God is still coming.
This is the message of the season.
God is still coming. God is active and alive and in
the very midst of life transforming and making
new.
God is still coming. And because God is still coming
we live in hope and in power, ever confident in the promise of God.
The people of God heard
this message and welcomed it. One day the prophet
overhears God speaking in the heavenly council and the prophet tells the
people what he overhears. The prophet reported, “You
know what God said?”
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem
, and cry to her that she has served
her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from
the
Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1-2
And the people held their breath in joyful anticipation.
For over 40 years they had lived in exile in the
land
of
Babylon
. Prior to that time (6th
century BC) the people of God had inhabited the Promised Land for over 400
years. For most of that time the temple in Jerusalem
together with the land that was so long ago promised to Abraham’s
descendants, these were the signs, the evidence, the focal points of God’s
presence for the people of God. But in the 6th
century BC the Babylonian army came, tore down the walls of
Jerusalem
, destroyed the temple and in 3 different
deportations forced the exile of most of the artisans, merchants, and
leaders, a vast majority of the population, into the
land
of
Babylon
some 400 miles across the desert from their
home. So devastated were they that they hung their
lyres on the willow trees and left them there as they cried, “How can we
sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
They had served by this
time 40 years in exile, torn away from every experience and sign of the
promise and presence of God among them. So they held
their breath in joyful anticipation when they overhear God in the heavenly
council say
Comfort, O comfort my people, says
your God.
Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem
, and cry to her that she has served
her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from
the
Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1-2
They were going home
And so a voice is heard
crying
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make
straight in
the desert a highway for our God. Every valley
shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground
shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Isaiah
40:3b-4
They were going home. And the road back home, that 400 miles of desert,
winding and difficult trail, will become a smooth way, a level path, a
road prepared for God to lead the people home.
The prophet overheard
God and the people held their breath.
We need to listen
carefully to the text in this season because you and I are in a world that
still remains much as the prophet describes it.
All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower
of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the
Lord
blows upon it; surely the people are grass.
Isaiah 40:6b-8
People who have lived in exile for 40 years know exactly what this
means…life is so very fragile, humanity is stubborn, sinful, and
shortsighted. What happened 40 years ago?
How did they end up in exile in the 1st place?
You see, before the Babylonian army came the people so totally
succumbed to self-seeking, nationalistic ways that they forgot the poor,
the widow, and the orphan among them. They even began
to worship other gods. This deadly combination of
idolatry and lack of compassion for the poor produced a national weakness
that led to their overthrow and eventual exile. They
knew well that people, nations, life wither and fade before the breath of
God, particularly if your priorities aren’t straight.
And they paid the price dearly.
We need to listen
carefully to this text today. This text is a warning
to
any nation that would neglect or turn away from its careful
provision for the poor, the needy, the
widow, the senior citizen;
a world where 2/3 of its citizens live in poverty while the rest
of us enjoy an affluent style of life;
any culture that would celebrate the season of God’s coming in
the
Son Jesus Christ by indulging in a spree
of buying and
acquiring so many things that face away
and eventually find a
storage space in a closet or attic
somewhere, too soon
neglected and forgotten, leaving too
many of us in debt and
depressed.
We need to listen so carefully to this text today.
The people listened and
they overheard the message—they were going home. After
40 years of exile the army of Persia led by Cyrus the Great
overthrew Babylon and, once the dust of war settled, Cyrus the
Persian let the people of God return to the Promised Land and so they
welcomed the promise of their God who is still coming.
They did go home.
What was it like, this
return to the Promised Land?
The recorded return from exile bears little
resemblance to the return as
portrayed in the impassioned poetry of the prophet.
There was no visible
manifestation of the Lord, no highway across the desert, no
transformation of
nature, no vast throng of liberated exiles to repeople the
former ‘waste
places’….. small groups of exiles returned, not all together
on one occasion,
but over several decades of time. The
period following their return was one of
difficulty and disillusionment. Drought and
bad harvests, poverty and the
hostility of the surrounding peoples, apathy and cynicism long
delayed the
rebuilding of the
Temple
and the walls of the city of
Jersualem
. The
kingdom
of
God
was not established, the land was not populous and fertile, the heathen
were not converted. The great expectations
of the prophet were not fulfilled
in the events immediately following his ministry.
His announcement of the
decisive intervention of God for the emancipation of his
people was a
deferred hope.
Stephen Winward, A Guide to the
Prophets
(Richmond, Va.: John Knox Press, 1969), pp. 185-186.
They did go home. But life was still fragile; people
were still as grass, vulnerable, shortsighted, sinful.
God did not bring to completion the fulfillment of a restored creation
So what is it like for
us, when we in this season eavesdrop on the heavenly council and overhear
the divine announcement made to shepherds and wisemen?
In this season of Advent when we overhear the angels sing with the promise
of peace on earth, good will to all, aren’t you holding your breath, too?
What is it like, our celebration of this holy season when we
proclaim and make known that God is here?
Does the highway of God
run straight and true through our culture or do
we still navigate the treacherous, difficult, winding roads of
life?
Is there peace on earth, good will to all or are we left with the harsh
realities of strife, injustice, and war?
Do we find ourselves transformed into people of generosity, compassion,
and peace or are we just the same old greedy
consumers of the
latest fashion, fragrance, style, or electronic
gadgets we’ve always
been?
It seems all too clear in our celebration of even this holy season that,
much like the experience of the people who finally returned to the
Promised Land, the great expectations of the prophet are still not
fulfilled.
But on this second
Sunday in the season of Advent you need to listen carefully; if you listen
carefully enough, you, too, can overhear God saying
Comfort, O comfort my people.
Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem
, and cry to her that she has served
her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from
the
Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1-2
God is still coming.
How can we possibly be
so expectant and confident today? It is because there
is good news here in this text. You remember Cyrus the
Persian who gave the people of God their freedom? Let
me tell you something about him. Cyrus the Persian did
not believe in God. He worshipped Marduke, the God of
Persia. Cyrus the Great, whom God used to deliver the
people from exile, did not even believe in God. If God
can us an idol worshipping pagan to set people free God can use anything
to bring life and hope to a fragile and suffering people.
So would you understand me when I say to you today that
if you listen carefully enough in the rush of shoppers, in excited
conversation around your holiday table, in the greeting “Merry
Christmas,” in the sound the cash register scanner or the
rustling Christmas paper, in the periodic
broadcast of holiday greetings
from soldiers far away to family back home,
if you respond generously to the needs of the poor and less
fortunate
this season,
if you make peace on earth the very focus of your prayer life,
if you listen carefully enough
you may well find yourself eavesdropping on the heavenly council; You,
too, can overhear God saying
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem
, and cry to her that she has served
her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from
the
Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Isaiah 40:1-2
As you come to the
table of Jesus today listen, listen carefully. For God
is still coming.
