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January 15, 2006
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December 25, 2005
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Nothing will be impossible with God
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Comfort, comfort my people …
December 4, 2005
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This is Only A Test
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Sermon
Comfort, comfort my people …
The Rev. Canon Jane B. Teter, Canon to the Ordinary
Advent 2 B
Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, 18, Mark 1:1-8
December 4, 2005
Here we are at the second Sunday in Advent and today’s scripture readings have a lot to say to us.
In the reading from Isaiah, we hear about people in exile who desperately hope that the day will come when they can go home. And the opportunity comes – but now they have to give up everything they have known and become familiar with and begin an arduous journey – long and filled with danger. For many this had been a hope for all of their lives. And then they arrive at the city of their dreams – a city they had heard stories about, sung songs about - they find is a city in absolute ruin and occupied by unfriendly people.
And Isaiah prays, “Comfort, comfort my people.” He goes on to assure the people that, indeed, they have paid for their sins – they can begin anew, start over in a sense – even here in this desolate place. God is present with them here in Jerusalem. Every building they restore, any street cleared will be for this same God. Isaiah gives them encouragement every step of the way. (and here, over two thousand years later, the message is still clear):
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 make low…
Isaiah is saying to weary, dejected people that with God we can do what seems to be impossible.
As I read this passage over and over this past week, I couldn’t help but think about New Orleans and Mississippi and other devastated areas and realize, once again, that indeed scripture does continue to speak to us today. I read that the authorities were allowing people back into the last section of New Orleans (completely destroyed) to see where their homes used to be. The homes were gone along with all their belongings. People will have to start their lives anew. “Comfort, comfort my people.”
But Isaiah is not in denial – he understands that people can only deal with so much - “the grass withers, the flowers fade.” But “the word of our God will live forever.” God is with us whatever the situation. Live in that promise and that hope.
In these increasingly dark days as winter nears, we eagerly await the coming of the days lighted by the Advent of Emmanuel – God with us. This is a time of waiting, anticipation, preparation, alertness, and longing for God’s presence among us. Given the frightening times in which we live, His words speak to us today. Each day we seem to hear of a new natural disaster, a new terrorist threat, and innocent people are injured or killed. For many people it would be easy to despair – but we cannot, we must not. We are people who live with hope in our hearts and our souls and we must not let that hope be taken from us.
And so we wait. But waiting must be active: if we merely wait, passively for whatever comes along – we don’t expect very much; but if we wait with expectation, anticipation and preparation – then we will be ready when the Lord comes like a thief. Waiting in hope says that we believe that something will happen – the promise will be fulfilled.
Today’s gospel from Mark gives us some clues as to how we can be ready. “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way….” John had an enormous impact on the people. It is a long distance from Jerusalem to the banks of the Jordan over mountainous terrain, and yet people came from Jerusalem and the whole Judean countryside to see him. We can look at John’s work, his person and his words.
His work was to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And, as a person, John was seen as an outsider who came from the wilderness. He was a man from the desert with its solitude and desolation. He wore simple clothes and ate simple food – and he was a man who had heard the voice of God. John’s words point beyond himself. John is like Moses who points across to the new land but does not enter it. He says, “the one coming after me is far greater than I, and I am merely warning you to prepare for his coming.”
The ministry of John prepares us for the ministry of Jesus Christ. John appeals to us to return to God and the expectation of final reconciliation and transformation. The Christian Church knows that the baptism of the Spirit, of which John spoke, is already fulfilled in all who are baptized. The church also knows that it awaits the consummation of what has already begun, and the Baptist’s cry awakens both thanksgiving for what has been accomplished and glad anticipation for what is to come.
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the ways for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.
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