This picture is from "scripturepics.org" again, and has two candles for the Second Sunday of Advent. On this Second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of Peace.
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, it was snowing in Maryland. If you don’t know this about me, I grew up in Maryland. That state FAR, far east of Wichita Kansas; near DC.
And in Maryland, it snows A LOT. When the weather person says, “looks like there will be snow,” what they mean is, “looks like you won’t be able to see buildings, trees, the street, your house, or anything else for WEEKS because FEET of snow will pile up.”
Maryland gets feet and feet of snow to the point where everything shuts down.
Maryland gets feet and feet of snow to the point where everything shuts down.
It has to, or else you would lose small children and short dogs!
And on this particular snow day, my family decided it would be a perfect day for chicken casserole. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? Hot, steamy chicken casserole on a freezing day where you can’t even open your windows because the snow reaches your ground floor.
It sounded great!
Only one problem.
We did not have any stuffing for our chicken casserole.
And so… we began… drum roll please, “THE JOURNEY.”
My Dad, my 4 year old sister, and I bundled up and started walking in about a foot and a half to two feet of snow, to the grocery store a couple of miles down the road.
Now in Kansas, this trip might be slightly easier.
First, because we never get THAT much snow.
And second, because there are NO MOUNTAINS in the state of Kansas.
In Maryland, not only were we walking in 2 feet of snow, but we were walking UP MOUNTAINS.
But I promise, the story won’t say we were barefoot and had to walk up hill both ways.
This is a true story.
So we trudged through the snow up the mountains.
We were frozen.
Most of the time we did not talk.
My Dad held two little girl’s bundled up gloved hands in his own glove covered hands.
We had a goal, a destination, a hope.
We had a goal, a destination, a hope.
We were going to get stuffing at the store, a couple of miles down the road, and then bring it home and eat it.
At one point, during this journey, a neighbor with a HUGE truck that could drive in such conditions, offered us a ride. We said….
“No thank you.”
Why was that?
Why would we turn down a ride in the freezing cold, with snow that came up past a 4 year old’s thigh and a seven year old’s knee?
Why would we turn down a nice, warm ride when we had our eyes frozen shut from ice?
WHY?
Because our journey that day was not entirely about the stuffing.
It was about the thrill of seeking the stuffing.
When we look back and laugh about that snow day we do not call it “the stuffing.”
When we look back and laugh about that snow day we do not call it “the stuffing.”
We don’t call that day, “the snow.”
We call it, drum roll… “THE JOURNEY.”
The journey from my childhood, reminds me of a common passage of scripture we read around Advent.
The journey from my childhood, reminds me of a common passage of scripture we read around Advent.
In fact, the words make up the second song of Handel’s Messiah.
It is called “Comfort Ye My People.”
I’ve been listening to Handel’s Messiah this last week and I’ve been awestruck by the divine inspiration of it.
That second song in the series of several songs… and the passage from Isaiah 40:1-8 say much the same thing.
The Handel’s Messiah song “Comfort Ye My People” says, “Make strait in the desert a highway,” IN A DEEP TENOR, of course. Of which, I could never do justice.
The Handel’s Messiah song “Comfort Ye My People” says, “Make strait in the desert a highway,” IN A DEEP TENOR, of course. Of which, I could never do justice.
Both the song and this passage of scripture hint at preparing a highway in our hearts for Christ this Advent season.
And if we are going to prepare a highway in our hearts for the Lord THIS season, there are a few things we should think about on this JOURNEY.
This journey to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s coming.
My journey as a 7 year old child might have involved snow and eyelids frozen shut… but this journey is about preparing, in the desert, a way for the Lord, and making strait roads for God.
And if we are on this journey, to prepare our hearts for the Coming Messiah… We must remember:
And if we are on this journey, to prepare our hearts for the Coming Messiah… We must remember:
A. The journey is not a formula.
Scientists may design formulas to make products or medicines.
Mathematicians may create formulas for statistics.
Chefs and cooks might develop formulas for a world famous soufflé.
But our journey to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah, is not about a formula.
My 7 year old journey was not about a formula.
My 7 year old journey was not about a formula.
I did not walk 2 steps per minute and add that to keeping my head up… divided by speaking only one sentence every two minutes to thus equaling me getting to the stuffing correctly.
No. The journey is not about a formula.
And on our journey to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah, there is no formula.
No. The journey is not about a formula.
And on our journey to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah, there is no formula.
You do not do A plus B and hope C is full, correct preparation for Jesus.
There is no guaranteed way that if you do THIS… then THAT will happen.
There is no way to guarantee if you “make a strait road” or “level ground” or “raise up valleys” in a specific way, then you have successfully prepared your heart right for God.
Famous scholars, teachers, pastors, speakers, and even theologians might come up with a great formula for heart preparation.
There is no guaranteed way that if you do THIS… then THAT will happen.
There is no way to guarantee if you “make a strait road” or “level ground” or “raise up valleys” in a specific way, then you have successfully prepared your heart right for God.
Famous scholars, teachers, pastors, speakers, and even theologians might come up with a great formula for heart preparation.
But like grass even that fades like a flower in the field.
These things all pass away. But the Word of the Lord stands forever.
The transformational Word of the Lord stands forever!
Because the journey is not about a formula.
Because the journey is not about a formula.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO.
It’s about a transformation of who you ARE on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.
B. The journey is also not a prescription.
When I was 7 years old on this journey, I did not swallow the stuffing in order to forever find eternal happiness.
You do not take a pill and thus find salvation and a perfectly prepared heart for the coming of our Lord.
You do not listen to the preacher in order to figure out how to shake the mountain in the “right” way for God. There is no pill to take in order to prepare your heart in the right way for God.
B. The journey is also not a prescription.
When I was 7 years old on this journey, I did not swallow the stuffing in order to forever find eternal happiness.
You do not take a pill and thus find salvation and a perfectly prepared heart for the coming of our Lord.
You do not listen to the preacher in order to figure out how to shake the mountain in the “right” way for God. There is no pill to take in order to prepare your heart in the right way for God.
There is no prescription you follow on this journey, to prepare your heart for the coming Messiah.
Because the journey is not about a formula or a prescription.
Because the journey is not about a formula or a prescription.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO.
For so long as a young person, I searched for the RIGHT THING TO DO, to have a right relationship with God.
But I learned, it is not about what you do.
There’s a big difference between doing and being.
Who you are becoming is so much more important, holds so much more weight than doing a long list of the “right” things.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO.
It’s about a transformation of who you ARE and who you are becoming on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.
C. The journey is also not about fake comfort.
When I was a 7 year old, in the snow, freezing to death, with my eyelids frozen shut, my Dad did not say, “It’s not that cold.”
He didn’t say, “it’s no big deal.”
It was FREEZING. He could not have spoken such crazy words without his teeth chattering anyway.
He told me, “yes, it’s cold. But I’m going to hold you and your sister’s hand on this journey. Yes, it’s freezing. Yes your nose looks like it’s going to fall off. Yes, this is horrible. But I’m here, holding your hand on this journey.”
That’s comfort. That’s a Godly comfort.
Godly comfort acknowledges pain and suffering- not denying sometimes life really hurts but offers hope anyway.
Godly comfort holds your hand; in the midst of pain.
Listen to the first verse of our Isaiah passage in the original Hebrew. It’s beautiful.
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm” meaning, “Comfort, comfort my people says God.”
That’s beautiful.
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”
Fake comfort says, “it’s no big deal someone you loved died. They went on to a better place.”
Fake comfort swallows back the normal tears of grief.
Fake comfort puts on a stern face and imagines towards heaven while forgetting this life.
We are not REALLY comforted when we simply wipe away our own tears, hold back the flood, swallow our pain, and put on a smiling face because we’re such “good and right” Christians.
Godly comfort does not ignore the fact that death is still God’s final enemy.
It does not overlook the pain death causes.
Godly comfort does not pretend death and suffering is tearless.
Godly comfort cries alongside of the ones grieving from death and loss.
It mourns together from the pain death causes.
Godly comfort feels the pain together, in community, and then… and then… offers hope.
Godly comfort offers hope.
Godly comfort reminds us that death has already been conquered once.
It reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead- and our Christian hope- is that one day ALL the dead in Christ will rise again.
The journey is not about a formula. The journey is not a prescription. The journey is not fake comfort.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO or things good Christians ignore because they don’t feel pain. It’s about a transformation of who you ARE on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.
C. The journey is also not about fake comfort.
When I was a 7 year old, in the snow, freezing to death, with my eyelids frozen shut, my Dad did not say, “It’s not that cold.”
He didn’t say, “it’s no big deal.”
It was FREEZING. He could not have spoken such crazy words without his teeth chattering anyway.
He told me, “yes, it’s cold. But I’m going to hold you and your sister’s hand on this journey. Yes, it’s freezing. Yes your nose looks like it’s going to fall off. Yes, this is horrible. But I’m here, holding your hand on this journey.”
That’s comfort. That’s a Godly comfort.
Godly comfort acknowledges pain and suffering- not denying sometimes life really hurts but offers hope anyway.
Godly comfort holds your hand; in the midst of pain.
Listen to the first verse of our Isaiah passage in the original Hebrew. It’s beautiful.
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm” meaning, “Comfort, comfort my people says God.”
That’s beautiful.
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”
Fake comfort says, “it’s no big deal someone you loved died. They went on to a better place.”
Fake comfort swallows back the normal tears of grief.
Fake comfort puts on a stern face and imagines towards heaven while forgetting this life.
We are not REALLY comforted when we simply wipe away our own tears, hold back the flood, swallow our pain, and put on a smiling face because we’re such “good and right” Christians.
Godly comfort does not ignore the fact that death is still God’s final enemy.
It does not overlook the pain death causes.
Godly comfort does not pretend death and suffering is tearless.
Godly comfort cries alongside of the ones grieving from death and loss.
It mourns together from the pain death causes.
Godly comfort feels the pain together, in community, and then… and then… offers hope.
Godly comfort offers hope.
Godly comfort reminds us that death has already been conquered once.
It reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead- and our Christian hope- is that one day ALL the dead in Christ will rise again.
The journey is not about a formula. The journey is not a prescription. The journey is not fake comfort.
It’s not about a long list of things to DO or things good Christians ignore because they don’t feel pain. It’s about a transformation of who you ARE on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.
The journey…. Is a journey. It’s a voyage, an expedition.
And if we are going to prepare a highway in our hearts this Advent season for our Lord, we must prepare our hearts WITHOUT a formula, prescription, or by using fake comfort.
And no, I’m not giving you another formula to follow by telling you NOT to follow one.
There is no “magic wand to drive all our problems away” (sermon, “Miracle of Comfort,” Sermons from Seattle by Edward F. Markquat).
I’m urging you to see the journey is not so much about what we DO… as formulas, prescriptions, and fakeness implies—that’s a whole lot of DOING.
But this divine journey, preparing a highway for the Lord is more about who we are BECOMMING, as the people of God who TOGETHER, preparing our hearts for the coming Messiah.
It’s about together BEING the kinds of people who take that “divine tissue” (as my friend Pastor Kaza Fraley calls it) and wiping away each other’s eyes when we suffer the pain of death and loss.
It’s about BEING the kinds of people who are not afraid of suffering WITH people, taking God’s divine tissue, and wiping each other’s eyes.
It’s about BEING a community who comforts each other.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord.”
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”
And if we are going to prepare a highway in our hearts this Advent season for our Lord, we must prepare our hearts WITHOUT a formula, prescription, or by using fake comfort.
And no, I’m not giving you another formula to follow by telling you NOT to follow one.
There is no “magic wand to drive all our problems away” (sermon, “Miracle of Comfort,” Sermons from Seattle by Edward F. Markquat).
I’m urging you to see the journey is not so much about what we DO… as formulas, prescriptions, and fakeness implies—that’s a whole lot of DOING.
But this divine journey, preparing a highway for the Lord is more about who we are BECOMMING, as the people of God who TOGETHER, preparing our hearts for the coming Messiah.
It’s about together BEING the kinds of people who take that “divine tissue” (as my friend Pastor Kaza Fraley calls it) and wiping away each other’s eyes when we suffer the pain of death and loss.
It’s about BEING the kinds of people who are not afraid of suffering WITH people, taking God’s divine tissue, and wiping each other’s eyes.
It’s about BEING a community who comforts each other.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord.”
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”
... For soon, God’s cosmic highway is going to be seen by all in the person of Jesus Christ.
...For we know as Handel’s Messiah’s most famous song says: “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This Jesus, changes everything on this journey. This Jesus, became one of us… a human baby, still completely divine- and holds our hand, like my Father did for my sister and I… showing us God’s cosmic highway that goes right through our hearts to the world.
...For we know as Handel’s Messiah’s most famous song says: “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This Jesus, changes everything on this journey. This Jesus, became one of us… a human baby, still completely divine- and holds our hand, like my Father did for my sister and I… showing us God’s cosmic highway that goes right through our hearts to the world.
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