ADVENT 1

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: ADVENT 1
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: December 1, 2002

TEXT: Isaiah (63: 15-19) 64:1-9a – O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!


ISSUE: There is profound and beautiful imagery in the Isaiah reading. It is as if, a beaten sinful nation is expressing its yearning to be saved and redeemed by The Father who seems to have turned his back on them. It is an image of the imploring prodigal son who yearns to return to the goodness of The Father. It is the nations coming to its senses, its right mind. We have been molded by the great potter, and need to be in his hands once again. The passage is one of pleading hope, fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.
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I do hope that you listened and read carefully the extraordinary passage from the prophet Isaiah this morning. It is to that passage that I want to draw your attention. What rich beautiful and elegant yearning for the presence of God. So much of the Isaiah’s Hebrew Scriptures are so beautifully appropriate to the Advent Season, and the this world of our time.
The passage reveals a yearning prayer of Isaiah the prophet: “O that you (God) would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence . . . . – to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble in your presence.” This passage and prayer comes from a period in the history of the Hebrew people when they had been exiled to a foreign land. Their homeland had been destroyed and the Temple in Jerusalem totally destroyed. The political and religious structures were in ruins. During the period of the their exile they lived under the injustices and the oppression of their enemies. Many of them lost the rituals of their faith, and often turned to foreign gods and marriages, lessening their identity as the people of God. This prayer implies their unfaithfulness in turning to other gods, and their harlotry as a nation of unfaithful. Even when they were finally allowed to return to Judah and Jerusalem, they returned to nothing more than ruins. It was a heart breaking time of despair and hopelessness.
In the passage comes the pleading of the prophet for God’s people: O God, tear open the heavens and come down to us. Remember us. Show your power and your glory to the nations of the world. Make the earthquake at your coming, just as you did when Moses stood before you on Mount Sinai. Set the brushwood ablaze, as you did the burning bush of Sinai. Strike the waters with your lightning that make water steam and boil instantly. But God you became angry when the people turned away from you building a golden calf. You became angry when we were in exile and we lost sight of you. It is as if God you have turned your face from us. Standing outside the boundaries of your affection, it is as if we are all worthless, dirty, and unclean. We have becomes like dried dead leaves in the wind of your spirit that drives us farther and farther away from you. We are overwhelmed by our sin, the burden is intolerable when we are so far from you. Isaiah closes the prayer pleading: “Yet, O Lord you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever.” Notice the reference to the Lord as “Father.” The appeal to God in the Hebrew Scriptures as “Father” is very rare, and considered to be much to familiar a term for common people to appeal to God.
The appeal here is that God is the one who has begotten us, just like the Potter begets the molded bowl. God is like a father. From the Christian stand point, what I think you see here is Israel, Judah, like a prodigal son, who has been lost coming to its senses in the Prophet’s Prayer. It is a nation crying out to its Lord, to its maker, to its Daddy! IT is like a child crying out in the darkness and its fears. Open the door and come in to us light and hope shine upon us. Lord, God tear open the heavens and come back to us, save us from our despair and hopelessness we implore you, and let the world see your power and your glory.
I think passages like this one, which is a prayer for a wayward nation, also reflects the personal suffering of the people of this time. Life was never easy. Diet was poor, medical care non-existent. Infant mortality was very high. Children and people died young. Young children were often orphaned. On top of this you homeland is taken from you. You have to make a journey to a foreign land and nothing is familiar. The total structure of your society with its laws and customs are totally foreign. Is it any wonder God’s people sat down and wept? Their world was chaos. “O God, rip open, tear open, the heavens and come down to us. Remember us, we are your children, and you are our Father; can you turn away forever? Save us and redeem us, which essentially means take us back and don’t be angry with us forever!
Now notice in the Gospel of Mark today, which incidentally is the Gospel that will be highlighted throughout this next year, this too is a passage in Christian Scripture also directed to an extraordinarily difficult time. It is apocalyptic in nature revealing again a need and longing for God to come and save his people. Mark wrote this passage either just before, or just after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. It is time expressed in apocalyptic language of signs, not to be taken literally. Once again it is a time of great destruction. It is as if the end his hear, and the very foundations of both heaven and earth are shattered. Again the destruction is overwhelming. Mark’s message is stay faithful; change, or repent, and await the coming of God the Father again to restore a world of misery. Be ready for a time when God will tear open the heavens and come to His children.
Notice well that we also are living in an apocalyptic age. That was made especially clear on September 11, 2001. If you were in New York City that day, the sky turned black with smoke. If you were in one of the towers, it was as if the very heavens had collapsed as you were being consumed in fire. We saw a symbol of our affluence crumble. IN Washington, D.C., we saw the symbol of American power, the Pentagon, under another severe attack where the sky turned black. We were then at war: War with what? War with whom? When will it end? We are already at war with the drug cartels that are killing our children. Is or is not the impending war with Iraq a part of this apocalyptic experience. What biological and dirty atomic gizmos lie ahead for us?
And by the way, African nations are facing drought and impending famines, Again! The AID’s epidemic is growing. Poverty in our own land is growing. Policemen in our streets, which are symbols of authority that have come under fire as chaos reigns in the streets and in our schools, like Columbine High. Even the church is plagued with misconduct. Each and everyone of us usually are and are presently dealing with some kind of personal crisis, like illness, alcoholism, abuse, worry about family, loss of jobs, and loved ones. What have we done; what have we done; what have we done to deserve a world like this one. People say, they don’t understand the Bible. Well, I bet we understand Isaiah prayerful plea: O God, that you would tear open the heavens and come down to us, and give the world one hell of a shaking! O God you created us, like a Potter molding a bowl. Do it again Lord, like a loving father re-shape, and re-make us all over again, and bring us into the true light of your salvation and hope.
And then, one day, some shepherds looked up into the heaves, and the heavens were torn open. And the saw a heavenly host of angels singing, Glory to God in the Highest, and peace on earth among men and women who please God. If only Isaiah could have been there. Born in Bethlehem is a savior, who is Christ the Lord. Unlike the demanding, manipulative powers and affluence of the world, the Christ comes to God’s people. He brings, well we know what he brings: sacrificial love, healing, hope, resurrection and lifting up, hope. In addition, Jesus’ coming just doesn’t mean, every body love good old Jesus and everything is going to be all right. But Jesus brings hope, and a call and a mission to each of us. We are clay in the hands of the potter, and each of us is different with varieties of talents and abilities. We are called into fellowship with him, camaraderie with him. Our lives and the world we live in are only overwhelming, if we see ourselves as alone. We are not alone. God has torn open the heavens and come to us to bring peace, and to make us into a set of clay ware pottery that the world in time may learn to feed on the bread of life and hope. We are all his vessels and he has torn open the heavens to come among us, and the spirit of flame and fire (as the kids would say, “The fire bird”) has come and is coming again to revitalize us. Be alert, awake, look for Jesus Christ to embrace you life. Let him come again to renew you, strengthen you, to alert us all to the healing and the peacemakers of the world who have already embraced the power of God. In all of the apocalyptic events of our lives that would cause us to cry out, “O Lord, tear open the heavens and come down to us.” Be alert and aware of his coming, and be prepared to follow him like a mighty company of saints in light into the future with hope.