A Crown of Beauty

We find ourselves, once again, standing with the Israelites after the return from Babylon. You remember this time. Nothing was going our way; our hope was dried up. The economy was in shambles, Jerusalem in ruins,  the cornerstone of the temple had been laid but construction on it was dormant, and a foreign people inhabited the land. Why, oh why had we left Babylon? Would not life be better there? Isaiah has voiced our frustration and anger at God. He has put words to our lament; actions to sorrow. For Zion’s sake Isaiah will not keep silent, for Jerusalem he will not rest. 

To these words and actions God responds with a promise. The promise is that we will be God’s Crown of beauty and royal diadem. Yes, you and I will be the beauty of and sign of God. And all the world will look upon us and see God. Wait, What? This is not the same thing as wearing our own crown of beauty and power. This is not about being royalty. This is about showing the royalty of God to the world. Our beauty and royalty comes from God’s hands. It is God who shapes and forms us into his crown.  

Just look at the characters in the Christmas story. No brilliant, popular, or powerful people. There is Mary, an unknown young girl from a nondescript town. Her husband Joseph who is hardly mentioned in the Bible (Mark does not mention him at all in his Gospel). The shepherds who first hear of the birth, outcast and unwanted. You need sheep for food and clothing the shepherds are necessary but despised and not trusted. Today we heard of Simeon. We only know what Luke tells us but we can guess what others thought of him. “He’s just a crazy old man, not completely right upstairs, you know.” And Anna, a widowed woman who lived by begging and hung around the temple for what seventy years? I could go on and on to talk about God’s crown of beauty and diadem of royalty, but, you get the picture. Then there are the wise men who foolishly almost ruin the day. I could go on about the disciples, men and women, who followed Jesus who spread the Gospel to the world. You get the point. They were the beauty of God’s crown and his royal diadem not because of their wealth, position, power, or ability. They were people who struggled. They had doubts, fears, and worries and were often confused and lost. But they are God’s glory because God held them in his hand.

You know this, just look around you. Here we sit, the people of God, none of us are important or powerful, or popular. And none of us are perfect and sin free. Yet we are God’s crown of beauty and his royal diadem. In the midst of our fears, struggles, depression, and uncertainty God has made us into his people. We, like the shepherds, wonder at this gift, and like Simeon and Anna proclaim Jesus as the savior of the world. We who once walked in darkness have truly seen the light, for now we shine with the light of God’s love.