Messengers of Hope -- A Message for December 6, 2020

          

Scripture Reading: Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13

 

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people

and covered all their sins.

 

I will listen to what God the Lord says;

he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—

but let them not turn to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,

that his glory may dwell in our land.

 

10 Love and faithfulness meet together;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,

and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12 The Lord will indeed give what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.

13 Righteousness goes before him

and prepares the way for his steps.

This morning, we light the candle of Peace.   We are people who crave peace: peace in our hearts, peace in our families, peace in our communities, peace in our country, peace in our world.  At times, we feel peace is fleeting – if we watch the news, it seems like we are more into the “eye for an eye” kind of Old Testament justice than peace.  But, we know our hearts.  We know we are encouraged when things are headed in a positive direction.  We resonate with the New Testament understanding of Peace: Jesus came to earth to teach us to be giving and forgiving, to turn the other cheek to those who hurt us, to work to love other people, even those people we consider our enemies. 

            This morning, we read a second text from our scripture, a portion of the book of the Prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah knew all about the negative consequences of war, of living in a time without peace.  The first part of his book is a warning about war and exile to come.  The second part of his book is about the restoration of peace and a time of return.  Listen to these words of comfort as we read Isaiah, chapter 40, verses one through eleven:

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40: 1-11

Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

Prayer

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, Oh God, Our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

   When Lucia was little, we got into Advent traditions. During these four weeks, we always have an Advent wreath on our table.  Every night, before dinner, in addition to our prayers, we light the candles and sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Next Sunday, the 13^th, Lucia will wear her St. Lucia crown with light-up battery operated candles – I have never been the brave mom who allows her daughter to wear real lit candles on her head.  This morning, I checked our front door.  St. Nicholas came in the night and filled Lucia’s cow girl boots with candy.  She is not home today to eat her candy, but I will save some for her to eat tomorrow.

            St. Nicholas was an early Christian bishop who lived in the Turkish city of Myra.  He is thought to have been born to a wealthy family.  He became very devout and after a pilgrimage to Egypt and Palestine, he became a bishop.  He is attributed with secretly given money to families who didn’t have money to pay for dowries to marry off their daughters.  Several traditions have evolved since his human life where he is attributed with bringing treats to children in the night and leaving those treats in their shoes.  St. Nicholas day is December 6, so the treats appear on his special saint day.  For many children, St. Nicholas day is the beginning of their Advent festivities.  He brings joy in the midst of a dark season of the year.

            Children have trouble waiting for Christmas to arrive, so celebrating little holidays as we lead up to the 25^th helps them maintain their patience.

            For us adults, we can look to our scriptures to discover bright spots that reminded people that their time of suffering was almost over.  Our reading this morning from the Prophet Isaiah comes at the point in the history of Israel when the Babylonian exile was almost over.   In the 6^th century BC, the people of Judah, including the inhabitants of Jerusalem, were exiled to Babylon for almost 40 years.  During that period, the people suffered under hostile conditions and lived as strangers in a strange land.  The first part of the book Isaiah is about the time before the exile, a time with the people had fallen away from God.  They saw the exile as a consequence of their lack of faith and right-worship.  The second part of the book is covers the period just as the exile was about to end.  This morning, we read words of promise….the suffering of those exiles was about to end…soon they would have the opportunity to return to their homeland.

In our history as Christians, we also know that for the people who lived in the time of Jesus, with the brutal Romans ruling the people of Israel, Jesus came to end the suffering of the people of Israel.  The book of Isaiah spoke to three different populations.  Its words were said to the people who lived alongside Isaiah, words of hope for people whose Babylonian exile was about to end.  The book also spoke the faithful people of the first century who lived under Roman oppression, people whose suffering ended when Jesus came to earth, preached and healed, died to take upon his shoulders the sins of the world, and then was resurrected to remind us that we are never left alone or as orphans, because God is always with us. 

The book of Isaiah is also a word of hope for people who live now….for us.  People who are waiting out this terrible pandemic.  Waiting for our virus to be conquered.  Waiting for a vaccination that prevents this dreaded disease.  Waiting for our lives to be restored.  Waiting for our suffering to end.  Waiting for Jesus to return to earth to help us create in the here and now a world modeled on the Kingdom of God. 

Advent is a season of longing.  It is a season of waiting for what we have hoped for for a very long time.  In the first century, that hope resulted in a tiny baby.  How absurd that is!  A teeny tiny baby, a helpless babe in arms, came to save the world.  Yet, that is what Jesus did.  He saved us.  He taught us how to follow God.  He opened the promises of salvation to all people, not just the Jewish people.  He died so that our sins will be wiped away.  And, after his ascension, he made sure the Holy Spirit would come to dwell among is, to guide us, to inspire us, and to help us. 

And, right now, we need that Holy Spirit….because we are stuck in a weird, long, limbo period. We don’t know when things will get back to normal. We don’t know if we are the next one to fall ill.  We don’t know when this will all end.  But, we have hope in a loving, generous, gracious God.  We have hope in a God who loves us, who cares about us as individuals, who forgives us when we makes mistakes, and who will embrace us when we transition from this world to the next.  So, even if the worst happens, and we become ill, we know that God will be with us no matter what.

So, let’s hang on for a while.  As the words of Isaiah remind us: “God tends God’s flock like a shepherd: God gathers the lambs in God’s arms and carries us close to his heart.”  We have nothing to be afraid of, because God is with us.  No matter what happens, God is with us.  And, the promise of the Gospel is that we will get through this.  Our people and our land will be restored.  And there is always more good to come. 

Thank God!  Amen.