Prepare ye the way

 Short recap:

Abram and Sarai are visited by angels and told they will have a son, which they did. Abram had more than one, but THE one was Isaac. Isaac fathers Jacob and Esau – Jacob is also known as Israel, has twelve sons, which become the twelve tribes of Israel.

One of Jacob’s sons was Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers. He ends up in Egypt, and saves his family when famine hits their homeland.

Fast forward, and a new king of Egypt. The people are mistreated, and they are desperate to leave. Then comes Moses. He hears God speaking to him, runs away, comes back and leads the people to safety. The journey in the wilderness is known as the Exodus. It lasts for forty years, which also means a long time.

The people settle in the land. Fast forward, the people want a king, God warned them it was a bad move, they didn’t listen. A series of Kings, some good and some bad. The people are living more and more like their neighbours and less and less in the way God taught them, so in comes the prophets; people who spoke God’s message of justice and righteousness. The prophets warned of trouble to come if the people didn’t change their ways.

By this time God’s twelve tribes are now in two groups - there is a northern kingdom [Israel] and southern kingdom [Judah]. Both are taken over by invading armies, Assyrian and Babylonian.   

Last week we heard a passage of hope from the prophet Jeremiah.

This morning, another prophet, this time Isaiah.

Both these prophets had announced to the people, get your act together, trust God, stop living at the expense of others, don’t store up treasure while other people don’t have enough to eat. You are all God’s people, so don’t some of you lord it over others.

But the people did not take notice.

Now many are in exile.

Isaiah speaks the word of God:

Encourage my people!

    Give them comfort.

The comfort is not a hug, but the news that captivity is over, their sins are forgiven, it is time to return home.

What might God’s comfort look like today? What good news do people need to hear?

…….

I wonder what Isaiah would write for us.

Maybe he would write about inequality and the sins that allow homelessness and poverty

Maybe he would write about the way we are killing the earth – I sometimes wonder if we are reaping what we have sown. Drought; bushfires; low water, or no water in our rivers.

The prophets wrote of the outcome of sin, not only individual sin but the sin of the community and nation.

The prophet Isaiah is bringing good news of a renewed future, a return from exile, but more than that.

God is coming to them in power and glory,
so get ready.

Or if you are or were a Guide or Scout - it is ‘be prepared’.

Be prepared because God is coming,

Clear a path

God is coming in power and glory;

God is here;

God who exiled you for your sins.

God is coming.

Make a path,

clear the obstacles out of the way,

flatten the mountains and raise the valleys.

Woah - Sounds a bit heavy handed, surely it is God who created those mountains and valleys. And they look beautiful. Does God really want them flattened?

One commentator spoke of this not being a passage for spectators,

it is a passage for those embarking on a journey.

A journey home

A time to return to God and the land.

The shortest way from Babylon back to Judea was through the Syrian desert. It is unlikely that people travelled that way, they would have followed the water sources and moved in an arc rather than a straight line. [i] 
Another Exodus, but this time it will not take 40 years wandering in the desert.
Another grand reminder of God’s faithfulness.

“Clear a path in the desert!

    Make a straight road

    for the Lord our God.”

What if this is not about a geographic journey, but a faith journey.  

Israel was a nation, but also God’s people.

What might it mean to make a path straight in the desert;
to make a straight road for God?

When we watch police drams on TV, like Death in Paradise, the criminal always runs and often tries putting obstacles in the way of the police. I wonder what obstacles we put in the way of God, and in the way of others.

The focus then moves to the contrast between God and people. The Prophet asks, why proclaim the message of God to humans, humans are like grass, they wither and die.

The gulf between the ways of God and of God’s people is large.

‘The people have sinned, but God has stayed true.
The people are fragile, but God is powerful.’ [ii]

The season of advent is about getting ready.

While you clean the house, put up the tree, make the spare room ready for visitors and think about what to feed people, how do you make a place ready in your life for God?

If Jesus was coming to Broken Bay Uniting Church on Christmas morning, would it make a difference?

If Jesus was coming to your place for Christmas day, what would you do to welcome him, what food would you offer, who else would you invite?

What will you do to make space in the church;

and in your life;

for Jesus this Christmas?

This passage reminds me of this song:

Sing:

Prepare ye, the way of the Lord

Prepare ye, the way of the Lord

Prepare ye, the way of the Lord

Prepare ye, the way of the Lord

What does God’s comfort look like today?

What are we doing to prepare the way of the Lord?

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[i] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2254

[ii] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3491

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