“Rescue Accessible” 2012

Isaiah 40:1-5,11 Luke 3:1-6

Isaiah 40:1-5,11

40Comfort, 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.” 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.

Luke 3:1-6

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

A few years ago, there was an extraordinarily destructive

forest fire in Yellowstone National Park.

It got started as just a small blaze in a remote area,

but grew and spread into a terrible and devastating inferno.

For several years, the Forest Service had not made

the maintenance of fire roads much of a priority,

and though the fire would have been manageable at first,

they were unable to bring in fire crews or equipment

enough to control or contain the spreading blaze.

Since the fire-fighting resources couldn’t get through,

the Forest Service could only watch helplessly

as the fire and destruction spread…

… emphasizing the wisdom of Isaiah, vs. 3~5

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. … for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Those words came toward the end of the Babylonian exile

as a hopeful promise and call to prepare

for God’s coming rescue, restoration and salvation…

… addressed to the captives feeling helpless, hopeless & abandoned.

Defeated and discouraged by the long suffering of their exile,

they began to doubt that God could even be present in Babylon,

and didn’t trust or believe that God would rescue them.

Their situation seemed impossible, beyond even the reach of God …

… but as we know from history, Babylon was soon defeated

and the captives released to rebuild their homes in Israel…

… all in fulfillment of God’s promised rescue and restoration.

That experience pointed to a God who fulfills all His promises.

The author of Luke re-used Isaiah’s hopeful picture of God

to describe the prophetic role of John the Baptist,

announcing the coming of Jesus Christ our Savior.

vs. 4-6

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

As we know from reading the New Testament Gospels,

John the Baptist came before, preparing the way for Jesus,

who fulfilled God’s promise – the Messiah sent to save us.

The words from Isaiah originally

referred to the literal release from Babylonian captivity.

In Luke’s gospel, those words are recast, given a spiritual meaning

as a call to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ,

who releases us from the captivity of sin and death,

and hopeless lives of desperation and defeat.

We all know about struggle, to suffer with disappointment and loss,

especially during this season of powerful feelings & emotions.

It could that we are missing a cherished loved one, or have regrets,

perhaps memories of Christmas pasts - pleasant or unpleasant…

… concerns about finances, the future, or our families,

or the stress of seasonal demands and expectations.

Even amid Christmas calls for love, hope, joy and peace on earth,

we may find ourselves feeling lonely, distressed or unsettled,

and God’s promises can seem distant, unlikely or far away…

… we may question, does our faith in God really make a difference?,

or we may wonder or even doubt if there is any reason to hope.

When I was Boy Scout,

usually in the Spring we did a service project in New Hampshire

of clearing the fire road into the forest each year

against the slow creep of brush and overgrowing vegetation,

and the gradual erosion and washing away of the roadway.

Every year we would inspect and try to improve the fire road.

We’d cut and remove fallen logs, clear away brush and limbs,

and we filled in potholes, eroded and washed-out places.

We reworked sharp turns and corners so that in an emergency,

large equipment trucks could get through more easily.

We cleared and prepared a way into the forest,

so that help could get through, making it rescue accessible.

That process of clearing the forest roadway in New Hampshire

provides a clue for improving our lives this Christmas season.

How is your calendar or datebook looking this year?

Already filled and cluttered,

trying to pack ever more into an already hectic life?,

and pushing yourself to more than you can reasonably do?

Our lives- our expectations, and the endless demands placed on us,

like the vegetation along a fire-roadway in the forest, can

gradually grow and crowd our already over-filled lives.

Our walk with God and spiritual life can start to erode

if we slip away from regular devotional feeding,

or if it becomes a rote and unchanging task

that is no longer fresh and feeding our souls.

Our lives can accumulate clutter, get busy and distracted,

to where we miss hearing and experiencing the authentic & holy.

So where does all this distracting clutter come from?

It could be

that we haven’t prioritized what takes precedent in our lives,

and so the loudest, the glittery and most incessant

draws our focus and attention,

or maybe we have too many things going on at once…

… without any over-riding sense of reason or purpose.

The issue is not that we’re not trying.

This isn’t a call to work harder at making ourselves better,

to be more worthy, more pleasing or more acceptable to God.

The message is not that we are miserable failures at faith,

so we better shape up, do more, do it better, and get it right.

It’s the world that says we should be worthy and earn our own way,

but that’s not the gracious and merciful way of our Lord.

In the Isaiah text, the prophet announces and proclaims

that the word, the promise, and the message of God is: (vs. 1)

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly…

No desert is big enough, dry enough, remote enough, vicious enough -

to prevent God from loving us, blessing us and coming to us,

bringing comfort, to offer us hope, rescue and salvation.

The message is absolutely not, if you want to come home to me,

then build your own road to receive your rescue and salvation.

The message is, your God loves you, and is coming to rescue you.

The question is, what are the obstacles, what stands in the way?

What all have we allowed to pollute and grow in our lives?

Are there some choices we made, that we need to reconsider?

Advent is the call to clear out a fire road into our souls,

to open the way for receiving God’s grace, gifts and blessings,

by countering any obstacles to having a closer walk with God.

It is no more or less than being available and open to the Lord ,

by not opposing or not hindering God’s blessings and gifts…

… all that’s needed is to ask, “come to me this day Lord Jesus.”

In the busyness and endless demands of our lives,

we can forget about our spiritual needs, to feed our souls,

and so gradually we put our walk with God on the back burner.

Advent is a time to check, and see what’s on that back burner.

To clear away the overgrowth and erosion of our faith,

and allow the way for God to rescue and come to us…

… so that we are grace and rescue accessible.

God already wants to comfort us,

to rescue, reveal his love, show grace and support for us.

At Christmas time we celebrate the life-sustaining truth,

& seek to live that truth as the beloved children of God we are.

As we read in Isaiah,

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and He 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.