Mark's Blog

READING: Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
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.

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.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

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.
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 for ever.
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!’
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

For about six months now, huge road-building machines have been pushing and pulling dirt, moving it from one place to another, compacting it, flattening it, and finally pouring concrete over it—thick concrete interlaced with steel rods to bear tons of weight, all of this in order to have a good road for people to drive on.  There was already a road there—actually a road has existed there for probably fifty years or longer—but it was crooked and bumpy and too small for the traffic expected to come this way in the future.

During the first Advent week, we talked about The Coming, especially the awesome—perhaps frightening—majesty of The Coming.  But now we find out The Coming doesn’t just happen! Isaiah reveals here that first God’s Great Preparation must happen before  The Coming!

First, is The Announcement, meant to comfort us! The LORD is coming, so raise the valleys, level the mountains, straighten the curves—there is work to do in God’s Great Preparation!  The earth must be prepared for The Coming—and that appears to be our job!

But we don’t know what to do or say because we are pretty puny creatures! Our little plastic scoops and sand buckets are not adequate to road building!  With our own tools, the task is too big and will take forever!

Don’t worry, yes, people are as short-lived as grass, but God’s Word—the Message—is a BIG MACHINE, able to accomplish all the raising and leveling and straightening that we are to do in God’s Great Preparation!

So here are your instructions for God’s Great Preparation: Stand on the highest mountain! Lift your voice with strength because YOU are the herald of good tidings!  And do not be afraid!

And your words are these:    The Lord comes with might. He comes prepared to take complete control so that everything will be as it should be!  He will feed you, protect you, and lead you along the NEW ROAD into your future—all the way past death—into eternity–together!

The Coming does not happen without The Preparation. It’s time we start finding our mountain and lifting our voices with strength.  Don’t be afraid. YOU are the herald of good tidings!