“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Is. 9:6-7).
I realize that it might seem kind of strange to read these verses at a June wedding, but hey, we’re almost half-way to Christmas. And my kids, with River leading the way, have insisted on singing and playing Christmas carols year round in my house for many years. There’s almost a sort of Sicilian-mafia loyalty to Christmas in my home, in which my kids sometimes even snitch on the kids and teachers in their classes at school that refuse to sing or listen to Christmas carols at other times of the year. I don’t know what my kids think I can do about it. I’m just a pastor.
While this is one of the great prophecies of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament, I assume it’s Handel’s Messiah that has drilled these verses into our culture: “unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given…” But the Prophet is speaking in the midst of significant cultural and political turmoil. And He’s talking about a Virgin giving birth, and a Child being born and then lions laying down with lambs, and a child playing with vipers, and then for many chapters God’s government of the world is pictured in stars and trees and mountains and wind and rivers. Here Isaiah’s Child King is specifically said to have a “government” on his shoulders and a government that continually increases. And if you’re a good conservative, you might be a bit concerned: don’t we want less government? And why is Jesus carrying Washington D.C. around on His shoulders?
I stopped by the CrossPolitic Studio before I left Moscow, and as I was leaving, I said goodbye to my good friend David Shannon (AKA “Chocolate Knox”), and he said, “so you’re going to form a new government.” And after a brief pause, I said yes. So, yes, I’ve come to the Commonwealth of Virginia to form a new government. I sort of hope the FBI is listening.
Gary Demar has pointed out that in early America, the dictionary listed as the first definition of the word “government” as simply self-government. Other definitions listed referred to family or church (or businesses or schools). But when referring to the state, it was almost always designated as “civil government” to distinguish it from the other, more ordinary forms of government (self-government, family. or church). It is almost entirely inverted today. If I say government, you think Washington D.C. or maybe state or local, but almost without question, you think of the civil sphere. You think of modern politics. Which tells you something about what most orients our modern society. In early America it was individuals ruling themselves virtuously, and then forming families and gathering together as churches that formed the most essential governments for human flourishing.
This was based on a far more biblical understanding of the world. In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, and He blessed them and told them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and have dominion over all the animals. And ever since, well-rounded human beings spend their time working and eating and laughing and singing and dancing and creating and inventing. And right away this suggests other people, communities, and this is why the early Americans thought of family and church as the centers of that fruitful community life. You eat with the people you live with, and you tell stories and you laugh and you work and you sing and you rest. And that is multiplied as families gather for worship at church and gather as extended families and neighbors to celebrate holidays. Families have shops and businesses, gardens and pets, hobbies and traditions. And in the older biblical view, this was the center of government. This was the primary politics: human dominion. People governed their time and money and property and animals in order to care for their families and neighbors. And then if some large threat loomed on the horizon, we agreed to band together to defend that way of life.
But that is a very different vision from one in which government and politics is primarily something that happens on C-SPAN (which is about as exciting as watching paint dry, and then you find out you owe thousands of more dollars in taxes). Even when civil government tries to do good, it’s like asking the DMV to run a soup kitchen. It’s inefficient, ugly, and impersonal. A Christian vision for government begins with individuals and marriage and families, and gathering for worship every Sunday. But if your idea of government is ugly office buildings and cubicles, and bills that are thousands of pages long that nobody has actually read, well, that kind of government will be radically dehumanizing and tyrannical. But the government and Dominion of Jesus Christ is a truly humane government: Isaiah describes that government as centered on marriages and children, animals and trees, mountains and music, and a little bit of law enforcement and keeping us safe on the side.
But how is that kind of world even possible? We have crime and terrorism in our world. The answer the Bible gives is that this kind of life is only possible through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, orienting your entire life to the Child born at Christmas. Human flourishing is not possible apart from the forgiveness of our sins and being born again, being made into a new kind of human being. The more our nation has turned away from Christ, the more bureaucratic and inhumane it has become. And of course, ironically, always in the name of being “humane.” But God made us. We are made in His image, and He knows what we are for. He knows what is wrong with us, and most importantly: He knows the solution. He sent His only Son to become the solution: to save us from our sins so that we might be made new. Apart from orienting everything to Christ, all government tends toward coercion and force and becomes obsessed with markets and militaries. But in Christ and by His Holy Spirit, we come to love what is true and good and beautiful, so that we might form better governments, more humane governments, beginning with marriage and family. Which is why we are here today.
River, my son, in whom I am well pleased: My charge to you is to never lose your commitment to celebrating Christmas all year long. You are becoming the head of a new government today, a new family, and in our world, this is a gloriously counter-cultural event. My charge to you is to run your government like Christmas is true. Run your government in imitation of the One who was announced by angels singing, born in a manger, turned water into wine at a wedding feast, walked on water, healed the sick, and died and rose again to make all things new. That sort of government seems inefficient to bureaucrats and petty tyrants, but it is far more beautiful, far more humane, and ultimately far more powerful. You are a man, and you are made to be strong, to lead, to protect, to provide. You have been made to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and take dominion. Elaine is your Eve, your queen. Honor her highly, receive her wisdom gladly, and love her and lead her like Christ loves and leads His Bride, the Church.
Elaine, my new daughter, you are altogether lovely. We live in a world that has lied to women for many decades. And you are the kind of wise woman who is well aware of those lies. The world has said that unless you compete with men or take up some public or corporate role, you are not living up to your full potential. But you know that your glory and power is found in building a home with your husband full of well-loved people. Your power is in making people who will live forever: people full of laughter and creativity, stories and inventions, music and art and feasting. And as it turns out, this is all very political and governmental, but it’s a lot more interesting than CSPAN and lot more lovely than the DMV. You are a woman made in the image of the Triune God, and your glory is your beauty. So fill your home with that beauty, and do it like you’re going to war with every form of tyranny. Because you are. You are being charged today to respect your husband, look up to him, and obey him in the Lord, and so be his crown of glory, in imitation of the Church, the Bride of Christ.
And, River, just in case you’re wondering, it’s exactly 200 days until Christmas.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Leave a Reply