Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone
Advent III December 12, 2004 Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-10
¡§The Power of the Promise¡¨
I have some good news for Rutgers fans. Well, some good news and some bad news for Rutgers fans. I mean MALE Rutgers fans. I have only GOOD news for females, Rutgers fans and otherwise. I understand Rutgers has lost the last three games. I know how to get them back on a wining streak, but you men aren¡¦t going to like it. According to a study done by Sears, a HUGE majority of men ¡V 87 percent! ¡V would rather watch their favorite team lose than go Christmas gift shopping at the mall. So, you see, by the rules of logic, if all you men would do the holiday shopping, Rutgers would win!
That¡¦s good news for the women. The survey also found some VERY good news for women. The VERY good news for women is that some 37 % of the men surveyed would rather BAKE COOKIES than go to a crowded shopping center. So women, when you harried with all you need to do this season, simply say to your man, ¡§Which will it be honey? Shopping or will you bake the Christmas cookies this year?¡¨
There is always hope!
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
God created the world to be a certain way. In God¡¦s creation there is harmony and peace. In God¡¦s creation there is plenty for every person and for every animal. In God¡¦s creation there is no violence or chaos. In God¡¦s creation there is no despair or hopelessness or loneliness.
But the world has turned away from God. And when we turn away from God there is discord and conflict, there is hunger and want and a shortness of the things needed for life. When the world turns away from the God who created it there is warfare and prejudice and desperation and loneliness and bitterness.
The gospel is that God will not leave the world where it in sin has turned to from him. God will redeem it.
And for that he sent Jesus. Jesus has come to make things right. To bring everything back to God and then it shall be as God wants it to be ¡V the ideal life. It is not here yet, but it is coming. And that promise goes all the way back to the prophet Isaiah.
When a person is in Christ, there is a glimpse and a foretaste of what God will make come to pass.
It will be like the wilderness and dry land rejoicing, Isaiah says. You know what it is to be thirsty ¡V to desperately need water. Spiritual thirst is a deep and powerful longing inside of you for something better. We know such powerful longings for our loved ones. We want them to be safe. We want them to have fulfilled lives. We know the terrible dangers that beset all of us and we worry for our loved ones. The world is not what it should be. All people know that. All people have a yearning for better world. The world is broken and it is a fearsome place.
We have discovered the answer to these fears. It is Jesus Christ. IN him all things are made knew. Though Jesus does not remove all of the hazards of life, he takes us beyond them. Jesus shows us that there is another side, that nothing in this world, the prejudice of others against us, the dislike of others, the attacks of others, disease, failure, none of these things is final for us. Beyond them is victory. Beyond them is God, and God is for us! (Rmns. 8:31)
Sometimes Jesus takes us through the hazards of life. That is the way he went. When the opposition to him and his ministry hit a fever pitch, he went right into the hornets¡¦ nest, into Jerusalem to face his enemies who hunted him down and killed him. But God would not allow his son¡¦s defeat and raised Jesus from the dead. When we go through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus goes with us. And we go in the power of God, the power of resurrection. Even if we stumble, God will raise us up. Jesus told us not to be afraid.
Notice the end result of God¡¦s promise in Isaiah. The crocus will bloom.
The crocus referred to may have been the narcissus, which is popular in Israel today. They bloom there in late February. After a long winter, when all seems dead and the ground has been frozen hard and unyielding, the days short and mornings very cold, we begin yearning for the bursting forth of spring time. That¡¦s when the crocus blooms. That¡¦s what God has in store for us ¡V the giddy happiness of seeing spring¡¦s flowers burst out of the ground and bring color and life to things once again.
There will be singing and laughter and joy. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a marriage feast. Heaven is like a wedding reception. People dance and rejoice and the whole reason for being there in the first place is love. It is no accident that our sacrament of Holy Communion in the church is called in Greek, the Eucharist. The Eucharist is joyful thanksgiving. We rejoice with exceeding joy at our salvation.
In communion we celebrate that Jesus has rescued us from sin and death. It is like we have a chain around our neck and are being dragged to the bottom of the sea. But Jesus cuts us loose so we can swim back up to the light and the air and live after all. In communion we celebrate our freedom from sin and death. IN communion we celebrate that we are alive forevermore.
So we have a job to do!
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
¡§Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.¡¨
We are charged with reaching out to help those crushed beneath the load of life. We are to join Jesus in liberating them. We liberate them with the gospel. We tell them about our hope. We aid them in their distress. Our missions and benevolences are part of how we do this. That is why they matter so much and why we are praying about them. But we also are to be personal witnesses of hope wherever we may be ¡V at home, at work, in school.
And notice please and this is VERY important! The hope in the future is not based on what we do, but on what God is doing. It isn¡¦t up to us. It is up to God. And if anyone can be trusted, it is God.
The Bible promises God is working in us, through us and around us. When we are in trouble, God will rescue us. When Jesus walked on the water, Peter wanted to walk on the water too. He got out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus. But then he heard the wind moaning around him and saw the whitecaps and felt the sting of the spray from the sea and began to sink and cried to Jesus, ¡§Save, Lord, I perish.¡¨ The next thing he knew Jesus was taking his hand and pulling him up.
It will always be like that. That hand is always there. For you. Always there. Reach out for it. ¡§He will come and save you.¡¨
A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,„T
but it shall be for God¡¦s people;„T
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
Now when the Bible talks about highways, as it does here, I have to ask you to forget what it is like on the highways of New Jersey. I love driving up on the turnpike north of here. It is an adventure! I love looking at the gritty industry with the trains and ships and trucks(except at rush hour when it is ¡§white-knuckling¡¨ time). But this highway is different. It never gets clogged! It isn¡¦t like 287 at 8 in the morning with a traffic jam stopping all three lanes. It is like a road that is never congested. This highway, by the way, was the highway that would take God¡¦s people out of exile in Babylon where they had been carried off as prisoners, back home to Israel. This highway has only God¡¦s people on it and it always runs smoothly. Being the traffic guy in the helicopter on this highway would be the most boring job in the world. The report would be, ¡§The traffic is running smoothly this morning. No tie ups to be seen. Tonight¡¦s rush hour looks good folks. Get out the cell phone and call your husband and tell him to start dinner, you are on the way home.¡¨
This highway is like those kiddie lanes at the bowling alley. You know the ones? You can put those fences up so that no matter how bad you bowl, the ball will NEVER end up in the gutter. That is grace, and it is what God is giving you in Jesus.
Three days before Christmas, a NJ man called his son in Chicago and said, ¡§I¡¦m calling you and your sisters son to tell you I¡¦ve come to decision. I am divorcing your mom. We¡¦ve been married forty years and I can¡¦t stand one more minute. I¡¦m seeing a lawyer day after tomorrow and I¡¦m putting an end to this. I¡¦ve had it with being married to her¡¨ The son is shocked and infuriated at his father. He gets off the phone and calls his two sisters, one in California and one in Florida. Within an hour of his father¡¦s calling him, he is back on the phone with his father and says, ¡§Dad, we¡¦re furious with you. Don¡¦t you dare do a thing until we talk. My sisters and I will be out there tomorrow and we¡¦ll see what you are going to do to mom!¡¨ The man gets off the phone, turns to his wife and says, ¡§They¡¦ll all be here for Christmas this year, honey, and they¡¦re paying for their own plane tickets¡¨
We are moving through life toward a goal God has for us ¡V towards his embrace ¡V towards his habitation. Our home, the place we were created for and are destined for.
An old missionary who served overseas in a difficult and poor mission was sailing home on a ship ready to retire. It happened that the President of the United States was also on the ship. When it arrived in the harbor, the President was greeted with a band and dignitaries and banners and reporters. After the hoopla, the old missionary walked along the pier in silence with no one there to greet him or celebrate. The old missionary felt bitter resentment and complained to God about this. God gently reminded him, ¡§But you are not home yet!¡¨
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
The report of the 9/11 commission is out. Our leaders are all striving to find new ways to keep our nation safe. That¡¦s fine. But safety is not our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal as God¡¦s people is to walk with Jesus. The church is the body of Christ. Our task is to be Jesus in the world. To heal, to help, to love, to lift, to carry, to celebrate, to proclaim, to promise, be kind, to build up, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Sorrow and sighing will flee away ¡V they are running away as fast as they can as if being chased! God has given us the great opportunity of making that happen now in small doses until he finishes the whole world.
God has put power in the promise. That is your inheritance and mine, our legacy. And God gives us the happy task of being his power of promise for others. This advent, let us rejoice and cause some rejoicing. We have our gift stockings to turn in tonight. We have food donations. We have missions locally and around the world to give to. We have a church with wonderful worship to invite people into. We have so much to give. The promise is ours, and God has made us part of the promise. Praise be to God!
Fred D. Mueller
