his theatrical debut in a Walt Disney short animation back in 1933. His original name was the Big Old Wolf but the singers of the soundtrack kept singing Big Bad Wolf, as it trips off the tongue better, and the new name eventually stuck.
The story starts with the three little pigs, Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Pig, leaving their mother to set off into the wide world. Big Bad, whose favorite phrase is Pigs are mighty good eatin', comes across the pigs. Having mighty big lungs he huffs and he puffs and he blows down the houses of Fiddler and Fifer, who are forced to take refuge with Practical Pig. Practical Pig made his house of brick and although Big Bad tries hard he cannot blow it down. So Big Bad does some lateral thinking and decides to climb up to the roof and slink down the chimney. Unfortunately for him, while descending he falls into the boiling pan in the fire below and perishes.
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
Tra la la la la
In our time the pigs are thriving and the wolves are on the endangered species list. Here in the Southeast, our brand of wolf is the red wolf. The US Fish and Wildlife Service reports only about 300 red wolves in existence, and less than 100 of these animals are in the wild. So there are just not many wolves to be afraid of, unless, of course, you count the wolf hovering at your door. Wolves in the wild may be on the ropes, but the wolf of financial woe is alive and well, and for many of us, is howling into the night, and getting closer and closer to our front door.
Wolves in the wild may be on the ropes, but the wolf of substance abuse, of alcohol and drug addiction, stalks our neighborhoods and steals too many of our young. Wolves in the wild may be on the ropes, but that callous old cancer wolf seems to be lurking behind every tree and bush here in the domesticated city. Wolves in the wild may be on the ropes but the wolf who brings on the ravages of age, the pain and the infirmities that seem to be the cruel reward for longevity-- that wolf is stronger than ever. Wolves in the wild may be on the ropes but the wolf who spreads the vicious plague of family dysfunction, the epidemic of violence, the scourge of warfare is on the prowl in huge numbers.
Yes, for too many nations, too many people, too many of us, the wolf is at the door and good Christian men and women want to know what is God going do about it?
Enter the prophet Isaiah, who tells us today that God has a plan:
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
a branch shall grow out of his roots.
(And) the spirit of the LORD shall rest on him . . . . vv. 1-2
The language is archaic, the images are strange. Perhaps a bit of biblical background will be helpful. In the midst of ancient Israel’s utter despair--Jerusalem, the City of Zion, has been reduced to a mere stump. The royal line of King David, stretching back to his father, Jesse, has been cut off--nothing but a few scraggly roots can be seen. In the midst of Israel’s misery and resignation the poet/prophet has a vision of God’s “spirit.” Note that in Hebrew, wind and spirit are both translated from the same Hebrew word--ruach! In the midst of Israel’s complete desolation Isaiah has vision of God’s “spirit:” “God’s life-giving, future-creating, world-forming, despair-ending power and wind, which can create an utter newness.”1
For Jerusalem, for all of Israel a whole pack of menacing wolves is at the door, howling, scratching, terrifying. But the wolves are no match for the Spirit. The poetry of Isaiah proclaims: “The Spirit will prevail! The wind will win . . . .”2 and the wolves will cease to be a threat. Look at the little “shoot” emerging from the Davidic line. So small, tiny in the way of infants, hardly noticed, and yet filled with the powerful, life-giving Spirit.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. vv. 2-3
The benefits of this new governance will stretch far beyond Israel. So powerful, so effective will this spirit-led, wind-driven administration be that creation itself will be restored, brutality tamed, even death--overcome. The old antagonisms-- the wolf vs. the lamb, the leopard vs. the kid, the calf vs. lion, cow vs. bear, lion vs. ox . . . . The oldest of enemies will become friends.3 “And a little child shall lead them”(v. 6),”the nursing child shall play”(v.8a), and “the weaned child” will play unharmed, with the poisonous snake(v.8b).
Notice how quiet the wolf at the door has become. A few minutes ago, all we could hear was the howling, scratching, clawing of the wolf, and all that threatens the health, stability, and peace of family, community, and nation. But not anymore. Turns out that the Big Bad Wolf, though he may huff and puff, and try to blow us down, cannot himself withstand the wind/spirit that is blowing and free. The new wind blowing across these ancient pages of Holy Scripture, new wind blowing through the centuries. The powerful wind/spirit blowing here through the community of faith, through this congregation, cannot be contained.
The challenge of Advent--this season of waiting and watching. . . . The challenge of Advent is this: to trust the new wind, to trust the Holy Spirit. And trusting the Spirit to tame the wolf, our faithful response is to open the door, reach out and touch the quiet, tamed wolf. The now quiet, now tamed wolf that has for so long menaced us, but is now so gentle that he can lay with the lamb in the peaceable kingdom of God.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (v. 9)
Among the many legends about St. Frances of Assisi is the tale of the wolf. It seems that a vicious wolf was terrorizing the village of Gubbio killing and eating animals. Brave men who went out to track this wolf down never came back, and the villagers became afraid to leave their huts. Enter St. Frances, who ventured into the wild, confronted the wolf, challenged him to repent, and blessed him with forgiveness of his sins. Then St. Frances led the docile wolf into the center of town, and negotiated a truce between man and beast. The wolf agreed to stop terrorizing the village, and the villagers agree to feed the wolf.
Perhaps there is some application here to your situation. I invite you to imagine that the mighty Spirit of God has tamed the wolf that once was howling at your door. The Spirit has elicited a pledge from that wolf to threaten you no more. In turn, your challenge is to feed the wolf. If, for example, stress is your wolf, feed it with relaxation. If loneliness is your wolf, feed it with new initiatives of friendship. If debt is your wolf, feed it with fresh frugality. If doubt and despair are your wolves, feed them with Isaiah’s vision-- Isaiah’s vision of the Spirit of God at work in the world, making it possible for the wolf to lie down with the lamb, the leopard, with the kid, the calf, with the lion, and a little child shall lead them.
Now to the One
who by the power at work within us
is able to do far more abundantly
than all we ask or imagine,
to God be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20, 21
1 Brueggemann, Walter, TEXTS FOR PREACHING, Year A, p. 11.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.