Isaiah 40:1-3 (and Mark 1:1-3) 'Undeserted in the desert'

Message prepared for Living Grace Lutheran community - Sat night group. Saturday 6^th Dec 2008.

Isaiah 40:1-3

¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

 ² Speak tenderly toJerusalem,

       and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,

       that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand

       double for all her sins.

  ³ A voice of one calling:

       "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD

       make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, open our eyes so that we can see the desert that we are in. And open our ears so that we can hear your word proclaimed by Isaiah and by  John the Baptist. Make a straight way for your word, from your heart to ours. Prepare us to meet you as you come to us in the person of Jesus your son. In His name we pray,  Amen.

Mark chapter 1 verses 1 to 3

“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  It is written in Isaiah the prophet:  "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— "a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'

When you hear the word ‘desert,’ what comes to mind? A barren, dry, harsh place? A place without water?

‘Desert’ has another meaning, though. We get this meaning when we say, ‘the place was deserted.’ And ‘They all deserted him.’ A desert is a place without the comfort and support of people. It is a lonely place.

We can be in a desert even where there are a lot of people. Isolated in a relational desert. This might be due to our own personality or choices. It can also come from the way other people have treated us. The world is not always a friendly, welcoming place. Nor is the church, sadly. God, however, is able to transform our deserts into places of beauty and blessing. Anyone who has been in central Australia before and after it rains will know how amazingly God can transform a physical desert. He can do this with our relational deserts too.

God’s people spent many years in the desert on their way to the promised land. It wasn’t pleasant. But one thing would have made it bearable: God was with them. He gave them food through the miracle of manna from heaven. He gave them water, sometimes miraculously, such as the time he told Moses to strike a rock with his stick, and water flowed out.

After forty years, God brought His people into the promised land. They settled there and enjoyed peace and prosperity. For a little while.

It didn’t take long before they ‘lost the plot’ (lost focus on God). They wanted to be like the nations round about them. They got into worshipping other gods and resented it when God called them to come back to him. Because they refused to repent, he finally allowed a powerful enemy to come in and carry them off into captivity.

It looked like God had deserted them.

He hadn’t. He rebuked them for their sinfulness. But he also reminded them that he is a merciful God, as he says in Isaiah 30:18 “the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.”

It is with compassion and the offer of restoration that the Lord sends out his messengers, into the deserts of the world, the places of loneliness and isolation. To those who have given up on God, to those who have given up on other people:

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her suffering is over. Her sin has been paid for.’

Today as God’s messengers we too proclaim the good news that the sins of people have been paid for. The suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the full payment for our sins, and the sins of the whole world.  

If anyone ignores or despises this good news, they will remain in their sins, and remain isolated, in a desert of their own making. But for anyone who hears this message and believes it, their isolation is over.

"In the desert prepare the way for the LORD make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'

A straight path is a direct route. In relational terms it means coming clean with God. No dishonesty, no trying to shift the blame, no avoiding the issues.

This is what John the baptist called for. It’s not about making ourselves just look good. God sees our hearts. He knows what we need. We need the forgiveness of sins.

Forgiveness for things no one else knows about, but God knows. Hidden sins are taken to the cross and the death of Jesus washes us clean.

Forgiveness for things everyone knows about. Known sins are also taken to the cross and the death of Jesus washes us clean.

"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

John baptized people as a way for them to show that they were serious about God, and that they wanted to end the isolation.

The washing Jesus gives us in our baptism is the real thing: When Jesus washes us, we become clean, and God personally ends our isolation.

This is the good news of Advent, the good news of Christmas: God does not desert us. He is with us in our deserts. He cares for us. He provides for us. Best of all, He has come to end our isolation, and brings us home, to be part of his family forever.

Amen.

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