A Message of Hope

Rev. Debbie Cato

Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-20

Peace Presbyterian Church

December 24, 2014 - Christmas Eve

A Message of Hope

I must confess that I love the Christmas story as narrated by Luke. I’ve loved it since I was an angel in the Christmas pageant when I was four years old. There’s something sort of romantic about it. All the pictures we see show a dimly lit manger scene with the animals nicely gathered around the manger. Mary looks clean and fresh – no signs of just giving birth in a barn, looking more like a woman than a teenager. The manger scene always looks so calm; so perfect; so peaceful.

We don't hear a lot about Joseph – he’s really not “that” important in the Christmas story. After all, this was God’s Son. But, there's a Christmas song that is sung from Joseph's perspective. It says:

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world¹

This is a strange way for God to save the world. When we look beyond the words that we are so familiar with, the Christmas story is not the type of story we might expect to find for the birth of the Lord and Savior of the world. It’s not a grandiose story. It’s certainly not as romantic as we make it out to be.

Jesus was born to a poor, unwed teenage mother. Mary was probably 14 years old! Mary’s pregnancy brought much shame to Joseph; the disgrace of being engaged to a pregnant woman was unfathomable. The long, arduous journey to Bethlehem – Mary nine months pregnant traveling 80 miles on a donkey.

Normally it would take about 4 days to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem by donkey.  But, with Mary so near her due date, the couple would have traveled for more than 4 days for fear of miscarriage. Perhaps it took them as long as a week.

Mary gives birth in the filth of a barn, probably lying on top of stiff, dirty, itchy straw. The Christ child is laid in a feeding trough for barn animals, not the nice cradle that we find in our nativity scenes. The shepherds – the first ones the angels’ tell of the birth of Christ – the first ones to see the infant Jesus - were not the most upstanding part of society; certainly not the most important people. They were outcasts in their society. Yet these rough, dirty, nrefined shepherds were chosen by God to get the first look at the Savior. The most significant event of the universe witnessed by the nobodies of society. What a strange way to save the world.

God allows his Son…. the Christ Child, to be born into humble beginnings without any splendor. Jesus birth was so humble, so seemingly routine; grace took on human flesh and scarcely broke the hush of midnight. You see, this Messiah; this Savior was not unapproachable royalty. He is “good news of great joy for ALL the people.” Everyone, no matter their lot in life, is able – and invited to approach the Christ. What a strange way to save the world.

Of course the night wasn’t over! Christ’s birth was a gift and it was one God intended to share since the beginning of time. There was nothing under-the-radar about angels shouting the news of Christ to startled shepherds, singing at the top of their angelic lungs.   Celebration! Adoration! Good news for all people!

I don’t suppose the shepherds were expecting divine revelation when they gathered their flocks that night, but after seeing Jesus for themselves, they too – these unrefined, outcasts, “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.”

And tonight, we proclaim the same news. We’ve waited; we’ve hoped; we’ve anticipated… God is coming, we said. And tonight… well tonight we proclaim “He has come!” As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed so many years ago; “A child has been born for us and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father; Prince of Peace.”

We hear this story every year. The story is familiar to us. But, what does this story mean for us today? How does the birth of the Savior of the world bring hope to us today? Or was the hope of the Messiah just something for those witnesses in Bethlehem so many years ago?

Let's face it. Our world is a dark place. It was just a week ago that 132 children and 9 adults were massacred in a Pakistani school. Some 805 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in nine people on earth.² The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history.³ Gun violence in America continues to kill our young people. Racism and prejudice loom large; there is unrest in many of our large cities. How do you see the light of hope in the nativity when you are going through a divorce, struggling to find work, confused, sick, alone, grieving?

The truth is, we live in a world where it's not always a wonderful life, where there are places in the world where there is no joy, where silent nights are interrupted by screams and sobs and cursing and gunshots.

Into what kind of world was God born late that night in Bethlehem? A world that is full of hurting people who hurt each other, hurt themselves, and some-times will do terrible things to themselves just to make the hurt stop. For them; for you, God was born. For you – no matter your hurt, no matter how screwed up your life is, no matter what kinds of stupid decisions you've made, no matter how filthy or vile or useless you think you are – for precisely YOU, God was born. He gladly left a bright and shiny heaven to plunge headfirst into the mud and muck of our world that is full of darkness and unbelief and tragedy. He didn't stand in the light and beckon you out of the darkness. He invaded the night. He entered the darkness. He came in search of you.

You say, “But I'm a lost cause.”

Jesus says, “I specialize in lost causes, for I came to seek and to save the lost.”

You say, “But I just can't go on.”

Jesus says, “You don't have to. I will carry you. I've got you. You don't need to take another step.”

You say, “But I'm hopeless.”

Jesus says, “I have all the hope you need. I am your hope. I hold your past, your present, and your future in my nail-scarred hands.”

You say, “But look at what I've done. I'm dirty. Nobody wants me.”

And Jesus says, “I want you. Look at what I've done for you. I have taken your dirt and smeared it all over me. You are clean. I want you – desperately, lovingly, crazily. I want you.”⁴

Into this mad world, oozing with pain, racked with guilt, pockmarked with graves, God gladly and willingly was born to make you his own flesh and blood. The deeper you have fallen, the farther he will dig to find you. The darker your despair, the more light he will bring to seek you out. The farther away from God you are, the better he sees you. No life has sunk so unfathomably deep that he cannot dig down to grasp you by the hand and climb out of the pit with you in his loving arms. That's the kind of God who was born on Christmas That's the kind of God Jesus is. He never gives up on us. Never.⁵

Why was the Savior of the world born in a dirty barn and laid in a feeding trough? Because God wanted us to understand that He came for us – for you and for me. For ordinary, everyday people. Jesus was born to save the shepherds of the world, the poor and oppressed, the sinners. Yes. God did choose a strange way to save the world.

The Christmas story is a beautiful story. But it’s more than just a story. It's life changing and life saving. God changed the world that night so many years ago in Bethlehem. This precious baby boy grows up and turns the world upside down. This precious baby boy grows up and makes the ultimate sacrifice so that every one of us will be forgiven for our sinful ways. This precious baby boy is our way to eternal life. This baby boy is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is for us that the angels proclaim, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for ALL the people! To you is born this day in the city of David A Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

This night, long ago in Bethlehem, God took on human flesh and came and lived among us so that we may not perish, but have eternal life. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” Amen.

1 “A Strange Way To Save The World" is track #8 on the album Christmas Is. It was written by Koch, Donald A. / Clark, David Allen / Harris, Mark R.. 2 http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

3 www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/

4 https://birdchadlouis.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/a-tree-decorated-with-tears-the-dark-side-of-christmas-is-why-christmas-exists/

5 https://birdchadlouis.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/a-tree-decorated-with-tears-the-dark-side-of-christmas-is-why-christmas-exists/

"God's Uncontainable Presence"

Rev. Debbie Cato

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 and Luke 1:26-38

Peace Presbyterian Church

December 21, 2014 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

“God’s Uncontainable Presence”

David has just become king over Israel. He has conquered Jerusalem and established it as his royal city. His first priority after becoming king and taking control of Jerusalem is to bring the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem among much praise and celebration. 2 Samuel tells us that: “They brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty.” (2Sam 6:17-18)

Having won peace and stability for the Israelites, David decides to do some-thing for God. He wants to build God a beautiful house – a permanent dwelling place. David says, “God has done all this for me. He has made me king over all Israel. He has given me the city of Jerusalem. God has made me conqueror of all my enemies. He has provided a palace of cedar for me to live in. Yet, God is still dwelling in the ark which remains in a tent. I will build him a temple where he can live forever.”

Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? David is grateful for all the LORD has done. He gives God all the glory for who he is and what he has done. David wants to show his gratitude by giving God a gift; he wants to build God a place to be. David’s personal prophet Nathan, doesn't object. “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it”, Nathan says. “For the LORD is with you.” The Lord is with you.

I saw a saying on a church sign years ago that I just love. It said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!” Only, in David’s case, God doesn’t so much laugh as he gets mad! “Who are you to decide to build ME a house?” “Have I ever asked to have a house built for me? I make the decisions around here – not you!”

God reminds David that throughout the history of Israel, God has gone wherever He wanted to go. God does not intend to stay in one place now. He does not want a “place to be.” God’s 

presence cannot be contained in a temple, a tent, or a tabernacle – or , dare I say, a church.

Scripture is full of examples of God’s interventions in human history. The holy being bursts into the earthly realm, into a particular time and place, to a particular person, in a particular community. We cannot anticipate the ways that God will break into human history – into our history!

For instance, on this 4^th Sunday of Advent, this Sunday before Christmas, we read how an angel appears as if out of nowhere, and a virgin learns that she will defy nature and bear a child. And not just any child! The child of God. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

Adding to the abundance of wonder, the angel alludes to another miraculous occurrence: Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, an old, barren woman well beyond childbearing years, is in the sixth month of her pregnancy. God cannot be contained.

Living in a remote village far from the busy religious center of Jerusalem, Mary had no clue that she was destined for such a distinctive role. She was just an ordinary girl – a peasant girl. The tendency to think that leading unassuming lives in out-of-the way places isolates us from the extraordinary is debunked by Mary’s surprise visitor. And in answer to Mary’s questions, the angel Gabriel simply replies, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Nothing is impossible with God. If only we really believed that. Like David, we continue to try to contain God.

Mary is described as favored, perplexed, thoughtful, and afraid. She questions, she believes, and she submits to her call. She trusts God. I doubt that Mary had any idea what her life would be like. It certainly wouldn’t be the way she had planned; the way she and her fiance, Joseph had planned. She must have understood that God had broken into her life and the only answer she could give was, yes. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your words.” Let it be with me according to your words.

There is a beautiful Christmas Song that I love called, “Mary Did You Know?¹ Some of the lyrics are:

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?

Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kiss the face of God?
Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

I doubt Mary had any idea what it would mean to be the mother of the Son of the Most High. I doubt that she had any idea the joy…. and the pain - this news would bring into her life. But somehow, in some small way, Mary must have understood that God cannot be contained. Mary chooses to believe the impossible. As a result, this ordinary teenage girl, becomes the mother of God; the mother of the Savior of the world. Her unborn child would be the Great I Am. The uncontainable God was preparing to be among us people in a new way. As Eugene Peterson says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

The claim that God’s presence cannot be contained opens the possibility of considering that God is in all situations; in all places; in all times. This idea that God’s presence cannot be contained creates opportunities for us to think differently about the world around us. They turn us away from attempts to force the world – or the gospel for that matter – to conform to our way of thinking. It forces us to learn about God's desire for the world and how God acts in it. Advent anticipates a new thing happening, we should be careful of thinking only in the same small, old ways.

Where today is God moving ahead of us and acting in ways that will catch us by surprise? Where in the world; where in our life as a congregation; where in our personal lives, may God be wanting to do something that is being blocked by our human aspirations and our agendas, however much they seem noble? How receptive are we to the God who will not be confined or enshrined but retains and cherishes the freedom to surprise us – as in the coming of Christ down the back stairs of Bethlehem; to be born of Mary; to grow up in the hick town of Nazareth; to spend his time with the least, the lowly, and the lost, and most surprising of all, to become “obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross”?

Could this same God be leading our church in new and un-thought–of directions?² Do we expect anything new or surprising, or do we confine God based on our own limitations; our own small expectations?

When we try confine God to our own limitations; when we try to confine God to only what we can imagine; when we think God is only in our church building or only in our community or only in our culture; we miss out on the reality of the bigness of God. We miss out on seeing

what God is doing in places where we would never expect God to be. We miss out on seeing God work in ways we would never expect God to work. We miss out on seeing and proclaiming that God cannot be contained. He breaks in to restore, reveal, and redeem the mess we make of the world. We miss out on seeing and proclaiming that God’s gospel of justice and peace turns our world upside down – and that is VERY good news!

Just like Mary, we must open ourselves up to the unexpected and the unimaginable. If God can break into a poor virgin’s life in obscure Galilee, he can surely break into your life here in Eugene, Oregon. Nothing is impossible with God.

Let us be a church that sits on the edge of our seat, expecting the unexpected. Let us be a church that is out in the community; out where God already is. May we be a church that says, “Yes, Lord. Here we are. Let it be with us according to your word.” Amen

1 "Mary Did You Know" Originally by Mark Lowry (lyrics ) and Buddy Greene (melody )

2 Feasting on the Word. Year B, Volume 1. Pg 78.

Saved for What?

Rev. Debbie Cato

Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-11 and John 1:6-8; 19-28

Peace Presbyterian Church

December 14, 2014 – Third Sunday of Advent

“Saved for What?”

This is the Third Sunday of Advent; the season of the Church when we are reminded to wait and prepare for the coming Messiah – to wait for the coming Christ child. Advent is a time of longing; a time of anticipation; a time of hope.

But why? Why is such a big deal made out of waiting for a baby to be born in a manger? Why the fuss? What is it that we are hoping for?

There is a big difference between waiting for Christmas and waiting for Christ. Christmas – the holiday that most of us celebrate; the holiday that retailers count on to make their profits for the year, has come to have little to do with Christ. Waiting for Christmas is about getting the decorations up, the shopping done. It’s about scurrying and over-scheduling. It’s about running to get everything done until we are so tired we can’t enjoy it. But this busyness; what the world has us believe is Christmas, has nothing to do with Christ.

And so each year, while we simultaneously prepare for the holiday of Christmas, the church teaches us to slow down; to prepare ourselves; to wait and watch for the coming Christ. But again, I ask you: Why? What’s the big deal?

Waiting for the Christ child requires us to draw on our collective memories of God’s people as a source of hope for the future – hope we sorely need today. Advent is a time when we are filled with new hope and great anticipation for what the coming Christ child means for a hurt and broken world. We anticipate and long for the coming Christ because He is the way of redemption and salvation for all the world. And yet, I still ask you; why?

We hope and anticipate the coming Christ because He is God hidden in human form, who comes to reveal the power of the powerless in his self-giving act on the cross. It is through his self-giving act on the cross that our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God. It is through his self-giving act on the cross that we who believe, are saved from death and by grace receive eternal life. This is good news!

But for too many of us, the story stops here. I am saved, we say. I will go to heaven when I die. That’s it. That’s all that matters. But if we call ourselves Christians; if we call ourselves followers of Christ, we need to ask ourselves what this means. For what reason; for what purpose am I saved? You see, our individual salvation is not the end-all. Going to heaven is not the point.

The prophet Isaiah tells us God’s purpose for the world. And when Jesus’ begins his ministry, he stands before the synagogue and reads these same words from the prophet Isaiah.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

     because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

     to proclaim freedom for the captives and

          release from darkness for the prisoners,

               ² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and

the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,” (Isaiah 61:1-2)

And when he finishes, Jesus closes the scroll and says, “"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21)

How many of you are familiar with the story of Alice in Wonderland? When Alice falls through the rabbit-hole into Wonderland, she is convinced that she has fallen right through the earth and is destined to come out where people will be upside down. She calls this upside down reversal an Antipathies— though she does wonder whether or not this is the right word.

Alice may not have chosen the correct word, but she was on target when it came to identifying the way we feel when our world is turned upside down. That is, of course, when the reversal that we experience resembles the collapse of the stock market or the loss of a job or a terminal diagnosis. We would be overcome by entirely different emotions if we won the lottery.

The Third Sunday of Advent invites us into a world of reversals; a world where the captives are freed, where the hungry are filled, and where the rich are sent away empty. We are invited into a world where children don't die from gun violence, where people aren't sleeping under a bridge. It is certainly a world where things are turned upside down. From the point of view of social order, such reversals could be considered Antipathies. But from God’s point of view, they are signs of transformation.

In order to appreciate the strength of today’s message from Isaiah, we must remember that he was speaking to people who were dispossessed; people in need of a message of hope, a promise of some kind of economic reversal. This same description of reversal is found throughout Jesus’ teachings in the gospels. There we see that the lowly enjoy the blessings that God promised long ago.

God offers us the possibility of a new world. The Wonderland to which we are invited is not some mad tea party attended by an array of strange guests. It is a world established in justice and peace; a world in which all will hear the glad tidings of salvation.

In order to enter the mysterious new world that lies before us, like Alice, we have to undergo some kind of change; some kind of transformation. And so once again today, we are reminded that the preaching of John the Baptist is repentance; repentance in preparation for the coming Lord. His message today is the same as it was last week: “Make straight the way of the Lord!” Get rid of any obstacle that might deter His arrival. Eliminate from your lives the greed that impoverishes others, the arrogance that tries to set you above the rest, the power that makes you abusive, the selfishness that turns you in on only your own concerns. Today we are all aware of the destructive evil that such attitudes have spawned. We suffer the consequences of their corrosive power. But our faith reminds us that we do not have to remain victims of these forces.

There is a far better way of living in the world, and on this Third Sunday of Advent we stand at its threshold. However, the question is: Are we willing to step forward? How we willing to stand out in our broken world? Are we willing to be the hands and feet that bring the new world into being? Or, are we afraid to have our world turned upside down? Are we the poor who will hear the good news of reversal, or are we the ones responsible for their poverty? Are we the brokenhearted who will be healed, or have we broken their hearts? Are we the captives who will be freed, or are we the captors who have restrained them? On what side of the reversals do we find ourselves?

Advent is a time to search our hearts, to discover where, both individually and as a community, we need to change. It is a time of expectations, for we are told that there is one who has the power to heal our personal brokenness, to heal our fractured families, to heal our troubled church, to heal our bleeding world. Isaiah tells us that he is coming; John tells us that he is already in our midst. His presence among us should make us rejoice; the saving power that he brings should give us confidence. If we open our hearts to this saving power, we can indeed transform our society; we absolutely can renew our church, we can work toward peace in the world. We can turn our world upside down.  Isaiah ties God’s salvation of the Israel to the mission of changing the world. Jesus proclaims this same missional salvation as his reason for being in the world. If we claim to be followers of Christ, this must be our mission too. Our salvation is not an end, but a beginning. A beginning to doing Christ’s work in the world.

To bind up the brokenhearted,

     to proclaim freedom for the captives and

          release from darkness for the prisoners,

                   ² to proclaim the good news,

                       to comfort all who mourn,”

This next week, rejoice in the realization that Christ is in our midst, ready to work through us to heal our world. But, also spend time praying that God will shine His light to help you recognize what in your life should be turned “upside down.” I pray that He would give you the courage to be transformed.    Amen.  

"A Way to the Future"

Debbie Cato

Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8

Peace Presbyterian Church

December 7, 2014 – Second Sunday of Advent

“A Way to the Future”

Picture the scene. YHWH the God of Israel has assembled a heavenly host; a council. At issue is the situation of God’s children, the people of Israel. We can hardly imagine their misery. Stripped of the institutional structures that shaped their lives, their temple destroyed, their homeland laid waste, the people of Israel languish under the thumb of Marduk, the Babylonian god. The Israelite people are victims of a nearly successful attempt to destroy their culture and their religion. They have lived this way for 50 years.

God responds by calling together this heavenly council. God is prepared to announce a message that He intends for all the people of Israel. In it, we can see the depths of the character of God.

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.

God commands the heavenly council to tenderly comfort His people with the news that their punishment – their life removed from the presence of God, is in the past. It’s over. He commands a way into the future; a future to be found through the way of the wilderness.

God has not forgotten His people. Their punishment is over, the future lies ahead. God will rescue His children. God will come like a warrior – with all His might and all his power. Yet, in His power and might He will be like a shepherd to his flock. Isaiah tells us that, “He will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead the mother sheep.” God encompasses all traits. He is both mighty and powerful and gentle and loving.

Now jump ahead 730 years or so. Imagine that you live in Galilee around 70 AD. There’s a war on. Some radical Jews have revolted against Rome.

Jerusalem is under siege. Reports are that conditions in the city are bad. People are divided. Some see the answer is to push the infidels from the Holy Land. Others urge submission to Rome as the path to peace and security.

Everyone is anxious; caught between resentment of the heavy-handed soldiers and fear of extremist guerrillas. Furthermore, Emperor Nero died last year, and there is unrest in Rome. In the past year, four men have been crowned emperor, only to be assassinated. Now Vespasian, the general besieging Jerusalem, has been crowned. What does this mean for the war? Things are uncertain. The price of oil is skyrocketing – olive oil that is. The world is in turmoil. Where do you look for the future?

Tensions are high. Your village population is a mix of Jews and Gentiles. Neighbors fear one another. Families fracture along ethnic lines.

One small sect refuses to fight on either side. They are followers of a Galilean rabbi named Jesus, the man who was crucified for insurrection about forty years ago. They claim that Jesus’ crucifixion is a symbol of God’s “good news” for Israel and Rome. But you wonder, if this Jesus really was God’s prophet, how can his execution be good news? Someone hands you a scroll with a title scribbled on it, “The Beginning of the Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, The Son of God.” You have been handed the Gospel of Mark.

The title intrigues you, so you open the scroll and begin to read. To help his readers understand their troubled situation, Mark proclaims Jesus. But to understand Jesus, he looks back to the Scriptures of Israel. Indeed, we cannot understand the Christian faith without understanding our Jewish roots. Whatever we think God is doing in our world today, and whatever we think God did in Jesus Christ, should be consistent with what God was doing all along in Israel.

Mark says the beginning of the gospel is “just as” Isaiah said. Six hundred years before, the heavenly host proclaimed to the Israelites that the way to the future was through the wilderness. And now Mark begins the good news of the gospel with John the Baptist appearing in the wilderness, exhorting all who can hear to repent and proclaim the coming of the promised One – the One more powerful than John. One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. For Mark, John’s voice is like the voice that announces “comfort” to the exiles in Babylon. Although first-century Jews were not in exile, they were under foreign occupation.

John the Baptist is preparing the way into the future that God promised to His people. After Isaiah’s prophecy, John the Baptist makes a big entrance. He has a huge following. There are people around him, captivated, who tell him that he is enough. John could decide that he was the end of the story. But instead, John looks out to the future with a humble heart and imagines the One who will really get the job done.

Imagine the reaction among his followers when John says, “The One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.” John knows his place. He knows that he is a servant of the Lord, not the Lord himself. John knows that as a servant of God, he is called to tell the truth. “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.”

“Get ready,” John says. “Repent. He is coming. God has not forgotten us. I am God’s messenger crying out in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord. Get ready.   Repent. He is coming.”

During Advent, we wait for the Savior. Waiting is hard. Waiting is humbling.

But waiting gives us the chance to get prepared. To be ready.

Advent is a time to hear the promises spoken to the community of faith thousands of years ago and today. Advent is a time to sit with these promises again. It is a a time for the faith community to find its own voice, overcome its objections, and speak words of comfort and assurance to anyone who feels separated or abandoned by God; words of good news that God will arrive. Good news that God will come in gentle power.

Advent is a season of hope and expectation. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Jeff Keuss, said that Advent “is knocking on the door and hoping beyond hope that the God we casually evoke in prayers all year long will throw open the door and meet us face-to-face.” “Maybe this year…” we wonder to ourselves “perhaps this will be the year.” But like generations before us we too live in the cynicism of expecting that nothing will noticeably change and we will just continue on into the next new year.”

At this time of year we tend to think that only the church is the recipient of these words of comfort from on high. We like to cast ourselves as the shepherd who hear the choirs of angels broadcast the startling announcement of God’s coming as both warrior and shepherd. Surely the church does need to hear these ancient words again and again, to be reassured that the God in whom we trust does indeed honor promises and covenants.

But these words of comfort; these words that tell of a way out of the current pain and suffering in the world; these words that tell of a way into a new future for all the world to hear. These words of good news need to be heard by everyone who struggles, wondering where God is in our world today.

Where is God with so much of the world at war; so many people living in violence? Where is God with so much hunger and poverty in the world when there really is plenty to go around? Where is God with more than 2,000,000 children orphaned each year due to disease and war and famine? Many of you are caught in circumstances that challenge your hope for the future. Some of you are in the wilderness; needing comfort. Needing hope. Our world today – us, our families, our friends, our neighbors - need to hear God’s words of comfort just as much as the Israelites did so many thousands of years ago. The world needs to know that God hears our cries. To all of us, God speaks these words of comfort; “There is a way through the wilderness. There is a way into the future.” He is the reason for the season.

On this second Sunday of Advent, it is good to tell of new beginnings, to tell about a God who breaks into our time with good news.

In this Advent season He comes. Perhaps not as might be expected; perhaps not in the time frame desired – but He comes.

And that is good news. Amen.