*preached only at 8am service, as Advent Lessons and Carols were celebrated at 10:30am
O come, O come Emmanuel.
Amen.
One scholar has called Exile the “loss of the known
world.” That is the context of our reading today from chapter 40 of Isaiah.
Scholars tell us that the first 39 chapters of Isaiah were written leading up
to the invasion of Israel by the Babylonian Empire and the early years of their
captivity in Babylon. The rest of Isaiah was written as Israel was anticipating
the return to their ancestral home. Today’s reading begins with that second
part of Isaiah and contains some of the most powerful words in all of
Scripture- “comfort, O comfort my people.”
In those moments when we forget which way is up, the
words of God through the prophet Isaiah come beckoning to us- comfort, O comfort
my people. The prophet writes, “All people are grass, their constancy is like
the flower of the field… The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of
our God will stand forever.” Though this world is passing away, though loved
ones die, though we are disappointed by the sins of racism and violence, the
words of comfort from the Lord will stand forever. And what is that comfort?
Today’s Gospel reading comes from the very beginning of
Mark, and it says “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” Mark then starts
to tell the story of the Gospel of Jesus by saying “prepare the way of the Lord.”
Just as Isaiah had written some 600 years earlier, “Get you up to a high
mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O
Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities
of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’” If you hear nothing else today, hear this
proclamation- “here is your God,” and take comfort in those words.
We are not alone. This is the word of liberation that
Isaiah spoke of to a people yearning for a message of hope, and it is the
miracle of Emmanuel- God with us. Despite the fact that people are grass and we
fade away, the word of the Lord stands forever. The words of comfort, of hope,
of peace, of joy, of salvation, of God’s presence with us will endure through
all things. When Mark announces this Good News that the Lord is coming, he says
that the way of preparation is to repent. The word for repent in Greek means “to
change your mind” or “be converted.” God is steadfast and is coming to us, and
we prepare ourselves for this by being open to what God will be doing.
The imagery is of a highway being built in the desert, of
valleys being filled in, and of mountains being leveled. In other words, the
world is about to change, so repent- or change your thinking about how the
world works. At the time of Jesus, the mantra of the Roman Empire was “peace through
victory.” The claim was that for peace to come, Rome would have to conquer
everyone else first. It was really more like peace through submission, but that
is how the world worked. Today, we also have our share of false narratives
about how the world works- homeless people are lazy, people who protest are
thugs, all rich people are greedy, the Church is full of hypocrites, and I’m sure
there are many more that you can think of. But our salvation is that God’s
steadfastness will never end and that God is with us. So repent- see things
differently, don’t believe anything that isn’t the love of God.
One part of repentance is refocusing on this Good News of
God in Christ instead of spending so much time on the brokenness of this world.
A way that we can do this, in the face of all of the political and racial
tension in our nation right now is to show the world that what unites us is
strong than what divides us. I’ve been troubled this week by a number of
friends, and even family members, who have said ignorant and inflammatory things
about Ferguson with the disclaimer- if you respond with anything that I disagree
with, I’m going to ignore you. This is perhaps the worst part of sin in our
lives, that it drives us further apart from each other. It’s bad enough that
tensions are high in St. Louis, but our closed-mindedness is driving a wedge
between far too many people.
The beauty of the Body of Christ and the Anglican understanding
of our faith is that community matters. If the Body were made up only of a
right side, well the body wouldn’t be able to do very much. And if only the
left side is present, there’s going to be a lot of stumbling around. This is
the strength of our faith- that people of all nations and races are redeemed
through the love of God. The problem with not talking to people whom we disagree
with is then we just end up confirming our own suspicions about how the world
works. But the call to repentance from John the Baptist this morning is a call
to see things differently. It is a reminder that God is remaking the world, and
wherever you live, whether it be the mountain top or in the valley, your life
will be changed and redeemed when the Lord comes.
This season of Advent, as we prepare to celebrate God’s
coming to us, may we change our minds about how we think the world works. If it
doesn’t fit with the reign of Christ, which is a reign of love, peace, and reconciliation,
then let us leave it behind.
O Lord,
we give you thanks for your enduring words of comfort to us who can feel lost
in the exiles of our world. Thank you for the gift of Emmanuel- of your
presence with us. Give us the strength and courage to repent and see things in
a new way. Reinforce those things which unite us, and help us to see past the
forces of sin which seek to divide us. Guide us in our conversations and our relationships,
that we might remain in dialogue with one other, showing the great power of
your love which will one day conquer the racism, ignorance, and hatred which
divide us. As we journey through Advent, we pray for our Redeemer to be with us
and transform us- O come, O come Emmanuel. Amen.
