Comfort my people. Comfort, comfort them. Whatever their sin
was, they have more than paid for it. It is more than enough.
God’s power is coming and it’s coming in gentleness, mercy
and consolation.
Isaiah 40 comes as a complete shock after the preceding 39
chapters of chewing out that Israel gets for neglecting the poor,
the widow, the stranger, the foreigner, and the orphan. Isaiah
was furious with Israel for not following the way of the Lord
and for refusing to care for those who most needed God’s love:
the poor, the needy, the lost, the forgotten and the ones that
had no one else to look after them. The only ones but those
who should understand that God’s love and mercy are for those
who suffer and that the only way they are going to experience
that mercy is to receive it from the hands of one of God’s
beloved.
And Israel had forgotten it’s own identity as God’s chosen and
beloved people, and were not caring for those in need, and
Isaiah was letting them have it—for thirty nine chapters. And
then we get to chapter 40
Comfort my people. Comfort, comfort them. Whatever their sin
was, they have more than paid for it. It is more than enough.
God’s power coming in gentleness and consolation.
And then we have the Gospel of Mark. He calls it the beginning
of the good news. Good news for whom? John was calling
people to a baptism of repentance. What does that mean, to
repent? What were those people turning away from in order to
ask for that baptism? What do we need to turn away from in
1
order to put Jesus Christ first? What do we need to re-organize,
and re-prioritize in our life so that we can notice when Jesus
comes to disturb and re-order our life, as he wants to do? What
do we need to turn away from in order to be able to choose the
way of Jesus Christ in every choice we make? What kind of
momentary pause from our hurry do we need to make in order
to deliberately choose peace, justice, mercy, compassion, truth,
healing and the proclamation of God’s love in every little
decision and word we speak?
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God,
for you, for me, for [name]!” God’s promise in Jesus is to make
all things new. What is God making new in your life right now
through God’s promise to come?
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God,
for you, for me, for [name]!” What if you and I could live every
moment of every day with our eyes and heart wide open to the
transformation God is working in our lives and in the world
around us, even in the midst of things that most discourage and
frighten us.
We see violence in the world and decline in our churches. Some
of us are weighed down with grief and loss, declining health,
and the challenges and limitations of getting older. Some of us
despair that we can ever work for change in our society. Some
of us worry about those who will not be able to pay for heat, or
clothing, or shelter during the cold this winter. How can we be
a people of hope? How can we share the good news? We can
because we know the promise and we know the end of the
2
story. We have felt the power of resurrection at work in our
midst and we have seen how love is stronger than fear, how life
is stronger than death, how peace won out over violence in the
end. Jesus rose from the dead and came to comfort his friends.
He said, “I am with you always”. He promised them. He
promised us. And he sent them out with the gift of the Holy
Spirit to continue his mission of healing and announcing of
coming of the kingdom of God. We, too, have received this
same gift of power: The Holy Spirit to guide, to strengthen, and
to inspire us to join God in God’s mission.
Advent is the time when we await with eager desire for the
coming of Jesus Christ into the world—into our world—into
our lives—right into the very heart of our heart where we can
be disturbed and surprised—not lulled to sleep by blissful
peace, but roused to attentiveness with baited breath for the
powerful peace of Christ.
Shsh—be still, who’s there? Is that you Lord?
Have you come to wake me with your powerful gentleness and
your silent strength? Have you come to warm my heart with
your loving presence?
What new thing are you bringing to birth now?
Have you come to awaken and enliven my soul?
Have you come to captivate my curiosity and make me hungry
for your presence? What new thing are you are bringing to life
in me—in this parish, this town, and this world?
Is it really, you, Lord Jesus? I hope it’s you, I have been waiting
and yearning for you to come.
Come, Lord Christ, Come.
3