St. Matthew’s Sermon 12-10-2017

Second Sunday in Advent: Peace

What Shall I Cry?

Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, Mark 1:1-8

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God. Amen.

Peace is such an elusive thing. In our world today we might catch a glimpse of peace every now and then, but we blink our eyes and it’s fleeing away from its opposition. Every moment of every day peace is chased from our view by acts of violence of every kind. We see wars in foreign lands and the people trying to escape the destruction of political conflict. We see the promotion of hatred and hostility against other members of our own nation. We see the senseless destruction of life in our schools and public gatherings. We see the body count rise in our city streets daily. And we see the devastation of domestic violence inside the homes of far too many of our neighbors. All these things and more are obstructing the settlement of peace in every corner of our world.

Besides the ever increasing cycles of aggression just mentioned, where violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred, we also see the affect of the lack of peace on those who have nothing to do with the causes. We see the suicide rate around the world and in our country rise. We see alcohol and drug abuse taking its toll on more and more people. We see mental disorders, especially depression, becoming more common. We see older people losing the life they made for themselves to ever increasing expenses. We see young people struggling to get a start in a workplace with more applicants than available jobs. And we see despair in the faces of those who have given up on ever finding peace and happiness.

Then, just to rub a little more salt into the wounds, we see nations, not just our own, spending many times more money on weapons that indiscriminately tear down than they spend on lifting up those who are already, by no will of their own, in the pits of life. We see those with far more than enough wealth gaining even more at the expense of those who are working two or three jobs and still not getting by. And, even in this modern age, we see people being ignored, held back, and even downright oppressed because they don’t look, act, worship, or come from the same corner of the earth as you and me.

It’s enough to make anyone, even those like you and me who are not directly affected, who still have an ounce of compassion left in our hearts, “cry out; all people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades…” And the voice inside of us cries, ‘this is all we have, this is the way of the miserable world today.

But then, then we hear another voice cry out from deep within us! “Prepare the way of the Lord”, it tells us “make his paths straight! Get yourself up, speak loudly of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, speak loudly of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to all people, “Here is your God! He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep”!

It is then that we realize that misery is not the way of life! It’s then that we remember that, buried under all the trash we’ve allowed the world to pile up over it, there is still peace within us; the peace of God, placed there by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! And we remember that it is this little spark, this tiny light that has been sustaining us through all the conflict and despair that we have been witnessing day-in and day-out!

And now that we have been reminded that it is still there, we must ‘un-earth’ it; dig it out from under all that the world has thrown over it in attempt to smother it, and nurture it back to fullness, clean it off, polish it up; bringing it to the brightness it had when it was first placed there.

Then, when we hear the voice saying, “Cry out!” we will know what to cry! We will show off our peace to all the world and cry “This is my peace”! See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him! He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep!

This we can do brothers and sisters; this we must do. And not only in this time of Advent and Christmas, but in every day of every year! We must be witnesses to the glory of God and the peace that can be found in him; the peace that can be found only in him. We must herald of good tidings; the peace that he, alone, can bring into a wretched world.

We must, and we can, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, [is] able to separate us from the love of God [and the peace] of Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:38-39 NRSV) Amen.

Isaiah 40:1-11
40:1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
40:2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
40:3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
40:5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass.
40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
40:9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
40:10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

2 Peter 3:8-15a
3:8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
3:9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
3:11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness,
3:12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?
3:13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
3:14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish;
3:15a and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.

Mark 1:1-8
1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
1:2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;
1:3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'”
1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
1:5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
1:7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
1:8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”