This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa on December 8, 2019. Those following the lectionary will notice that it’s based on the Advent 3A texts: Isaiah 35:1-10 and Matthew 11:2-11. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Isaiah 35:1-10
1The 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. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
3Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4Say 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.”
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. 9No 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. 10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Matthew 11:2-11
2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 4Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
It’s cold in exile.
Hearts once warmed by home are numbed by loss.
Nothing is as it was. Everything has changed. What was known is now questioned. What was trusted is now doubted.
Where is God? Who is God? Who am I? Who are we?
John’s world ended with his imprisonment. Exiled to a prison cell, his hope wavered. No longer a voice crying out with strength and conviction, his certainty has been replaced with hesitation.
Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?
Are you the one, Jesus, in whom the kingdom of God comes near? The one who comes with power? The one to right the wrongs? The one to warm hardened hearts with the fire of the Spirit?
Are you the one, Jesus? Or must we continue to wait?
And Jesus responds not with a yes or a no, but with an invitation to hear and to see what is already happening through him:
The blind receive their sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. And the poor have good news brought to them.
Where is God? Right here.
Who is God? The one who leads the world home from exile.
Who am I? Who are we? Beloved.
***
Long years before John faced his own imprisonment, the people of Israel experienced their own time of exile. God had led them out of slavery in Egypt, taught them how to be God’s people, promised to provide for them–food, and land, and abiding love. Promised them a future filled with hope.
And then their world ended.
Babylon invaded–destroyed their temple, destroyed their faith. Babylon invaded–stole their freedom, stole their hope.
Israel, in exile, weeping in a land not their own, in a world they no longer recognize. Nothing is as it was. Everything has changed.
Where is God now? Who are we now?
The prophet Isaiah responds with a vision for the future, a picture of what is to come:
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom. God will come and save you.
The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. The lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
The ransomed of the Lord will return with singing and everlasting joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.”
To those who are of a hardened heart, a grief-numbed heart, a broken heart, a doubting heart, an exiled heart: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.
***
Long years after the people of Israel wept in Babylon…
Long years after John questioned in prison…
Our world still knows the heartache of life in exile. We still need the invitation of Jesus to see and to hear what is already happening through him. We still need the prophet’s vision for a future filled with hope.
We are far from home when we learn the diagnosis, when we receive the terrible news, when death changes everything.
We are far from home when we wait for one who will never come home, when we pray for change that never comes, when we question our purpose, our passion, our reason for being.
It’s cold, in exile, when hope has fled.
So today we warm our hearts by the fire of Christ’s light. Today we listen and look with eyes opened and ears unstopped. Today it is not hope that flees but sorrow and sighing. Today we sing.
Comfort, comfort now my people.
Awake, awake and greet the new morn.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
Be strong. Do not fear. Here is your God.
Amen.