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Advent 2 - St Margaret's Halstead

Sunday 10th December 2006 - Sermon

Readings - Psalm 40 (Said not sung - alt. verses); Isaiah 64:1-7; Luke 3: 1-6

This morning, we are in the second week of the season of Advent.  The season when we look forward to the coming of God in Christ as a little child amongst us.  The wonderful time of Christmas, which is a brilliant time for children to enjoy themselves and for families to come together again – perhaps where they have been apart for a while (which is why I am off to Heathrow after the service to collect Luke from his x3 month working / holidaying time in Canada.  I wonder how he will recover from his jet lag ?)

But this morning, since we are mainly adults here, I want us to start to consider what it must have been like to not know what is might be like if there had been no Christmas.  Infact, to imagine a time when the concept of Christmas was unknown, and what was believed would happen with the coming of a saviour was quite different to what (we know) actually happened.  No Christmas puddings, tinsles, pretty angels and nativity plays with the children and worrying who would sing the solo for “Once in David’s City” each year ! No presents to wrap and carols to sing.

Let’s first go back to about the year 675BC, just before the prophet Isaiah died – when he wrote the last few chapters of his book.  Isaiah wrote his books during the stormy period marking the expansion of the Assyrian Empire and the decline of Israel.   Under King Tiglath-Pileser III the Assyrians swept westwards into Aram (Syria) and Canaan.  Later, towards the time of the chapter we heard, Isaiah warned Judah that her sin would bring captivity at the hands of Babylon.  Infact, just before the passage that we heard, Isaiah records how the “enemies (the Babylonians) have trampled down your sanctuary (that is the Temple in Jerusalem)” (Is 63:18)  Now it couldn’t have got much worse that that – losing the Temple.  Where the Jews believed God resided & where the Ark of The Covenant was kept safe.  After the destruction of the Temple the Ark disappeared and nobody (not even Indiana Jones) could recover it.

One can hear the exasperated plea in Isaiah’s voice when he shouts in anger to God “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down ….”  This is so awful  ( the loss of the Temple) that Isaiah cannot contain his grief.   He also goes on to ask, how can the people of Israel be saved if they continue to sin against God ? (v5) ( NIV translation) v7 “…. For you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins”

Perhaps if Isaiah had reminded himself of the words of Psalm 40 written by King David some 300 years earlier he might have seen things in context a bit better. 
“I waited patiently for the Lord…” said King David, and “…he inclined unto me…” 

Waiting on God when things are going wrong or not as planned (as far as we are concerned!) is difficult.  We always think we now best – don’t we !  And yet, the mighty King David, who had been going through a rather tough of it was still able to start his plea for deliverance to God with an acknowledgement that waiting is what is needed – BUT it is what I would describe as “active waiting”.  That is, waiting and listening to God for what HE has planned for us, and not what WE think would be best.  That invariably leads to problems – as Isaiah could attest to.

And so, for another 325 years or so after Isaiah’s time, the Jewish people had to continue to wait on God.  And things, at one level, went from bad to worse – ending up with the complete invasion and takeover by the Roman Empire.

And then about 29 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem (since Tiberius reigned from AD14-37, and Pilate was in post from AD26-36) as Luke records – as we will hear over Christmas – John the Baptist started baptising people around and about in an effort to “Prepare the Way” for Christ. 
But did people listen or understand him ?  John went all around the Jordan  - that is from the Dead Sea up to the Sea of Galilee.   Well, in short, the answer was NO ! 

At this stage of Jesus’ life, He had only become known to a relatively small number of people as Luke records earlier in his Gospel.  But now John was getting serious and needed to tell the people that all their waiting patiently (as David had described) had not been in vain.  The depression that reigned in Israel after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple was at an end !  He was getting VERY excited !!!!

And since John was going around amongst the people of Judea it was obvious that he had to use the clear and strong language that even they could understand.  So he used the words from the books of the major prophet of the Jews – Isaiah.  What John does, in order to deliver the strongest possible message, was to bring together a number of parts from the books of Isaiah.  Infact, I had thought that it was a straight quote form a section in Isaiah – but not I found out !.  Perhaps bit of “Spin-Doctoring”  here – but for the justifiable purpose of making people think.

These words are so powerful that that Handel took them directly to form the wonderful words for the Tenor Solo in his Messiah. (“Every valley shall be exalted, shall be exalted.  And every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain …).
I had thought of asking the choir to sing this – but perhaps that might be pushing it a bit, particularly as I had not warned the Tenors ! (Paul Lewis !)  However, I find it very difficult to read this passage to not start singing  especially as the bass line comes in so powerfully at the start of the next Chorus – “… and the Glory of God shall  be revealed….”  Taking up the theme at the end of this quote from Isaiah that ALL will see God’s salvation through the Saviour Christ.  Oh well…… perhaps one year we will sing the Messiah here at this time of year !

So during this Advent, as we look forward to commemorating the coming of God in Christ amongst us, the challenge I think that we ALL have is to get REALLY excited !!  A bit like John perhaps – although perhaps with a better dress sense than he had (he only the sins of animal and rough clothes !) and was a bit rough !
As we sit here this morning almost 2006 years after the birth of Christ, there are still many people who, like the people of Judea, have heard some things about the coming of the Messiah  but either do not understand or do not believe in the fact the with God ANYTHING and EVERYTHING IS possible ? 

The strong words from King David and Isaiah occurred in the 1,000years before Chirst’s birth. …And here we are, over 2,000years after Christ’s birth and STILL many people in our world have either not heard or do not understand the message of the coming of the Messiah for ALL people. 

For many people, Christmas is merely a secular time for parties and excesses.   Like the people in the millenium before Christ, they do not believe that they will be saved in the way that will/ has actually happened.  For them, the roads are still “crooked” and the ways “rough”, the mountains of their unbelief very high.  
 BUT, there is no need for anybody to become as exasperated and desolate as was Isaiah and the people of Judea when the Temple was demolished.  For WE know that the Kingdom has ALREADY come.  Not to replace and re-build the OLD structures of belief of the Temple of Jerusalem, but in the form of the terms of the New Covenant that Christ made for us in His death on the Cross and His resurrection.

So this Advent season, let us go forth and get really excited about the coming Christmas.  I know that we have seen Christmas many times before, and it is hard work and costs time and money …..  BUT what better time is there to party !  How many people around us do not really know about the truly amazing Christmas story (or misunderstand it) ?  For them, it is as if there had not been the birth of Christ 2006 years ago.  What a shame that is… and what a challenge to each and every one of us to take the opportunity this Christmas to try and speak to at least one new person about the Christmas story whether at our work or around the villages.  What about telling people about the services over Christmas?.  Invite as many children as you can, so they might bring their parents.  Remember the best advertising is word of mouth – and it’s cheaper that posters !

AMEN