There is an innocence about a child’s exuberance to show off a new outfit or costume to mom or dad. A child holds no fear of feedback and eagerly parades out to showcase the look. Some of that is due to the sheer excitement that kiddos tend to experience in even the smallest things throughout childhood. It is also likely related to the fact that the child has an audience that shares the excitement and plays it up with praise and encouragement. Children thrive on that…
…for what feels like a woefully short period of time until they hit the teenage years. That is when everything changes, and not for the better. Suddenly the cheerleading and positive remarks are replaced by brutal honesty and sharp jabs. A few snide remarks from friends here or there. A parent verbally questions, “you’re wearing that?”, and the childlike confidence fades away. Some never regain it. There is an ongoing fear of being ridiculed or made fun of, a nagging concern over comparison and not measuring up.
That can carry into adulthood, too, and it can go well beyond just the clothes we wear. Our jobs and how we perform. Our kids and how we parent. Our classmates and our grades. Our friends and who has the newest and the latest. Our cars. Our house. Our yard. Our decorations. We live in a culture that just presumes that virtually every detail of our lives is under surveillance and scrutiny so that everything is fair game when it comes to comparison. And it leaves us as if we’re on guard 24/7 to make sure everything is on the up and up and satisfies the standards of others. More than anything, we just don’t want to be judged inadequate or not good enough.
And it isn’t always others who are responsible for the judgment, either. Often it is self-inflicted. We do it to ourselves. Maybe no one said a thing. Maybe no one noticed this or that. Maybe it’s not even on anyone else’s radar. But our mind draws ridiculous conclusions, nonetheless. “Maybe no one said anything, but I know what she’s thinking.” “Maybe no one noticed this or that because I wasn’t even worth noticing.” “Maybe it’s not even on anyone else’s radar because they’re more impressed by someone else.” We don’t want others to judge us, but so often fail to catch that we ourselves are most often the ones doing the judging!
Let’s seek to recapture that childhood confidence. Let’s get to a place where we do not fear judgment, but welcome it and eagerly look forward to it. We can, you know! We don’t have to live in fear of others’ opinions – or our own! Unlike so many others, we don’t need to wither when the world judges. We don’t need to be afraid of judgment.
We can have the same confidence that the apostle Paul expressed to the Corinthians. “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:3-4). Did you hear his rationale? “It is the Lord who judges me.” We’ll come back to those words, as they are extremely helpful in guiding us to a deeper appreciation of the words of Isaiah. But first, we need to touch on an important realization that Paul had; one that is really the missing piece in our culture’s pursuit of mental and emotional health.
Paul pointed out that not even a clean conscience made him innocent! Here’s why that matters. Our culture’s pursuit of a healthy self-image has always focused on how we feel about ourselves… which is precisely why we’ll never get it right. Years ago, and many adults and seniors can attest to this, if you made a mistake or failed it was understood that if you wanted to avoid that embarrassment or shame in the future, you had to try harder and do better next time. Some of you had parents or dads who were not shy about scolding or bluntly telling you to buck up and put in more effort next time.
Well, that didn’t seem to do the trick, so the next phase followed the advice of psychologists that said the key to a healthy self-image was thinking positively about oneself. Parents were discouraged from tearing down and pushing kids too hard and instead encouraged to build up with words of affirmation. We’ve been encouraged to engage in daily self-talk, telling ourselves we’re good enough just as we are. The more positively we thought about ourselves, the more secure we’d feel and a healthy self-image would flourish.
But it hasn’t, because people are still mean and say mean things that smother the self-talk and positive vibes. So now we’ve been moving into the next stage which is that we’re making everyone else responsible for how we feel. You cannot disagree with anyone. You cannot say anything that might in any way whatsoever be construed as offensive, regardless of the intent. If someone’s feelings are hurt because of your words, it’s on you, not how they took your words. You cannot have an opinion that goes against what we’re told is the mainstream view that “everyone else” “clearly” shares.
Do I have to ask if this is working? We’re seeing more suicides than ever and prescribing more pills than ever and we think this approach is working?!? You’ve got to be kidding! Of course this isn’t going to work, and here’s why: you’re the problem. Not the person next to you. Not what they think of you. Not what they say about you. You. Are. The. Problem.
Your insecurity stems from what you inherently know about yourself. Something is off. Something is not right. You know the thoughts you’ve had. You know the things you’ve gotten away with. You know how much you don’t measure up, your conscience is your biggest critic – and rightly so!
So we need to draw the same conclusion that Paul did: others’ opinions of me cannot fix me; my own opinion of me cannot fix me. There is only one place to turn: the Lord. As Paul stated, “It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:4). While anyone else judging us would leave us standing on shaky ground, when we look at Isaiah’s words about the Lord’s judgment, we find what we cannot find anywhere else: peace of mind.
You see – we know the Judge! Not only that, but we know what his judgment is going to be when he returns on the Last Day! Think about that. The one who determines your eternal destiny – whether it will be with him in heaven forever or apart from him in hell forever – has already made it known to you what his judgment is! You already know where you’re going. You already know what his opinion of you is. And if his opinion of you is already a done deal, then who else’s judgment do you really have to fear? Who else can say or do anything to you that carries more weight than your Savior’s? No one’s! And so we say, “Come, Lord Jesus! – as Judge.”
Did you know Jesus was the One Isaiah was talking about in the verses this morning? He described him like this: “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” (Is. 11:1-3). That’s a pretty nice description for the One Isaiah goes on to describe as being the One who will judge. Who wouldn’t want a judge with wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord? Those are ideal characteristics for a judge.
But having the ideal judge doesn’t help us if we know we’re already guilty, which we do and which we are. So no matter how fair and just the judge is, how does it help our case if we already know we’re guilty?
Look at how he judges. That’s just it! See the metric by which he judges: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (v.3b). What he sees from my actions and hears from my lips will not be the basis of his judgment??? Do you know what that means? It means I have a chance! If my own incriminating sinful actions and thoughts won’t be permitted as evidence, then I have a chance! If all of the times I have been so quick to judge others won’t count against me, then I have a chance! If all the times I’ve played favorites, have not treated others equally, and thought so little of others at times won’t count against me, then I have a chance!
Instead of judging my actions and words, see how this judge reaches his verdict: “but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist” (vs. 4a,5). Righteousness, justice, and faithfulness are not descriptions that apply to me, so if those will be the characteristics by which he judges, then they must come from him. It must be the Judge’s righteousness, his justice, his faithfulness by which he judges.
And it is! John tells us “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). The Righteous One who is our advocate is the very same one Isaiah says will be our Judge. What does this mean for you and for me?
Peace. And that is exactly what Isaiah describes in the pictures in verses six and following. Peace in the animal kingdom and in a world in which there is no fear of little ones being hurt. That peace is ours because Judge Jesus has determined that faith in him means our sins don’t count against us or separate us from him. So we have peace with God.
When peace with God exists, I can reflect that same peace with my fellow man. You are at peace with your fellow man – the Judge has spoken! Nothing he has done or can do to you will change the Judge’s verdict. You don’t have to get revenge or get even. You are at peace.
Let that peace govern your heart this Advent and Christmas. Rally to him. Rest in him. The verdict is in. Peace. No guilt. That means you live in a judgment-free zone no matter where you are. Come, Lord Jesus! – as Judge!