Sunday, December 10, 2017

"Here is Your God!" (Isaiah 40:1-11)

      It has been said that “reap what you sow.”  If we could ask whether or not this is true of the people that the prophet Isaiah is speaking to this morning, I think that their response would be one of affirmation when it comes to that statement.  In our reading this morning, they are hearing these words in Babylon where they have been exile for failing to do God’s will and heeding the warnings of the prophet.  Their homeland has been destroyed . . . laid to waste . . . and, they are now exiled in a strange and foreign land.  This is what is covered in the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah.  The people are reaping what they have sowed. 

     In the 40th chapter there is a shift . . . Jerusalem was destroyed, the people did go into exile . . . but, that was the past.  Now comes a new word to the people--a word of comfort and hope for a new future . . . a new beginning.  For a people filled with discouragement and despair, these words shatter the hopelessness and replace it with a sense of comfort and hope.  It is a chance at a new beginning . . . a new deliverance . . . they are to return to God.

     In verses three through five we hear the familiar words of Advent when the prophet proclaims: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.”  Are these not the words that a later prophet, John the Baptist, proclaims when he speaks of the coming of Jesus?  Though the words seemingly point to the future, they also point back.

     Can you think of another time in which the people had to trek through the wilderness to get somewhere?  Surprisingly, this marks a second exodus story for the children of God.  A second chance.  Instead of a Promised Land, they are journeying towards the “Promise” . . . the “Promise” being God, of course.

     Thus it is that the prophet offers words of consolation to the people.  He tells the people that God will come in glory . . . that God’s word is sure--where humans are not reliable, that they are nothing more than grass--God’s word is sure and reliable . . . and, finally, that God’s kindness endures forever.  God wants the people to know this . . . and, God wants them to understand that this is a second chance . . . a chance to make things right . . . to make things as God always intended them to be . . . a chance to begin anew with God and one another. 

     Then the prophet looks the people in the eyes and proclaims: “Here is your God!”  The prophet challenges the people . . . here is your God, so what are you going to do?

     Ideally, the people would embrace the opportunity.  They would reconcile their relationships with God . . . begin to love God fully with one’s heart, mind, and body.  They would begin to reconcile their relationships with others . . . they would begin to love one another.  Ideally, that is what they would do . . . after all, these are the two most important commandments they are asked to follow.  But . . . well, they are human.  Humans are unreliable.

     The prophet knows this.  “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.  Surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flowers fall . . .”  The prophet argues that this is a useless task . . . that the words will not be heeded . . . that the people will fail once again.  And, the prophet catches himself in his disbelief, and then finishes his statement with “. . . but the word of our God stands forever.”  Yes, the “grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

     The “promise” is not in the people, but in God.  God does not give up on the people . . . God will constantly be there . . . waiting, waiting for that time when the people come to the realization that they are to embrace God and rely only upon God.  Thus it is that these words spoken by the prophet are words of consolation and hope in the people’s desperation and despair.  God stands before them . . . and waits.

     Well, we know that just like the first “exodus” story, this “exodus” story fails also.  We know because if we had focused on the gospel reading this morning, we would have heard the call of another “exodus” opportunity being offered to God’s people.  Over in the Gospel of Mark, chapter three, verses two and three, we John the Baptist proclaim: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way--a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

     As Isaiah did, so does John the Baptist . . . he delivers the “good news”.  God is coming . . . God’s word is certain and reliable . . . and, it endures forever.  Then John points over to Jesus and says to the people: “Here is your God!” 

     And, the challenge has been laid.

     Fulfilment has not yet been attained . . . not then, not now.  We are still a people in exile.  The world around us is filled with desperation and hopelessness . . . it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to see that as we watch our televisions, listen to our radios, and read our newspapers . . . it is a pretty scary world that we are living in.  We don’t feel like we are “home” . . . that we are searching for that safe place.

     Some would argue that it is because we have not embraced the opportunity we have been given . . . to love God . . . to love others.  Thus we are still in exile . . . we are still longing for that which makes us whole and holy.

     The prophets stand before and offer to us words of assurance that God does not abandon us . . . that God loves us . . . and, that God is still waiting.  Thus it is that they stand before us and declare, “Here is your God!”

     The rest is up to us.

     The season of Advent calls us to make our way towards the God who loves us . . . the God who showed us the way through Jesus . . . the God who is patiently waiting.  It is up to us.  In the meantime, God loves us and offers to us comfort until we can truly embrace the God who stands before us wanting to be totally loved, and wanting us to love others as we would love ourselves.  God’s love never changes . . . it is we who have to change.  Once we do, we will be home . . . we will no longer be exiles.  This is the promise.  Amen.
   

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