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The purpose
of Advent is to get ready: something is coming, something so wondrous
that we must be prepared; we must be on high alert. This is not the time--yet--to
deck the halls with boughs of holly. We are not to focus on food or parties
or Santa Claus. We are not asked to "do" anything, but wait:
Wait like expectant children of God, because, of all the unimaginable The children
become very still, and we continue, "That's why we are so quiet in
our room--so you can hear God speak to YOU. Maybe you will be a prophet,
too." In the Scripture readings today, we meet two of our greatest Biblical prophets, Isaiah and John the Baptist. Both of them were prophets who spoke to people who had given up hope. Isaiah spoke to the Judean exiles in Babylon. Their country, Judah, had been invaded and defeated by the Babylonians. Jerusalem, their Holy City, had been destroyed, and their beloved Temple, the center and focus of their lives, had been burned to the ground. It was as if on September 11, 2001, New York and Washington had been annihilated and our National Cathedral had destroyed. The leaders of Judah were deported to Babylon where they lived in exile for many generations. Torn from their homeland and from their spiritual foundations, they became filled with despair. How had God let this happen to them? Had God abandoned them? Feeling abandoned by God is like falling headlong into the dark. All the voices of fear, panic and chaos close in, and we are left helpless and hopeless. How wonderful the exiles must have felt when they heard Isaiah's message:
Why was Isaiah chosen to give this message to the people? Perhaps it was because he was in very close relationship to God. Who knows how many other people God approached people who were too busy to listen? Too busy worrying, or complaining, or fighting to listen with the ear of their hearts to what God was trying to say. But Isaiah listened to God, and Isaiah had studied the Scriptures. He knew that God was a faithful God who would not abandon the people. "Here
is your God!" Isaiah said. And, through Isaiah's words, the people
'who had walked in deep darkness' believed that new life, new light was
coming. They Listened to Isaiah, and they believed him, and soon they
were on their way home to Judah. People thronged around John. Why? Because he gave them two things: first, hope that the Messiah they had longed for was about to come, and second, he gave them a way to prepare for the Messiah's coming: repent. Repent means
turn around, change direction. It means realize you are not perfect.
It
was good advice then, and it is good advice now. John offered hope to
ALL people, those who were victims of poverty and injustice and those
who were part of the system that perpetuated poverty and injustice. We
can all learn from John's perspective. Each of us can repent, and be better Both Isaiah and John continue to speak to us, of hope and of repentance. They remind us to listen better, to listen with the ear of our hearts. We can all listen better: at school, at work, at home. In our world we can listen more for messages of peace than of war; in our city, for the voices of justice and mercy over the voices that would divide us into separate camps. "Listen with the ear of the heart," Isaiah and John remind us. In Advent we wait. We listen. We hope. And when Christmas comes in the form of a newborn baby, we rejoice, we sing, we praise. My Advent came early this year. All Fall I awaited the birth of a grandchild. I can't remember ever being so awake or aware! As the due date drew near, I even had a tote bag packed with camera, film and a bottle of water to take to the hospital. I was on HIGH alert! I listened with the ear of my heart, but I also listened for the telephone as never before. Finally, when the day came and when my granddaughter was born, I experienced firsthand what many of you have experienced: Wonder. Awe. Tears of joy and gratitude. The birth of this beautiful child brought me closer to God than I can ever remember. I am no prophet, but this time I had listened keenly. I had really listened with the ear of my heart. After listening that way for a long time, what was the first sound I heard? The first cry of my granddaughter. And it was
then I knew, just as Isaiah and John surely must have known - that God
is with us. God is always with us, if we will just listen. excerpted
from a sermon preached at Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis,
Tennessee, December
8, 2002 Copyright 2002 Calvary Episcopal Church
Old
Testament Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 |
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