27 Nov 2005

God's Unstoppable Purpose: Surprise

Isaiah 64:1-9

Jim Kane writes: It was a few days before Christmas on the Oregon coast. Two men whose families lived next door opted to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. An unexpected storm surprised the weekend sailors. Before long, the sea became angry, and the two had a difficult time keeping the sailboat under control.

While heading toward the harbor, the craft hit a sandbar and grounded. Both men jumped overboard into the icy water and began to push and shove in an attempt to get the sailboat into deeper water. Knee-deep in mud and repeatedly bounced against the hull by unfriendly waves, the one said to the other, "Sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn't it?"

A few days ago we celebrated Thanksgiving. I heard some of you say that Thanksgiving is one of your most favorite holidays, because it is not as commercialized as Christmas. Unfortunately, capitalism and commercialism has found a way to use Thanksgiving. For many consumers in North America, Thanksgiving has become the day before the Big Sales. The day after Thanksgiving has been unofficially declared the beginning of Christmas shopping season and big sales in North America.

Today is the first day of Advent which means "Coming" as in God is coming. Today is when Christians officially begin to celebrate the Christmas season. The Advent season was created by the Christian Church almost 1,700 years ago, to help new converts prepare themselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Advent also serves to remind us that while Jesus has come, the hope that we have is that he will come again. So, in that sense we are still waiting for the Coming of God. In his coming, Jesus' second coming, we will fully experience what the prophets spoke about and experience the totality of God's Kingdom. At his return, the world will be judged and all that is evil will cease to exit and time as we know it will also disappear.

It is interesting that this message of both rejoicing and preparing for the birth of the Messiah and to continue to expect God's return has been twisted and polluted by greed and money. I do not blame people wanting to go sailing on icy dangerous waters rather than going Christmas shopping. Christmas shopping has little to do with Advent and a lot to do with capitalism and commercialism. In our society, it has become difficult to see Advent in what we do and say during the Christmas season.

I guess this is why I enjoy using the lectionary readings during Advent. The Old Testament readings remind us that the birth of the Messiah was expected, but also not the end of God's plan for the world. The Old Testament readings remind us that God's coming was going to put an end to all that is evil and wrong in the world. In Isaiah 65:17 we read, "For I am about to create new heavens and new earth; the former things shall not be remembered..."

In the midst of a war torn country, where death, devastation and hunger rule, the prophets' message of hope for God's coming was welcome. Israel was going through yet another horrific period. Isaiah, as both a prophet of God and the interpreter of Israel's thoughts writes, "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence" (vv. 1-3).

Two things we can see from this passage in Isaiah as it relates to God's coming. First, Israel was completely devastated, so much so that having God come to earth and end the world as we know it was better than to continue living as they were. Isaiah 64:10, 11 reads, "Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins." An illustration that might help us understand what Israel was going through might be picturing the citizens of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb hit them. Having God come to judge the living and the dead sounded much better than to continue living in such devastating circumstances.

Two, God's coming was going to create incredible wonders. For example, Isaiah writes that God's coming was going to create earthquakes. This was more than poetic language. The Israelites believed that God's presences on earth would melt mountains. They recalled God's presence at Mount Sinai where the mountain seemed to be on fire.

On this first day of Advent we should remember God's plan for the word. His reasons for coming to us are to set things right; to end the evil of our world, to create a new heaven and a new earth. God was going to create a place where the hurting hurt no more, where the hungry hunger to more, where the oppressed are oppressed no more, where the killers kill no more, where all who suffer, suffer no more.

Yet to our surprise we find Emmanuel; this Messiah that did not destroy the enemies of Israel. He did not end world hunger. He did not end oppression. He did not remove all evil from the world. To our surprise we find Emmanuel, this Messiah that did not become the King of the Jews and negotiate a peace treaty with Rome. He did not melt mountains. He did not shake the earth. He did not end time as we know it. Rather he was killed at the hands of a few. He suffered a shameful death. He ministered in Palestine for only 3 years. To our surprise we find Jesus Christ.

The question then becomes why? Why prolong the creation of the new heavens and the new earth? The answer to our question is found in Isaiah 64:8 "Yet, O LORD, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." With these words Israel said to God, you and only you are God. You are our Father. You are the potter, we are the clay. In other words they surrendered to God and acknowledged His authority over them. At the same time they remembered that God was their Father, a loving and caring parent.

Emmanuel, this Messiah who came to us not as a king, but a servant, shows us God's wisdom and mercy. God was not ready to end the earth as we know it. He was not ready to judge the living and the dead. He was not ready to come down and melt mountains, cause earthquakes and eliminate the evil doers from the earth. Instead, as a loving Father, he gave us yet another chance to turn to Him, another chance to seek his ways, another chance to seek forgiveness, another chance to become His people. He gave us another chance to allow Him to be our potter and us to become the clay.

To our surprise we encounter Jesus Christ, the one who shows us the way, the one who brought us closer to God. In Him we find forgiveness. In Him we find love. In Him we find mercy. In Him we find hope. In Him we find a new life. In Him we find transformation. In Him we find a new beginning. In Him we find meaning for our lives. And, in Him we have begun to experience the new heavens and the new earth. Because of Him, we know better what the kingdom of God looks like. Because of Him, we no longer fear His judgment.

As we prepare for Christmas, let us remember what Christmas is not, and remember what Advent truly is. Let us remember that God wants to change the world. He wants to create new heavens and new earth. He wants to remove all that is wrong and evil from the earth. He wants to end our troubled times. As we prepare for Christmas, let us remember that in Jesus Christ we find forgiveness, we find hope. And, because of Jesus we no longer fear God's presence; we no longer fear His judgment.

Advent is the time to celebrate God's arrival and remember His second coming. God's complete plan for the world is still to come.

Let us therefore, remember what Christmas is not, and remember what Advent truly is.

Let us therefore, continue to hope and continue to prepare ourselves for His coming.

Amen.