Sacred Space - December 1, 2019

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Matthew 3:1-3 The words John shares comes from the prophet Isaiah. Which, on the surface, probably doesn’t mean much to many of us. So, we’re going to pause for a little Israelite history here. The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament is now understood to have been written in 3 parts. Among scholars, it’s commonly referred to as I, II, and III Isaiah. Chapters 1-39 are first Isaiah and they cover the time of the Babylonian Exile. A time when the Israelites were defeated and forced from their land. In that time the words of the prophet were not comforting. They were words of indictment and condemnation. The Israelites had been selfish and self-serving. They were heartless toward people in need and

the exile was their punishment. Second Isaiah is considered chapters 40-55 and is a wholly separate time…the time of Persian rule over Israel. But unlike Babylon, Persia allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland and stay there as long as they submitted to Persian rule.

Chapter 40 begins the good news—God will not punish us forever. God will come to comfort and free us. We may have failed, we may be weak, but God is steadfast, enduring and strong. The words that were heard today from John come from that chapter. Prepare the way of the Lord. God is on the way! They are words of promise and hope after a long period of tribulation. And I find it helpful to remember that they were commonly understood in their context at that time. Which is to say, they were familiar. People knew them. If you said part of that chapter, the rest came to mind for those who were listening.

Kind of like this:

‘Twas the night before Christmas and __________________ (all through the house)
Not a creature was _______________(stirring), not even _________ (a mouse).
Now _______________ (ma in her bonnet), and I ___________(in my kerchief…)

To share part of it is to jog the memory of the collective body. John didn’t have to recite all of chapter 40, or even most of it, for it to proclaim the larger message to the Israelites gathered there in the desert. To say, “A voice calling out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,” was to beckon the people to continue:

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Or further:

You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”

To hear these words meant that God was doing something, at work among them. This was good news!! Now it didn’t come with a quick fix. The Israelites weren’t teleported back to Israel. They weren’t freed from Persian rule. They still had to work hard to restore some sense of “home” to the place they hadn’t been in 40 years. A place their children and young people had never known. It was good news, but it was also a long road ahead….both literally as they traveled from Babylon to Israel, and figuratively as they traveled from exile to home under occupation.
John tells the people around him, “Repent and get ready. God is on the way.” Maybe I’m the only one, but I often hear “repent” and it feels so heavy and weighted. It feels judgmental and critical. Anybody with me? So when John says, “repent and get ready” it doesn’t feel like good news. It feels harsh and hard. But, if I’m honest, I have to take a moment and try and pull off the emotional baggage of other people’s judgment. John isn’t being judgy. He’s been real. Repentance isn’t about guilt and shame and apologies…ok, well, it’s not only about that. Repentance, literally, is a turning around. To repent is to move away from your sin. To repent is to turn back toward God. So, maybe we would hear his message better if John said, “Hey, turn around, look for God—I promise God is already on the way!” I don’t know about for you, but that sounds more exciting, it feels more life-giving. Face the right direction. Look not for the things that turn you away from God but look toward God.
And that’s the proclamation of Advent. God is on the way!!! That’s the exciting part. But then we hear “Get ready!” and we get saddled with all the things…cultural things, family things…expectation things….Get ready! God is coming! Which means, we have to make it great. I mean, if God was coming to your house for dinner, what would you do?
• Clean
• Clear the clutter off the table
• Cook
• Maybe do a special centerpiece
• Maybe decorate a little
• Knowing its advent maybe you’d put the lights on the house or get the tree up or at least put on a holiday table cloth.
Anyone? You’d do something special! You’d try and make it amazing, wouldn’t you? After all, it’s God!!!!
That’s how we fall for all those cultural expectations….it’s the incarnation of the divine! So it better be amazing. But that’s not what the prophet Isaiah is telling us. He’s saying God is on the way to meet you…when you’re weary and depleted from years in exile. God is on the way to meet you on the long road home. God is on the way to meet you when you’re anxious and afraid of what might happen in this next chapter. God is on the way to meet you when everything in your life seems to be absolutely upside down and backwards. God is on the way to you, not because your house is beautiful, or your food is perfectly cooked, or your desserts win prizes, God is on the way because that’s who God is….God likes being with God’s people.
Throughout this Advent season, we’re going to be focusing on how we shift gears from cultural expectations to the heart of God’s message for us. Today is about making sacred space…holy space for God who comes to share your space. We recognize it would be easy to try and perfect our spaces….to make them as shiny and bright and well wrapped as we possibly can, but the heart of the good news today is that God is showing up regardless. And if you don’t have the time, or the energy, or the money to make it all just right….don’t stress it. Even if you do, don’t stress it. God isn’t concerned with the glitz and the flourishes, God is concerned with you…sharing space with you these holy-days. Even if it’s messy space, or broken space, or sorrowful space, or half decorated space, or burned space, or flooded space. God wants to sit with you, walk with you, ride with you, work alongside you. Get ready, because God is coming!