This sermon was preached at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Holliston, MA on December 7, 2014.
Isaiah 40:1–11
Comfort, O comfort
my people,
says your God.
2Speak 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.
3A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the
way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.
4Every 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.
5Then the glory of the LORD shall be
revealed,
and all people shall see it
together,
for the mouth of the LORD has
spoken."
6A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower
of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows
upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand
forever.
9Get 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!"
10See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11He 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.\
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ,
Tomorrow, Dec. 8, 2014 would have been Carrie’s
Grandmother’s 100th Birthday.
Now, Mamie won’t make it to 100. She died just over 3
years ago, having lived almost 97 years. In the last days of those years,
Mamie, like many others, went into hospice care, where the focus of the care
she received could be on comforting her, as her body, like grass, withered and
faded away.
When Mamie went to Hospice, she received great care, and
her family got to spend time with her in a beautiful setting. Through those
things, and the love shown her, I’m sure that she heard God saying to her,
“Comfort, O comfort my Mamie.”
But, while she was there, in the final days of her life,
Mamie also had work to do. Mamie, in a way that had been the case for most of
her life, was called to prepare a highway for God, in the hearts of those
around her. So, at one point, Mamie asked her doctor, “Is there anything I can
pray about for you?” And, the doctor, in I’m sure a very appreciative way, said
“no, thank you.” Yet Mamie, the fading flower, kept asking her fit, competent
doctor, who was there to provide her comfort, if there was anything she could
pray for him about. Finally, the doctor said, “Yes, could you pray for my
family, and especially my son, we’ve been having a rough time with him.” And
Mamie did.
Yes, “the grass withers, the flower fades” but Truly!
“the word of our God will stand forever.”
This word was Mamie’s hope, through her, it became her
doctor’s hope, and this word, the word of our God, is the hope of all of us.
This is the word of God, that has been made known to us through Jesus Christ, through
his actions, his teachings, his love, and his life, that has been poured out
for us. Jesus, our eternal hope, has prepared the way of the Lord, into our
hearts, into our very lives.
And during this season of Advent, we await, we prepare
for that hope to come into our lives more and more. But sometimes, we overthink
this. We wonder, and stress, and get anxious about our lives, what the Lord is
doing in them, and even what the Lord is doing in our lives together as a
congregation. We grow concerned and worried about our future, and instead of
hearing God say, “Comfort, O comfort my people” our own issues get in the way,
and all we hear are our own voices saying things like “you better not mess this
up.” “you better have yourself all put together.” Or “you better not have anything that someone
could pray for you about.”
We overthink things, searching for permanency in our
lives, and forgetting that indeed, people, like grass and flowers, wither and
fade. We overthink things in our lives, in an effort to get ourselves up on a
high pedestal and say, “this is me”, when the Lord, simply says, “Get you up to
a high mountain and say, ‘Here Is your God!”.
This morning, though we aren’t on a high mountain, I lift
my voice to bring you good tidings, “HERE IS YOUR GOD!” Here he is, in bread,
and wine, giving his eternal body, his eternal life to us, and our withering
bodies.
“HERE IS YOUR GOD!” he’s here, giving you love and
comfort through a family of sisters and brothers whose he’s given to us to
share this eternal life with.
“HERE IS YOUR GOD!” he’s here in the scriptures we read
and proclaim, speaking to us through ancient words and ancient people about a
love that is mightier than even empires and civilizations.
“HERE IS YOUR
GOD!” he’s here in the prayers we lift up, in the genuine concern we have for a
world, a creation, a country, and a community in need.
“HERE IS YOUR GOD!” he’s here in the festive joy we
celebrate at this time of year. He’s here in the hope and expectation of new
beginnings, and in the warm remembrances of the past.
“HERE IS YOUR
GOD!” he’s here, transforming our sin, our hate, our bitterness, our selfishness,
and our hurt, into new life.
“HERE IS YOUR GOD!” he’s here, saying, “Comfort, O
comfort my people” through the prayer shawls you make, the food you provide,
the hospitality you give to the homeless, the care ministry you give, the songs
you sing, and all that you do, proclaiming with your lives, “HERE IS YOUR GOD!”
Our God, Jesus Christ is here, and every day, by the
power, the might of his love, he enters into our lives, and our world, to give
his saving grace. And, though we are grass, though we wither, and even while we
wither, we remember during this Advent season, as we go out into the world,
that:
“Christ
has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the
eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with
which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the
world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his
body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen
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