DEC. 4, 2005 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
ISAIAH 40:1-11; PS 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 PETER 3:8-15; MK 1:1-8
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we believe and in believing we obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Comfort, O comfort my people, says God (Isaiah 40:1).
What shall I cry? asks the prophet (Isaiah 40:6).
Behold your God, says the Lord (Isaiah 40:9).
These “comforting” words by the prophet Isaiah announce to the Israelites held captive in Babylon that their time of suffering is coming to an end. Their sentence has been served and their penalty paid. Those who have known only disruption and destruction are promised that their God will set them free and personally lead them home.
Now if you’re like me, and if the people of Israel back then were like us, then I’m guessing that they were looking around… wondering about whom Isaiah was speaking. Had we heard the prophet say, Behold your God!...it would be like when a magician says, Abracadabra!; or when a server presents a plate and says Bon appetite!...we’d kind of expect to see something…someone!
Well, hundreds of years pass between this promise made in the O. T. and the point in our Gospel for today when a face gets attached to a name. Here, finally, the waiting is almost over. John the Baptist? He’s…the opening act, up on stage, warming up the crowd. He’s Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show decades ago getting ready to announce Heeeeeeere’s…. Johnny!
And as we wait with eager longing, as we watch for signs of movement behind the curtain, as we hold our breath in eager anticipation, we know what to pray – for the talk show anyway…that the monologue will make us laugh, that the interviews will be interesting: that we will be entertained.
What about with the coming of the Lord? What are some humanity-wide hopes and prayers for the coming Christ?
Peace, security, cure for diseases, end to death, solutions for starvation…
Now let’s turn that around. What, do you suppose, are some of the hopes and prayers of Messiah…for us?
Faith, hope, love, service, worship, forgive sinners, pray for enemies…
Two we know for sure:
Says God Comfort my people. And
Says the prophet Prepare the way of the Lord.
Fair enough, we reply…then we tack on the question: …Now exactly how are we to comfort God’s people and prepare the Lord’s way? Well, maybe we should start with a look at how the world speaks of comfort and preparation to the people of this planet.
What does Santa promise?…lots of toys.
Sports teams?…victory.
Hollywood? …fame.
Wall Street? …wealth.
Commercials? …satisfaction.
Alcohol and other drugs? …escape, sleep, weight loss/gain - you name it.
The world wants us to believe that life is meant to be entertaining, that we can stand on the sidelines or sit on the couch and have our wishes granted, our bank accounts blessed, our pain removed and our problems solved.
Yet, that’s not how it works. The consequences of such inaction can be catastrophic. A classic example comes from the former Prime Minister of England, Neville Chamberlain. Fresh from a meeting in 1938 with the Nazi leader Adolph Hitler, Chamberlain waved the treaty he had signed to “comfort” the people of Britain with the promise, Peace for our time. Two years later, England was being bombed and the entire world was at war.
Another example can be found in the children’s book by Chris van Alsberg entitled The Wretched Stone. It’s a story about hard-working, fun-loving sailors who one day discover an exotic rock. Until that day, they worked hard when it was required, or sang and danced when it was time to relax.
But that stone…mmmm, that beautiful, square, glowing rock starts to eat into their desire to work and erode the joy they found in entertaining themselves. Soon they become enslaved by their desire to just sit and watch it. Eventually they just lock themselves in a room with the stone…and all turn into apes!
Does anyone know how the captain counteracts the stone’s power? He starts reading to them. And the more they hear their captain’s voice, and the more they listen to his words, the less they become like apes and the more they become like the servants of the master they were created to be.
It’s easy to have our attention arrested, our control captured, our resolve removed by the things in this world that glitter and gleam and glow. And the more we give in to that attraction, the less we’re able to fulfill God’s will to comfort those who are hurting and prepare the way of the Lord.
So in these days of preparation, turn off those glowing stones called t.v.’s and computers. Spend more time listening to the Master’s voice and heeding his words. The good news is, the more we do that, the more we will truly know a peace for our time that passes all understanding. Amen.