Last Sunday the reality of Advent enfolded us with comfort, hope and joy. I confess that I awoke Sunday morning feeling the worse for wear. The Amazing Grace (our 20 month old granddaughter) with her parents had visited for a week over Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time. Grace even left me a present as she flew away – a bad head cold.
We almost stayed home. I had no desire to share this gift with others. But then I remembered that this was the first Sunday in Advent. I love Advent! Last Sunday (the first Sunday in Advent) was effectively New Year’s Sunday for Christians and I needed the comfort, hope and joy such worship brings. With no assignments pressing on my calendar, I went to worship accompanying my wife at her church (and one of my 320 or so churches; well, let’s get theologically correct, it is Christ’s church and we are privileged to participate in this branch of the larger body of Christ). We slipped up into the balcony so as not to share my cold with others. As usual the worship was a true blessing.
I cannot help but think that Advent reaches to the true essence of the human condition and of our need(s). Consider next Sunday’s Old Testament Lesson in The Revised Common Lectionary – Isaiah 40:1-11. The passage opens with the famous words “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 40:1-3).
It is not a mistake that Handel chose to open his incredible Messiah with this passage from Isaiah. It is sung in a major key as a triumphant announcement. “God has done and is doing just that. What is common with all such passages as this one from the Bible is that God is the one who comforts. Israel, that’s us, are the ones comforted. One commentator notes, “Comforting signifies God’s intervention to help and restore. The comforting is in the past tense” (Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40-66, p. 34). God has acted! Comfort precedes the call to preparation.
Look where the soaring words of the prophet lead us. “A voice is crying out:
Clear the Lord’s way in the desert!
Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
4 Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
Uneven ground will become level,
and rough terrain a valley plain.
5 The Lord’s glory will appear,
and all humanity will see it together;
the Lord’s mouth has commanded it. (Isaiah 40:3-5)
In the chaos of modern living, the prophet Isaiah speaks of today just as much as for Israel of old. It is hard to breathe when we are knotted up by our sin. It is difficult to move forward when life is a mess. This is true individually. It is true collectively – as a nation and as a world. Sin makes it difficult to breathe. And yet, while we breathe there is still hope. In the labor pains of a new world and new creation and a new church, we need to remember that the glory of the Lord will appear. In the agonies of our time and age, we need to remember that the Lord God has commanded this. When we are in exile and feel abandoned, remember the prophet’s words:
Go up on a high mountain,
messenger Zion!
Raise your voice and shout,
messenger Jerusalem!
Raise it; don’t be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Here is the Lord God,
coming with strength,
with a triumphant arm,
bringing his reward with him
and his payment before him.
Like a shepherd, God will tend the flock;
he will gather lambs in his arms
and lift them onto his lap.
He will gently guide the nursing ewes. (Isaiah 40:9-11)
Do you remember what a herald is? A herald is one who runs ahead with news of how the battle has turned out. If all is lost than it is time to flee for your life. If victory, than it is a great time of celebration. Isaiah calls us to function as heralds. We are to run ahead and shout for joy. God has the victory. In a practical way, don’t settle for happy holidays. Be a herald of good tidings, live Advent. The word “Advent” literally means the coming as in the coming of a significant event or person. The season starts the Christian year challenging us, encouraging us to literally live out verse 3. “Clear the Lord’s way in the desert! Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!” (Isaiah 40:3). We do so by proclaiming that this is a time to rejoice in the coming of Christ!
There is an unapologetic evangelistic component to our Christmas preparation. We make ready the highway by getting up the high mount of faith, lifting up our voice with strength, and sharing the news of Emmanuel, God with us and for us in the person of Jesus Christ.
The prophet speaks to us again. This time it is not a message of doom and gloom but of comfort, hope and joy. Live Advent!