Advent: Breaking through Oppression

Day 1 of 5: First Sunday: Promise

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
-Isaiah 9:2-7 (NRSV)

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Isaiah is a book full of political undertones. The first part of Isaiah is full of warnings about not being dependent on foreign or political entities, for they will continue to oppress and use their power to control. Isaiah, like the other prophets in the First Testament, is a justice-oriented genre.

On our shoulders we hold the burden of our oppression, but the hope of the prophet Isaiah is that these burdens will be eliminated. The imagery is intense. Take verse 5 for example. The warrior oppressors come to destroy and subject the people of Israel to their power. These boots and bloody clothes being consumed by the fire come off their very backs. These objects are representations of the bloody war going on.

Blood is all around us. Transgender people of color are being murdered in cold blood and die by suicide at greater rates than other communities. LGBTQ+ youth are abandoned by their families and friends and left on the streets trying to scrape by. The blood of BIPOC is spilled in their cars, parks, and beds.

Isaiah promises us that it isn’t the blood of the oppressed that will burn and fuel the fire, but the boots that tramp on the oppressed. The oppressed will be lifted up. The rod of oppression that we have shouldered is broken. It has turned into leadership and authority that rests on the shoulders of the hoped-for political leader and warrior king to lead Israel out of their dependence on the oppressive political and foreign forces.

God is committed to justice and righteousness — for the ancient Israelites and for us, too. God has brought about and is continuing to bring about victories for peace.

And so we continue to fight for peace. We look to the God who is the Ground of All Being, who moves in and through us, who works all things together for our good, who loves and chooses us, who cares for us as our blood is spilled by the oppressor and promises to consume those whose bloodied boots trampled us.

We hold, in our souls, this God who promises to deliver us.

Suggested reading: Psalm 122 Suggested listenings: “Process” by Beautiful Chorus, “May You Find the Light” by The Brilliance

Mallory Woodard

Day 1 of 5: First Sunday: Promise

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