{preface to reading the scripture}
A preaching professor said,“When the scripture is read very, very well, the sermon is almost finished.”I believe that. But it’s also come to be my unhappy belief, that the church has sometimes done a poor job of helping people learn how to listen to scripture. Not enough is taught about the bible.People come to slowly believe that what the preacher says is the ‘real’ stuff to listen to for the day. Sometimes preachers themselves believe that. Shame on us if we do.And people read other things, like the bulletin, or the church newsletter while scripture is read. (Or diddle with their electronic devices.) It’s not that you are a bad person if you do those things.But you are cheating yourself. Listen for the word of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:1-11
40:1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
40:2 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.
40:3 A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
40:5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
40:6 A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass.
40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
40:9 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!"
40:10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
What’s one of the saddest things that you can imagine? For a number of us, myself included, it would be the death of a loved one – particularly a child, or a grandchild. But other things could make me sad too. I try not to think about them. I’ll bet you don’t either.
When we come to the 40th chapter of Isaiah, we are hearing words addressed to a people who have experienced a lot of sad things. Not only were they, and the most important people in their lives taken out of their homeland and moved to a far off country, so that likely their parents and grandparents had not been buried in the family burial plots,but now their children and grandchildren knew nothing of the things they themselves had once held dear. Yes, I’m sure that made them sad.
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Some of you know that I’m a user of internet social networking. I’m on Facebook, as Facebook users say. I like it a great deal – keeps me connected to lots of folks that otherwise I would not be able to. Yesterday I posted (that means put on my Facebook page) some pictures of our sanctuary – after the great crew that came over yesterday morning had done their work. Now here’s how it works on Facebook: I want you to know if you’re not familiar with it, that after you’ve put some words or pictures on your wall, your profile page other people can see them and make comments. Well after I put up those stunning pictures of our sanctuary, there were so many comments -- from some of you, and from others.
Oh how beautiful – so pretty.
What a lovely sanctuary in which to wait during Advent – or anytime someone wrote.
“I love being able to say, ‘ I go to that beautiful church,” wrote one of our youth.
And that made me think, of the people to whom Isaiah had written.
I’m sure they loved their beautiful church, their temple. Amid the sadness of losing homes, and towns and all things familiar, undoubtedly one of their incomparable sorrows was losing their place of worship.
God’s people, 600 years before Christ’s birth lost their land, and their leaders, their temple, their city Jerusalem and all that it symbolized.
Whew, we might be tempted to say; it really doesn’t seem likely that we’ll be taken into captivity. It doesn’t appear that there are any people around who would like to destroy this place of worship, like the ancient Israelites’ temple was demolished. But there are many ways for houses of worship, faith communities to be obliterated. It usually doesn’t happen over night; it happens over time. It’s one of those sadnesses that is so sad, we might try to not think about it.
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What would it be like for you if this place, this church, disappeared? In the near future, or in, let’s say, 20 years.
A friend of mine named Jill Sanders, with whom I went to seminary years ago, is now a Methodist pastor, serving in the state of Iowa as a district superintendent, which is a lot like what we call a synod executive.
I’m going to read a fairly lengthy piece she just wrote.
Rev. Sanders writes: “I{recently} had the privilege of having a heartfelt conversation with a pastor I greatly respect. This person is a wise, effective, seasoned pastor serving one of our small membership congregations in retirement. For the first time this past year, this pastor has seen worship attendance decline and outreach attempts fail. In the quietness of our conversation, he confessed to me: ‘When I was first appointed fifty or so years ago, we simply did ministry well and people showed up. It’s a different day. To be honest, I’m glad I’m not a young pastor just starting out in ministry today.’”
Jill continues, “I thought about our conversation as I drove home that evening, and I’ve been ruminating on it since. Reflecting on the course of his ministry and how things have changed, this pastor poignantly describes what so many of us know at the core of our being—essentially that the old ways no longer bring the results they used to and the new ways have yet to fully emerge. As I read recently, ‘we look around, stunned and grief-stricken at our own impotence. It is as if all the familiar religious furniture was packed into a great moving van and carried to a far country, but none of it fits in the new house, and the old house has been torn down and we are now foreigners living in a world we do not know. After a while, we sit down, exhausted from all our efforts and think about calling it quits. We keep asking ourselves why nothing works anymore. We lose the desire to try. And the unutterable weariness initiates for some people, both clergy and lay, a disillusioned exodus from the church.’” (Elaine Heath: The Mystical Way of Evangelism)
Maybe all this is not the saddest thing you can imagine,but still sad. Very sad.
Listen, listen again for the word of the Lord.
40:1 “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
40:2 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.
40:3 A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
40:5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’
And then this,
2 Peter 3:8 “
What could these words, God’s word, which will stand forever, be saying to us, members of the Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack, today? Consider this: The people to whom Isaiah first issued that word of comfort, were indeed comforted, and eventually found peace. But only with a backward look, years later, a millennium, or more, which to God is like a day.
It was through the backward look of their sons and daughters and their grandchildren some generations in the future, who lived to see their temple, their house of worship rebuilt. But a lot of things had to change before that happened. A lot of things, changes, which could not even be imagined, had to occur. Alterations, transformations which some were brought into literally kicking and screaming.
During Advent, Christians have long been encouraged to wait. But it is likely a different kind of waiting. Franciscan brother Richard Rohr, says that there is an urgent need “for an adult Christianity.. . .we {cannot} allow this great feast of Christmas, and its preparation in Advent to be watered down in any way. . .{T}he actual message of Jesus, Jesus identified with what he called the coming of the ‘reign of God’ or the ‘kingdom of God’ whereas we {have} often settled for the sweet coming of a baby who asked little of us . . .”
So this year, as we move closer and closer to Christmas, the celebration of Emmanuel, God with us, remember Isaiah: “See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him. . .He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”
Yes God will lead us, to change and through change. Amen.
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