“We need a Visit” Isaiah 64:1-9
1. We would love to visit this Advent Season but we are stuck
• We are stuck at home as a result of orders from the governors or mayors of cities
• No restaurants. No church. No sporting activities. No nothing. No Gatherings
• We can’t touch, hug, laugh or even cry together,
• We have lost stuff and we wanted it back. We want a return, we want things like they used to be.
• There is some hope Yes, we could Zoom, FaceTime, Google Meet
2. Israel felt stuck as well while in the exile. In Isaiah 64 they needed a visit
• The glory of Israel had long faded. The northern kingdom had been imprisoned for years.
• The memory of life in Judea and temple worship was a faint memory.
3. Perhaps their exile was a result of Neglect and they thought God ignored them
• They neglected religious observance.
• They lived in open rebellion against God.
• Their rulers had set up false idols and corruption.
• Disregard for the poor and unconcern was widespread. They refused to listen to the prophets.
4. While in Captivity they remembered the good ol days the days God visited
• God seemed far away, they felt God had abandoned them: “You have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity” (v. 7b). No eye has seen you no ear has heard form you it seems you only meet with the righteous not the rebellious
• They longed to know and experience the presence of God like the old days
5. They wanted God to Visit like He had years before. God is a visiting God
• God visited Adam and Eve by walking in the garden with them
• God visited Abraham in the appearance of angels who sat down for a meal.
• God visited Jacob, wrestling with him in the night.
• God visited Moses in the burning bush, on Mount Sinai and elsewhere.
• God’s presence went with the Israelites through the wilderness in the form of fire and cloud
• God visited Samuel as a boy, calling him in his sleeping hours.
• God visited Elijah in a still small voice.
6. They felt Quarantined 7 There is no one who calls on your name, you have hidden your face from us,
• They must be infected, or something. There’s some reason God is staying away.
• They say, is it true you meet with those “who gladly do right,”
• Verse 9 they believe God has left them 9 Do not be angry, O Lord, do not remember iniquity for ever.
7. This first Sunday of Advent we are stuck, we feel in exile, we wonder what did we do to be infected by the Covid, we recall the good ol days, we want God to visit, we feel quarantined,
• This first Sunday of Advent We, too, would like a visit.
• Yet, this is precisely the promise of Christmas: Immanuel! God is with us.
• God is with us throughout stay-at-home orders or encouragements
• God is with us throughout quarantine. God is with us throughout our fears
• God is with us throughout social distancing — God is going to come close.
• God is with us Isaiah said, “He would tear open the heaven and come down
• God is with us We will see the mountains quake again, we will see the adversaries tremble at your presence, we will see tremendous awesome deeds,
• God is with us folks Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel
• I am ready for a Visit How about you?
