Getting Ready For Advent
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle B
Many Americans have become very familiar with courtroom settings. This familiarity has been made possible by the O. J. Simpson trial and such programs as Judge Judy, Judge Brown, and the popular Court TV Channel.
In a sense, Americans are afforded an opportunity to become involved in the legal and judicial profession simply by pushing the correct button on their remote control. Here they can listen to the evidence, predict the outcome of various trials, and practice law without a license.
Isaiah, the prophet in our Old Testament lesson for today, depicts a courtroom setting which is vastly different than what one usually pictures. This courtroom is a "heavenly courtroom." The people of God have been found guilty; they have been sentenced for their sins and are serving their prison term. Now something unusual happens in the "heavenly courtroom." God, the judge, meets with his council and issues a complete or full pardon because the people of God have paid what God has required them to pay. Their sentence is commuted. They are fully pardoned, and a new day is dawning.
How will God reveal to his people that their long nightmare has ended? What means will he use to reveal himself to a people who were deaf and blind? Isaiah helps us prepare for Advent ...
By Announcing Comfort
The "good news" of comfort comes to a people who have suffered moral degradation and mental humiliation. This word of comfort reminds Israel that their long night of punishment has ended. These people had been dominated and beaten down so long that they remind one of a description given by Charles Colson who served a prison sentence because of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. When Colson went to prison to serve his sentence, he noticed something that fascinated him. He described this fascination as the "prison shuffle"; people in prison trudging along, doing their time with bowed heads and slumped shoulders, shuffling along on lethargic legs.
Colson observed that those inmates who do the prison shuffle try their best just to blend into the woodwork or hide in the landscape. They do the prison shuffle.
Colson, in his book Born Again, describes it like this:
Federal Prison Camp ... Two hundred fifty men lived here, but watching them through the window was like watching a silent movie in slow motion. Droop-shouldered, stick-like figures of men were drifting aimlessly and slowly in the open area; others were propped up against the buildings and a few were sitting in small clusters on benches. The figures just seemed to be floating ever so slowly. I was soon to learn that no one walks fast in prison. [Everything was drab even] the expressions on the faces. Something strange here. Then it struck me -- no one was smiling ... A chill swept over me.1
It is to a group of exiles that the message of comfort comes. This message of comfort simply states that God's people no longer have to do the "prison shuffle" because the period of their forced labor is ended, and they have more than paid for the sin of breaking off their personal relationship with God. Hence, God now speaks tenderly to their hearts inviting them to respond to his love.
This same comfort is at the heart of Advent. As the chapter 40 of Isaiah suggests, Advent offers us the good news that we can find this same comfort in the midst of our exile and estrangement from God. The expectation of such comfort can lead us to the Christ event which is the climax of Advent. It begins with the prophetic thunderings of judgment, but it moves to the fullness of time when hope emerges from the womb of Mary and our comfort is visible, physical, identifying with us because "the Word became flesh." Comfort is the message of Advent because this one who came from Mary's womb is our Emmanuel who sets us free from the prison that incarcerates us. Because of "God with us," we no longer do "the prison shuffle." We understand that his comfort is "good news"!
From the "good news of comfort" Isaiah issues ...
A Command To Prepare For The Coming Of The Lord
The media that the prophet uses in issuing this command to prepare for the coming of the Lord is that of a human voice. This voice is used like an exclamation point. "Listen! Someone is calling out!"
In Isaiah's day when a reigning king decided to travel throughout his kingdom, workers were sent ahead of his chariot literally to clear the road on which the king had to travel. Isaiah knew what this entailed. Work crews had to go ahead of the king's entourage to level hilly places and fill in holes and ruts so that the king's journey would not be impeded. With this picture in mind, the prophet does something extraordinary. He pictures the living God marching before his people across the desert and hills that lie between Babylon and the homeland. All obstacles to God's coming are pushed out of the way as God moves out of the chaos and confusion of the wilderness.
As Advent is celebrated again this year, let us also be reminded that we too are to push any obstacles such as pride, prejudice, materialism, and selfishness out of our lives in preparation for the coming of the King who will bring structure and order to our chaotic and confused lives and world.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist picks up the role of herald. John does not proclaim that he is a prophet; rather he states that he is a voice. John, in the wilderness proclaims, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness ... as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:23). The voice of Isaiah's herald is the voice of John in his own day. The old word of Isaiah now becomes the new word of John, and these words converge for a dramatic purpose. That purpose is to announce that Advent is coming.
Advent will simply mean that a new day will dawn with the birth of Jesus Christ. John the Baptizer brings together the word of promise from Isaiah and a new word of fulfillment. The essence of Advent brings "joy to all people."
In truth, what Isaiah and John both are saying is that Advent is the time to get ready; however, ready or not, the Messiah is coming. Do you remember playing Hide and Seek as a child? The person who was "It" hid his or her eyes and counted to one hundred by fives. When the magical number one hundred was reached, these words would be shouted, "Ready or not, here I come," and the search for those in hiding would ensue. Isaiah and John are warning us to get ready, to prepare for Advent, but whether we are prepared or not, "He is coming."
What will happen when he comes? Isaiah informs us that "the glory of the Lord will be revealed." With this expression, Isaiah reveals the universality of God's reign. Where God's glory is revealed and people acknowledge that glory, then and only then, will our crazy, angry world be changed.
That is the hope of Advent! Just before Yom Kippur 1997, eight-year-old Yuval Kavah was struck and killed by a car on a busy street in Tel Aviv. Yuval's parents rushed him to a hospital where coincidentally a little Palestinian girl, whose name was Rim Alija-roushiu, lay dying of heart failure. In a gesture that stretched across prejudice, hatred, and ethnic backgrounds, Yuval's parents offered their son's still beating heart to any child who needed it. After the organ was harvested from Yuval's chest, it was transplanted into Rim's chest. When the surgery was completed, an Israeli mother and Palestinian mother embraced, weeping tears of joy and grief, and a Jewish boy's heart beat inside a little Palestinian girl's breast.
When we hear and read of events like this, we pray and hope that the ancient cry of Advent will become our cry. "Prepare the way of the Lord. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:3, 5).
From the preparation for Advent, there is now a ...
Cry Of Desperation
The prophet has been commanded to cry. He asks the question, "What shall I cry?" He is protesting the command. Because he does not know what to cry, he suddenly points to the fragility of human life. It is as if he shrugs his shoulders and says, "What's the use? There is nothing lasting in life!" In this statement the prophet is reflecting the resignation of the exiles to judgment and death. In his eyes everything is hopeless.
Suddenly, in verse 8 there is a response which overrides the objections and offers hope. Yes, humanity is like withering and fading flowers which quickly pass from the scene. However, in contrast to humanity, the word of God endures forever. Now the prophet no longer speaks his word; instead, he speaks the Word of God, and this word endures and becomes the very heart of his message.
Let's face it, we too can become very discouraged when we look at the human predicament, and we can find no reason to speak. When we remember the promise and hope of Advent, we discover the enduring word, and that word "will stand forever."
What then will be the word that we speak at Advent? It will be a word of hope. Mother Teresa related an encounter she had with an old man in Calcutta:
"Who is this Christ of Mother Teresa's?"
"He's our Guru, old man, our Lord and our God."
"What God is this?"
"He's a God of love, old man. He loves all of us -- me and you too!"
"How could he love me, Mem Sahib? He doesn't even know me."
"Oh, yes, he does! Didn't he reach out across the city for you? Didn't he send his Sisters to the slums of Motijhil to bring you here? Doesn't he love you then, old man?"
After a pause the old man said: "Could I love him, do you think?"
"Of course you could -- it's easy to love him -- we'll love him together, old man, but sleep now. We'll talk again in the morning. Sleep now old man."2
Advent declares that human life may be transitory but that God's word "stands forever," and his word is a word of love.
Finally, the Herald completes his work by ...
Announcing God's Coming
There is only one place to proclaim the coming of God and that is a high mountain. This announcement is climactic: "Here is your God!" What an announcement of God's advent! Just as the Herald announces the coming of God to ancient Israel to take away fear and despondency, so the message of hope is announced by John the Baptizer. This cry of Advent is announced with the words, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). What an Advent message! A battle has been fought, and the evil one has been confronted. In Christ his defeat is evident.
The God of Isaiah comes with might to protect his sheep and gather his lambs in his arms. This God was able to, and willing to, save Israel. She no longer needed to fear. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will lead his people, and he will be the center of their lives bringing healing, reconciliation, and joy. Life without him is doomed to failure, confusion, futility, and the dread of death.
Advent informs us that our God is coming, and he will shepherd his people. "Here is your God!" "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." This Advent announcement transforms the darkest tragedy into the most gracious blessing.
Advent comes to those who wait, whose sins God has forgiven in Christ. Let's get ready for him to come.
____________
1. Charles Colson, Born Again (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1976), p. 266.
2. Mother Teresa, In the Silence of the Heart: Meditations by Mother Teresa of Calcutta (London: SPCK, 1983), p. 43.
In a sense, Americans are afforded an opportunity to become involved in the legal and judicial profession simply by pushing the correct button on their remote control. Here they can listen to the evidence, predict the outcome of various trials, and practice law without a license.
Isaiah, the prophet in our Old Testament lesson for today, depicts a courtroom setting which is vastly different than what one usually pictures. This courtroom is a "heavenly courtroom." The people of God have been found guilty; they have been sentenced for their sins and are serving their prison term. Now something unusual happens in the "heavenly courtroom." God, the judge, meets with his council and issues a complete or full pardon because the people of God have paid what God has required them to pay. Their sentence is commuted. They are fully pardoned, and a new day is dawning.
How will God reveal to his people that their long nightmare has ended? What means will he use to reveal himself to a people who were deaf and blind? Isaiah helps us prepare for Advent ...
By Announcing Comfort
The "good news" of comfort comes to a people who have suffered moral degradation and mental humiliation. This word of comfort reminds Israel that their long night of punishment has ended. These people had been dominated and beaten down so long that they remind one of a description given by Charles Colson who served a prison sentence because of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. When Colson went to prison to serve his sentence, he noticed something that fascinated him. He described this fascination as the "prison shuffle"; people in prison trudging along, doing their time with bowed heads and slumped shoulders, shuffling along on lethargic legs.
Colson observed that those inmates who do the prison shuffle try their best just to blend into the woodwork or hide in the landscape. They do the prison shuffle.
Colson, in his book Born Again, describes it like this:
Federal Prison Camp ... Two hundred fifty men lived here, but watching them through the window was like watching a silent movie in slow motion. Droop-shouldered, stick-like figures of men were drifting aimlessly and slowly in the open area; others were propped up against the buildings and a few were sitting in small clusters on benches. The figures just seemed to be floating ever so slowly. I was soon to learn that no one walks fast in prison. [Everything was drab even] the expressions on the faces. Something strange here. Then it struck me -- no one was smiling ... A chill swept over me.1
It is to a group of exiles that the message of comfort comes. This message of comfort simply states that God's people no longer have to do the "prison shuffle" because the period of their forced labor is ended, and they have more than paid for the sin of breaking off their personal relationship with God. Hence, God now speaks tenderly to their hearts inviting them to respond to his love.
This same comfort is at the heart of Advent. As the chapter 40 of Isaiah suggests, Advent offers us the good news that we can find this same comfort in the midst of our exile and estrangement from God. The expectation of such comfort can lead us to the Christ event which is the climax of Advent. It begins with the prophetic thunderings of judgment, but it moves to the fullness of time when hope emerges from the womb of Mary and our comfort is visible, physical, identifying with us because "the Word became flesh." Comfort is the message of Advent because this one who came from Mary's womb is our Emmanuel who sets us free from the prison that incarcerates us. Because of "God with us," we no longer do "the prison shuffle." We understand that his comfort is "good news"!
From the "good news of comfort" Isaiah issues ...
A Command To Prepare For The Coming Of The Lord
The media that the prophet uses in issuing this command to prepare for the coming of the Lord is that of a human voice. This voice is used like an exclamation point. "Listen! Someone is calling out!"
In Isaiah's day when a reigning king decided to travel throughout his kingdom, workers were sent ahead of his chariot literally to clear the road on which the king had to travel. Isaiah knew what this entailed. Work crews had to go ahead of the king's entourage to level hilly places and fill in holes and ruts so that the king's journey would not be impeded. With this picture in mind, the prophet does something extraordinary. He pictures the living God marching before his people across the desert and hills that lie between Babylon and the homeland. All obstacles to God's coming are pushed out of the way as God moves out of the chaos and confusion of the wilderness.
As Advent is celebrated again this year, let us also be reminded that we too are to push any obstacles such as pride, prejudice, materialism, and selfishness out of our lives in preparation for the coming of the King who will bring structure and order to our chaotic and confused lives and world.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist picks up the role of herald. John does not proclaim that he is a prophet; rather he states that he is a voice. John, in the wilderness proclaims, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness ... as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:23). The voice of Isaiah's herald is the voice of John in his own day. The old word of Isaiah now becomes the new word of John, and these words converge for a dramatic purpose. That purpose is to announce that Advent is coming.
Advent will simply mean that a new day will dawn with the birth of Jesus Christ. John the Baptizer brings together the word of promise from Isaiah and a new word of fulfillment. The essence of Advent brings "joy to all people."
In truth, what Isaiah and John both are saying is that Advent is the time to get ready; however, ready or not, the Messiah is coming. Do you remember playing Hide and Seek as a child? The person who was "It" hid his or her eyes and counted to one hundred by fives. When the magical number one hundred was reached, these words would be shouted, "Ready or not, here I come," and the search for those in hiding would ensue. Isaiah and John are warning us to get ready, to prepare for Advent, but whether we are prepared or not, "He is coming."
What will happen when he comes? Isaiah informs us that "the glory of the Lord will be revealed." With this expression, Isaiah reveals the universality of God's reign. Where God's glory is revealed and people acknowledge that glory, then and only then, will our crazy, angry world be changed.
That is the hope of Advent! Just before Yom Kippur 1997, eight-year-old Yuval Kavah was struck and killed by a car on a busy street in Tel Aviv. Yuval's parents rushed him to a hospital where coincidentally a little Palestinian girl, whose name was Rim Alija-roushiu, lay dying of heart failure. In a gesture that stretched across prejudice, hatred, and ethnic backgrounds, Yuval's parents offered their son's still beating heart to any child who needed it. After the organ was harvested from Yuval's chest, it was transplanted into Rim's chest. When the surgery was completed, an Israeli mother and Palestinian mother embraced, weeping tears of joy and grief, and a Jewish boy's heart beat inside a little Palestinian girl's breast.
When we hear and read of events like this, we pray and hope that the ancient cry of Advent will become our cry. "Prepare the way of the Lord. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:3, 5).
From the preparation for Advent, there is now a ...
Cry Of Desperation
The prophet has been commanded to cry. He asks the question, "What shall I cry?" He is protesting the command. Because he does not know what to cry, he suddenly points to the fragility of human life. It is as if he shrugs his shoulders and says, "What's the use? There is nothing lasting in life!" In this statement the prophet is reflecting the resignation of the exiles to judgment and death. In his eyes everything is hopeless.
Suddenly, in verse 8 there is a response which overrides the objections and offers hope. Yes, humanity is like withering and fading flowers which quickly pass from the scene. However, in contrast to humanity, the word of God endures forever. Now the prophet no longer speaks his word; instead, he speaks the Word of God, and this word endures and becomes the very heart of his message.
Let's face it, we too can become very discouraged when we look at the human predicament, and we can find no reason to speak. When we remember the promise and hope of Advent, we discover the enduring word, and that word "will stand forever."
What then will be the word that we speak at Advent? It will be a word of hope. Mother Teresa related an encounter she had with an old man in Calcutta:
"Who is this Christ of Mother Teresa's?"
"He's our Guru, old man, our Lord and our God."
"What God is this?"
"He's a God of love, old man. He loves all of us -- me and you too!"
"How could he love me, Mem Sahib? He doesn't even know me."
"Oh, yes, he does! Didn't he reach out across the city for you? Didn't he send his Sisters to the slums of Motijhil to bring you here? Doesn't he love you then, old man?"
After a pause the old man said: "Could I love him, do you think?"
"Of course you could -- it's easy to love him -- we'll love him together, old man, but sleep now. We'll talk again in the morning. Sleep now old man."2
Advent declares that human life may be transitory but that God's word "stands forever," and his word is a word of love.
Finally, the Herald completes his work by ...
Announcing God's Coming
There is only one place to proclaim the coming of God and that is a high mountain. This announcement is climactic: "Here is your God!" What an announcement of God's advent! Just as the Herald announces the coming of God to ancient Israel to take away fear and despondency, so the message of hope is announced by John the Baptizer. This cry of Advent is announced with the words, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). What an Advent message! A battle has been fought, and the evil one has been confronted. In Christ his defeat is evident.
The God of Isaiah comes with might to protect his sheep and gather his lambs in his arms. This God was able to, and willing to, save Israel. She no longer needed to fear. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will lead his people, and he will be the center of their lives bringing healing, reconciliation, and joy. Life without him is doomed to failure, confusion, futility, and the dread of death.
Advent informs us that our God is coming, and he will shepherd his people. "Here is your God!" "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." This Advent announcement transforms the darkest tragedy into the most gracious blessing.
Advent comes to those who wait, whose sins God has forgiven in Christ. Let's get ready for him to come.
____________
1. Charles Colson, Born Again (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1976), p. 266.
2. Mother Teresa, In the Silence of the Heart: Meditations by Mother Teresa of Calcutta (London: SPCK, 1983), p. 43.
