December 16, 2007

Navigating the Desert of Advent Blues

by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson

Isaiah 35; Matthew 11:1-10

Opening Illustration

Passage about returning home. Christmas is a time when people return home or remember where they came from.

Jews were taken from their home in 586 by Babylonians.

In exile there were some who dreamed of returning, rebuilding city and temple.

Others made a good life for themselves in Babylon and ended up staying.

Babylonians defeated by Persians. Jews saw Cyrus’ victory over Babylonians as God’s efforts to help them return.

Prophets began writing oracles to encourage people.

Even if they were offered the opportunity to return, going back was a risky and challenging prospect.

Trip from Babylon to Jerusalem was dangerous: travel in the desert was formidable. Some Jews were blind, some were lame, some were unable to speak – couldn’t tell you when something was wring with them.

Risks included: wild animal attacks, lack of water, burning sand, no passable roads.

Prophet promises a highway from Babylon to Jerusalem. Only God fearing Jews would be able to travel on it.

Prophet envisions God protecting the people from attacks by animals.

Prophet envisions water springing up out of the sand.

Rather than suffering through the trip, Jews will return to Jerusalem singing; joy like a crown; no sadness when they returned.

Sounds like a great story. Restoration was a historic victory for the Jews.

Truth was that some didn’t return; others died along the way. When Jews did return, life was very hard.

Those who weren’t exiled and remained in Jerusalem resisted their leadership. Squabbling over if and how to rebuild the temple.

Time of joy became time of hardship, and they still were subject to other nations,

By the time of Jesus, they were ruled by Romans. People still waiting.

Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ healing ministry because he sees Jesus as the fulfillment of oracles like Isaiah 35.

Had to explain to his readers why most people didn’t see Jesus this way. During Jesus’ life people really didn’t see him as the fulfillment of OT prophecy.

Matthew includes story about John the Baptist doubting that Jesus is the one sent by God to do all these things.

John sends his followers to Jesus and they ask if Jesus is the guy John should be pointing to.

Jesus thinks it ought to be obvious. Blind are receiving sight, lame are walking, lepers are healed, dead are resurrected, poor are having good news preached to them.

Sounds like God is helping people navigate their way through their expectations of the Messiah.

Why should we care? Our expectations during Advent are very similar. We face the question of how we understand Jesus as God’s solution for the problems we all face.

It would be nice for us all to be reunited with our families this Advent season, for all past hurts and wrongdoing to be forgiven.

But there are real risks in being reunited with our families. Road is not paved with gold. Old hurts must be healed. Illness often prevents us from being together.

Sometimes people are so busy they can’t or don’t want to be reunited with loved ones.

And holidays can be very painful after the death of a loved one because you remember all of the holidays you were able to spend with them. You’ll never be able to celebrate Christmas again with them.

How do we handle this season given the risks and challenges which are so similar to those faced by the Jews in Babylon or the Judeans of Jesus’ day?

First, remember that God is not just present, but working in the world for our good.

How God does this is beyond our understanding. But we recognize it when we see it.

We know God is working when we see peoples’ lives improving, when those who are depressed are comforted, when the needs of the poor are met, when justice wins out over evil, when those who grieve are consoled.

I see the hand of God at work in our world today in many ways, accomplishing the same kinds of things. This week a man from Eagle was caught with nine pounds of marijuana and $300,000 in cash. Think of how much destruction that stuff would have wreaked on our community if he had been able to sell it to our kids.

The United Way of Greater Milwaukee raised over $43 million this year, up almost $3 million from last year. Just imagine what good news that will be for the poor, the sick, the neglected and the disabled. How much faith is reflected in a number like that?

Second, we have to be responsible about our expectations. We are busy because we take on too much. We expect too much. Try too hard to make visions like these take place in our own lives.

None of the folks who heard oracle from Isaiah or experienced Jesus’ ministry saw complete fulfillment. Fulfillment was partial at best.

Christmas isn’t about having our life’s fantasies fulfilled, though doing things we dream of at Christmas is obviously wonderful.

In the end, Christmas is about God and God’s rule over the world and the goodness of God being reflected in people who believe in God.

Final Illustration – Universal recognition of Christmas in England. Took place in part because Christians in England decided not to make people of differing faiths observe their religious practices. Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists not offended by calling Christmas because goodness of God shone through, not because people insisted on the correctness of Christian faith.

We will probably never experience the kind of joyous scene we read about in Isaiah 35. We will probably never live in a time when blind people receive their sight or deaf people receive their hearing or the dead are raised or the poor No longer have to worry about money.

But those aren’t the object of the game. The object is to announce God’s goodness and show people what it looks like. And nothing you get for anyone or do for anyone this Christmas will top that.