- Sermon - Mickey Anders

Text: Isaiah 40:1-11

Pikeville, Kentucky is famous for their "Cut-Through" project, in which they literally removed a mountain on the edge of town and then rerouted the Big Sandy River, the railroad and a four-lane highway around the city. The chamber of commerce likes to brag that this was the second biggest earth moving project in North America, second only to the Panama Canal. It was a good bit bigger than the "Big Dig" in Boston, which comes in third place. Over the construction period of 14 years, they removed 18 million cubic yards of rock and dirt at a cost of $77 million. And what a great difference the Cut-thru made to the city! No more flooding. No more dirty coal trains running through the heart of town. No more traffic congestion in town. And the dirt from the Cut-thru was used to fill in the old river bed to provide much needed ground for commercial businesses and housing.

I couldn't help but think of the Pikeville when I read the passage from Isaiah for today. "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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.'"

Isaiah describes the preparations for the coming of God as tearing down the mountains and filling in the valleys. I have read that this was typical of the kind of preparations made before ancient kings traveled a particular road. Preparations have to be made when someone important is coming.

These images are symbols for the major road work that has to be done before the coming of the Lord. And we can use this image to help us prepare for Christmas.

Let's imagine ourselves traveling down a highway that we will call the Christmas Highway. Traffic is already building up on the Christmas Highway. We see in front of us a line of vehicles racing to and from the retail shops getting just the right purchases for every person on the Christmas gift list. We are listening to the jolly music on the radio, frequently intermixed with advertisements for last minute gifts that we simply must purchase. It seems like the whole world is headed down this highway of holiday joy. At the top of our lungs we sing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the hap- happiest time of the year."

We are well on our way to a merry holiday, just like everybody else. Every time we walk into a retail store we see Santa's and elves. On the radio and television, the cheery advertisements steer us down the great highway to the secular holiday. And we yearn for a White Christmas.

Isn't this the real meaning of Christmas anyway? Isn't it about those warm fuzzy feelings of happiness? Isn't it about family get-togethers and exchanging gifts with those you love? And if it snows, that makes Christmas perfect. Doesn't it?

But then we look up ahead as we crest a hill and see a huge blinking arrow pointing off to the right. As we get closer we can see the sign that says, "Detour." Our foot backs off the accelerator, and we read closer, "All Christians Take Advent Detour, One-half Mile Ahead."

When we get closer to the detour, we see a very old man there stopping every car to explain the problem. When it's our turn, we roll down the window and notice the old man's name tag – "Isaiah." He politely explains, "Well, folks, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't get to the Christ child this way. You have to take the detour. All those folks going down the super highway may find a happy holiday, but it'll be an empty one. You just can't have the Christ reborn in your life unless you take this detour. You see, we've got major road work ahead. There are mountains to be torn down and valleys to be filled in before anyone can find the true meaning of Christmas. There's a Cut-through to be built. Now as you drive along, be careful to watch for the signs or you'll get lost for sure. In that case, you never will get to the real Christmas!"

We turn off the super highway and begin to bounce along the construction road. Before long, we come to the first sign found in verse 1 of our text for today. It says, "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem."

"Comfort." That's an interesting message. You know, it seems that most churches these days have forgotten that comfort message. They are so busy afflicting the comfortable that they forget to comfort the afflicted. Some people love to hear hell-fire and damnation sermons, but I never understood the appeal. It seems to me there are a lot of the afflicted who really need a dose of comfort.

Barton Stone was converted to Christ not by the hell-fire sermons he heard, but by a sermon on the love of Christ.

Jesus was very critical of the Pharisees who seemed to add the burden of religion to people who are burdened enough already. At one point he said to them, "You are making people twice as fit for hell as you are yourselves."

But Jesus way was different. He was the friend of sinners. He once said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

There are a lot of people who could stand that comfort message just now. There are families in our area who won't have much to give their children unless someone helps them. And others have good reason to be blue this Christmas. Yes, there are many people who could use a comfort-message this year. God calls us to speak a word of comfort.

We should take Isaiah's advice and "speak tenderly" to a few folks this Christmas. Surely we can find somebody to say an encouraging word to this Christmas. Maybe that's the right way to Christmas.

Look ahead! There's the second sign in verse 2. Isaiah said to pay special attention to those signs or we would never make it to the right place. What does that one say? Now I can see it.

"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."

That's a long sign. If I were making it, I would probably have just put up one word – FORGIVENESS!

John the Baptist had the same idea about preparing for the coming of the Messiah. When he showed up in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey, he talked a lot about forgiveness. Mark 1:4 says, "John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

Forgiveness is not easy. We can tell ourselves over and over, that it's Okay, our sins are forgiven, but we find it hard to convince our gut. We still get in knots over it sometimes.

We need to say with the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

I love Psalm 51, which is David's confession to God after his great sin. He says what we need to say, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me."

Isaiah's sign says the penalty is paid, the term is served. Isaiah's message was given to the people of Israel after they had been so long in exile. All the prophets made it clear that they had suffered because of their sins.

But there came a time when God said to Israel, "Enough! You have suffered enough. Now it is time to put your lives back together."

I guess God still says that to people today. I've seen people crippled by alcoholism and raging anger. Their shame can almost be touched. I think there are many of us who need to read Isaiah's sign.

And maybe that's the best gift we could receive this Christmas – the assurance that our sins are forgiven. The Bible says that Jesus died for our sins. That's why he came into the world at Christmas – so that we could be set free from our sins.

David's psalm describes exactly what Christ came to do for us:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit."

Hey, there's another sign from verse 6: "All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever."

Grass withering. That's a strange sign for Christmas. It doesn't seem to fit with all the clichés of the Christmas season.

Psalm 144 talks about this very idea. "O LORD, what are human beings that you regard them? They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow. (Psalm 144:3-4)

In the New Testament, James picks up that message by saying, "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:13-16).

You know, my life does feel like a mist that is here for a while then vanishes. In fact, most of it HAS vanished! My parents told me that life is short and time passes faster and faster, and now that I am sixty, I find they were right.

I can't even remember what I got for Christmas three years ago, nor two years ago. In fact, I don't remember what I got for Christmas last year!

But do you know what I do remember from all those years? The big pile of wrapping paper in the middle of the floor after all the presents are opened. Maybe that wrapping paper is a symbol of the fleeting nature of the things of life. I really do need to keep THINGS in perspective. They fade; they wither.

But some things last forever. We need to focus on those. I vaguely remember an old poem that says, "Only the things done for God will last." I do have a vivid memory of the many mission trips I have taken.

I still remember the lines of people waiting to visit our little medical clinic on our mission trip to Guatamala in 1990. And I still remember the eagerness of the wonderful people of Zambia from my mission trip there in 1980. I remember those things as if they were yesterday.

Maybe the real Christmas is about helping us to get over our natural preoccupation with ourselves and to do something for others.

Hey, here's the final sign from verse 9. I can see the main road again now. We must be almost there. After this bumpy construction road, it is really good to finally arrive at our destination. The sign says:

"'Here is your God!' 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."

Finally, when we have the way prepared, when the mountains are brought low and the valleys filled in, then we are ready for the coming of the Lord. Only after the long detour do we get the sign that says, "Here is your God!"

And that is the ultimate goal of Christmas – not the happy secular holiday, but the presence of God! Psalm 100 says, "Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." When we sing the Christmas carols, we are not singing for warm fuzzy feelings. We are singing so that we can come into the presence of God.

I remember that verse from Matthew, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

There you have it. After all the preparation, and we come to the end of the Christmas highway, we find God. And that God is found again in the babe, which is Christ Jesus our Lord!

Endnotes

1) For more information about the Pikeville Cut-Thru see

http://www.pikecountychamber.org/transportation.html

2) The highway imagery for this sermon was inspired by a sermon by Sid Burgess on The Protestant Hour, 12/3/2000.