A Highway In The Desert

Sermon: “A Highway in the Desert”

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (NIV)

Prayer:

Eternal God, who is the Living Word, enlighten us with your Word today and inspire us with a vision to be faithful to our calling. Encourage us to a living hope and call us to be your beacons of light and hope for the world. May your light shine upon us through Christ, the living word who became flesh that we may live to serve you by serving others. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. Amen

Function

In the ‘wilderness’ experience of our lives in this world, God establishes a highway, or a way of hope so that those who cannot see a way out might regain their sight of hope, those who are paralyzed by fear and anxiety might leap for joy again, and those who thirst for justice might drink from the fountain of righteousness. This highway that is coming to the desert places of our live today is the very God incarnate who said, “I am the Way.” (John 14:6).

Introduction

To those who drive regularly in the metro Atlanta area, driving is in no way fun.

The highways are places of frequent aggravation–traffic, accidents, and people driving without rules or directions! I sometimes ask my wife to drive if I have to preach or lead a meeting, so that I will not be stressed out when I get there. Some highways are always under construction; or it seems that way. Before they finish the work on one side, they start work on the other side. At least so it seems.

Desert highways are even more challenging, but in a different way. There are desert highways in many parts of the world. My wife and I recently visited the countries of Jordan and Israel. There is a highway in Jordan named ‘The Desert Highway’. You need to keep a good look out in case a donkey, a goat or a camel is wandering across. Someone who recently drove that highway said he was misled by the directions posted. Some are in English and some are in Arabic only. So he stopped a police man asked. He was told that "The important signs are all in English and Arabic. When you see a sign in Arabic alone, it means you don't need it; it is not for you." I think it is so true that we get bogged down with signs that we don’t have any business with. Some areas of the desert highways are lonely places with no humans living around. There is a similar route in the US West coast known as U.S. Route 50 that runs through mostly rural desert and mountains in the Western United States, with the section through Nevada known as ‘Desert Road’ also called, "The Loneliest Road in America"

Context

The Book of Isaiah was written during the time of exile of God’s people in Babylon, sometime in the 8th century BC. The Babylonian forces conquered Judah and took many people as captives. They were living under exile longing for freedom from the foreign rule and yearning for a day when they could return to their native land. In the days of Isaiah they saw this highway of hope that God was going to build on which they would travel as free people to their native land. The prophet is proclaiming that all their boulders and rough areas on their highway to freedom will be made smooth and plain. Their hills and mountains of doubt and frustration will be made valleys of hope and joy.

Application

The prophet is comparing the promised journey to their native land to a highway. In the days of their exile, desert places would have been one marked with danger and fear. Wild bands of robbers roamed around in the desert places–it was not a safe place to be. In such deserts the travelers lacked resources to get help or to take rest. The desert was a parched landscape inhospitable to people. As people in exile, they saw a redeemer to come to open the highway of hope in the wilderness. In Jesus’ day, the world saw this highway as the baby who was born in a manger, lived among the people, and preached the good news of deliverance from sin. In our day, we see God’s highway of grace takes shape in our very own hands each time we live out our lives to share the love of Jesus to others. We are becoming the highway to heaven when we use our opportunities to share our resources, volunteer our time, or help our neighbor in need. We become the highway in the desert making a way for God’s grace to enter the lives of people in need.