Advent Through The Eye's Of A Prophet

ADVENT THROUGH THE EYE’S OF A PROPHET: COME DOWN

ISAIAH 64:1-9

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT NOVEMBER 30, 2003

INTRODUCTION: Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian told this story:

A prince wanted to find a maiden suitable to be his queen. One day while running an errand in the local village for his father he passed through a poor section. As he glanced out the windows of the carriage, his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden. During the ensuing days, he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love. But he had a problem. How would he seek her hand? He could order her to marry him. But even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily and not through coercion. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door in a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this he would never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all of the splendor. The prince came up with another solution. He would give up his kingly robe. He moved, into the village, entering not with a crown but in the garb of a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language. In time the maiden grew to love him for who he was and because he had first loved her. Contributed by: Christian Cheong

TRANSITION THOUGHT: This is the story of Advent, our God coming down to us, to live with us, and to win us, not by his power, but through HIS great LOVE! Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent begins a 4 week journey to Christmas Day. Advent is the celebration of the coming of the Christ Child. For Isaiah the Prophet Advent was a time of prayer. He was hungry to see his God COME DOWN! To long had the people waited on their God. Impatients was the emotion of the day. Isaiah would go from wanting to see God’s National Power to seeing God’s personal power!

THESIS SENTENCE: Our God will COME DOWN to SAVE us!

I. TO COME DOWN IS A PRAYER OF INTERVENTION VV. 1-5A

A. A prayer of intervention is the hope of power

1. Our text begins with the Prophet Isaiah hungering for the Living God to break forth into the midst of His people again.

2. The reality is that the people of God were sick and tired of being sick and tired. They had felt impotent long enough.

3. “Oh, Lord,” they cried, “if only you would come down to us again.”

4. But, was this cry for God a wimpy hope for a helpless diety?

5. Absolutely not!! Look at verses 1 and 2: “Oh, that you world rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you.”

6. Do you hear what they are saying? Israel is tired of getting beat up on! Are you tired of being the short man on the totem pole? Are you tired of the enemy causing you grief day after day? Are you tired of the pain of life going in every direction but yours?

7. Isaiah called out to God and prayed, “Come down here and show this world and all our oppressors just who you are!!”

B. A prayer of intervention is a remembrance of the past

1. Do you know why Isaiah could pray like this?

2. Look at verses 3 and 4: “For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”

3. What Isaiah is saying is that God, you used to do this stuff! We have memorized what you did to Pharaoh and his army. You worked no differently with Joshua and YOUR people entered the Promised Land. We know how you used King David to annihilate all of YOUR enemies. “Oh Lord, you used to act in mighty power over all YOUR enemies, won’t you come down and do it again?

ILLUSTRATION: Scott Hippler writes, “I can remember one late winter’s day when I was about 7, my grandmother had taken a cousin and me to the grocery store. When the shopping was done and the brown paper sacks were in the car, we headed home. On the way, grandma had to stop off at another store for a few minutes, so my cousin and I stayed in the car. Well Grandma took more time than she thought, so what was about to happen was all her fault. Back then, they put prizes in laundry detergent boxes as an incentive for people to buy. Well, we had two giant boxes of soap because Grandma bought everything in bulk. Well I had discovered that you could pop the ashtrays out of the doors in the back seat and when you looked down into them you could see a big black hole. So, we popped both ashtrays out, opened both boxes of soap and began to pour in the soap. Before we knew it, the boxes were empty and we had a nice little coffee cup and a nice little salad dish. It was then that we realized what we had done. I know that we have not been together long, but trust me on this: There is no way to make a soap box look and feel like it ‘s never been opened once you’ve poured all the soap down an ashtray hole in a car! It was all Grandma’s fault anyway! You can get into a whole lot of trouble while you wait! Especially if there is no purpose in your waiting.” Contributed by: Scott Hippler