Our God is Coming!
Deep in the back streets of New Orleans, a woman sits alone, surrounded by the soggy remnants of her life. Her husband left her long ago and she has struggled to survive across the years. She had a job working at one of the hotels downtown… barely able to scrape together enough to pay the rent each month and buy a little food for herself and her son. That hotel is closed now… one of the many places declared unsafe after the hurricane and subsequent flood. In truth, the apartment she is living in should also be condemned, but it will take the city awhile to learn of the state it is in. The officials are too busy dealing with other issues to pay attention to the tiny building in which she lives.
Her son is missing. He had gone to a friend’s house to ride out the hurricane. The friend’s house was destroyed and he disappeared in the chaos and confusion that followed. No one knows whether he is dead or alive. She cried for him until there were no more tears. She checks every day for news of him, but… for now… he is just a name on a list of missing people. She does not even have a photograph of him that hasn’t been soaked in the flood water… just like the rest of her belongings. Most of what she owned was destroyed and the little that remains… the little she has found… is filled with mold and mildew and the stench is overwhelming. The city workers wanted her to burn it… they were afraid of disease… but these few precious things are all she has left. Everything else is gone. She has learned to breathe through a handkerchief that still has a hint of perfume on it… a smell that takes her back to better days long ago… a smell that is her only escape from reality.
The emergency funds that she received in the first week after the hurricane have run out. Friends from her church used to come by bringing food and spending time with her, but they don’t come any more. They’ve gone back to their own lives… and their own problems. The church building itself has been condemned… and half of the people who used to attend worship there have vanished. There is no one who can help. The rescue workers have come by once or twice, but after the woman filled out a form for one group and got a bag of emergency supplies from another group, she hasn’t seen anyone else. She doesn’t have the money to catch the bus to go downtown to seek aid… and it is too far for her to walk. Her arthritis makes simple tasks painful and the medication her doctor prescribed is too expensive now that she has no job. So, she sits in a cold apartment and eats a bowl of cold cereal... it is all she can afford right now… and she looks out into the empty street and wonders what the future holds. (Longer pause)
The chorus of voices cries, “Comfort… comfort my people! Speak tenderly to them and tell them… tell 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.” What do we say to this woman… and to hundreds like her who are suffering in this season of Advent? What word of hope can we offer to them?
Too often, we think these words were written for us… and, when there is suffering and pain in our own lives… (and who has a life without pain?)... we soak up these words ourselves. But, at this time of year, to do that would be to miss the point. We are the ones to whom Isaiah is speaking! We are the ones who are to comfort God’s people. We are the ones who are to reach out… to speak tenderly… and bring a word of hope. Who have you reached out to in this season of Advent… to bring a word of comfort… a word of hope? Or have you… like me… been too busy hanging lights… decorating trees… and getting ready for company to come?
Ah, but then the voice comes… the voice of protest… the voice dissent… the voice that speaks the truth that we don’t want to hear. The voice speaks of the hopelessness of the situation… of the transient nature of human life… of the transient nature of any help that humans bring… of anything that humans do. The rescue workers came… the woman filled out a form and, for a time, she had hope that her life might change. Then, her hope faded. The rescue workers came again… and, this time, they brought her some emergency supplies. Again, she found hope and waited for her circumstances to change. Now, the emergency funds she received have been used… the hotel rooms are no longer available…here today… gone tomorrow… “All people are grass and their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades… surely the people are grass.” Nothing is forever… not even diamonds. So, what can we give that is not transient… that will not wither or fade… that does not depend upon the whims of politics… or the capriciousness of political correctness? What can we give that can truly give hope for the future?
The woman stands and walks painfully over to a table. On top of the table lies a book… its pages are open. She sits down in the chair and reads the words again… the words of agreement… the words of rebuttal… Yes…”the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever!” Let me say that again: “The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever!” Emergency assistance will help for a time… but it is the word of our God that brings true hope and true comfort. It is not the things that money can buy… not the gifts of this season… nor the food… shelter… clothing… and supplies. They will all eventually disappear. The only thing that lasts is the word of God!
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should not give to mission work… or to rescue efforts for the victims of Hurricane Rita or Katrina… or the earthquake in Pakistan. I am not saying that at all! But, if all that we give is money for things… things of this world… then we miss giving the greatest gift of all! It is the good news that the angels brought that was the greatest gift of the season… the news of the Messiah’s birth… a word of hope to those who had none. It was that news that left something behind in each heart… long after the concert in the hills had ended… and the shepherds went about their normal routine. It was that news that lifted the woman out of her pain… and gave her hope for the future. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever!”
Let’s look at that in two different ways: The word of God… the scriptures that we read bring hope because, in the scriptures, we can read the story of God’s faithfulness to generations of people… generations of those whom God loved and claimed for his own. We read of the grace of God who spared the lives of Adam and Eve, even though they had done the one thing that God told them not to do. We read of the mercy of God toward Noah and his family during the time of the Great Flood. We read of the patience of God with the children of Israel as they walked through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land… complaining every step of the way. We read of the forgiveness of God for the exiles who returned to Jerusalem… whose fortunes were restored. Finally, we read of the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ, who came to live with us… to die for us… to redeem us… and give us eternal life in him. What we see in the written word of God is a God who is unchanging toward us… loving… caring… forgiving… a God who wants nothing but the best for us, as we read last week in Jeremiah.
But there is more. Remember that the word of God is not just the text we read in a book. The Word of God also was… also is a living, breathing reality. The Word of God is Jesus Christ… from the beginning, the Word was with God… and the Word was God… And that Word became flesh and lived among us… and, at the end of his life on earth, Jesus promised that he would be with us always… even to the end of the age. Every Christian confesses that Jesus is Lord… not was Lord, but is Lord! As the Apostle Paul declared in Hebrews, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
So, when the chorus of voices cries, “Comfort my people” and the dissenting voice says, “All people are grass,” our response should be clear and strong… “Yes, all people are grass, but the word of our God will stand forever… whether it is written words of scripture or the living Word, Jesus Christ… the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah said these words to the people in exile in Babylon… to bring them a word of hope, yes… but to also tell them to comfort all of God’s people. But these words are often misunderstood. "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” But the wilderness that is named here is the Arabah… a specific wilderness… a special desert… one to the southwest of Jerusalem. Babylon is to the northeast of Jerusalem. This highway is not a highway for God to lead the people of Israel back to Jerusalem from Babylon. What the text says is that God is coming… coming on the highway from his holy mountain… Mount Sinai… in the southwest… coming back to his people… meeting them in his holy city… in Jerusalem. God is coming to be with his people. That is the word of hope. God is returning to his people and, when he returns, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd and carry the lambs in his bosom.
Too often, when we give aid to others through our gifts of money and service, we may provide the funds… or provide the service… or both… and then stop there. But that is not enough. For, you see, the money will eventually run out. And in time, we will stop providing the service. These people who are suffering… God’s people… need something they can cling to… something that will last forever. And the only thing that lasts forever is the word of God… the written word that brings them the good news that God is coming… and the Word of God… Jesus Christ our Lord. So, “get up on a high mountain and lift up your voice… lift it up and do not be afraid” As our text says today, tell everyone, "Here is your God!" Amen.
Isaiah 40:1-11