I pride myself on caring and doing for others who have needs, and I will do that at my own expense.
So, this year I’m finding it hard to be joyful coming into Christmas, but fortunately, we are celebrating and including those who are not as joyful at Christmas.
As I was putting this together, I thought, “What I’m feeling is tired, worn, and weary.” If you are with me, I invite you to join me in singing Precious Lord, Take My Hand. I was really drawn by the fact that we don’t sing this in Advent. This is not one of the times that we usually sing this, but pay attention to the lyrics as we do.
“Precious Lord, take my hand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn. Take my hand. Precious Lord”
I think that also could have been the song of the Israelites when they had been moved into exile.
Although it’s not clear what timeframe Exodus 35 is actually in, there’s some contention about when it was actually written. If it was written during the Babylonian exile by the writer who wrote first Isaiah, or if it was written sometime later. But it was written to people who felt lost, who felt like they needed their God, and it was written to give them hope. I don’t know if you noticed this, but I’m going to help you see this in this scripture.
But for the most part, the verbs are in the future tense. This is a part of Advent too; it’s happened and yet not yet. It says that Christ was born today, and we might feel like “ooh, but not.” Because that’s what Advent is. It’s this already, and yet, not yet. That’s where we are. To these people, Isaiah wrote, and it said, “…for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert“ – Isaiah 35:6. That’s future tense. It will happen.
Water is a symbol of life. It’s one of the elements that we cannot survive without. The prophet is reminding us that God will provide life. Life will happen. You’ll rejoice again. You will have reason to rejoice again. Even if you aren’t right now. Because you don’t need to tell people to rejoice when they’re rejoicing. But God is about doing something new in the future. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way. It’s not there yet. They don’t know how they’re going to get home yet, but they are going to get home. There is hope in the future. God will create a way in which we will experience the gift of God’s joy, even if we don’t feel it right now.
I thought it was interesting to hear this from a couple of different perspectives, so I’m gonna give you a few variations of this. Isaiah 35:1-10 says to strengthen, but this is the present tense. So, for today, it has shifted to the present tense, “Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful of heart, “Be strong. Do not fear! Here is your God” – Isaiah 35:3-4. If I go to the Hebrew, TaNaK, which is their Bible, it reads this way. “Strengthen your drooping arms and steady your tottering knees.” For me, maybe it’s because I’m getting that new knee that just made me smile to steady my tottering knees. Yes, please. The inclusive Bible wrote it this way, “Say to all of those who are faint of heart, take courage.” Not to be strong, but take courage. I hear those differently.
There’s good news in the future. For now, we are not to be afraid of that classic phrase that is said so many times, Do not be afraid. Fear not all those different variations, but that is the most common phrase in the Bible. God wants us. God wants our trust. So, for today, can we have hope? Even if life isn’t wonderful, even if you feel displaced, forgotten outside. For today, know that God is here and that whatever is, whatever struggles are in your life, God will make a way.
I think that leads us right into Mary.
I chose this year to give you the picture of our Lady of Guadalupe, who’s actually quite ornate because she’s an icon for worship. But Mary was living through a time that was not a good time for the Jewish people. They were under Roman oppression. Rome was taxing them into poverty. They had soldiers who were not kind to them, and the people were afraid. The people were really afraid.
And yet, to this young teenager, God comes and says, “Do not be afraid for God is doing a new thing, and you will have a child, and that child will become the savior of the world and will change everything.” In Luke 1:52, Mary says, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”
It’s very much a justice-oriented piece. We say that we are about social justice. We wanna be compassionate and empathetic. Our God is compassionate. Our God cares about those who feel left out at the margins. Those for whom maybe it’s a health issue, maybe it’s a family issue, maybe it’s a relationship issue, maybe it’s an economic issue. Whatever it is that’s going on, God cares. God asks us, like Mary, to just hold a space.
Our job in Advent is to watch and wait. It’s not a passive wait. It’s not that we’ll just go back to bed and then, when something happens, we’ll get up. It is a, we’re paying attention, waiting. It’s a waiting with attention, with focus. What is God doing? What do we see happening around us? What are the graces that we are given for the cashier who is kind, who’s actually happy to be working because that means they’re gonna be able to pay their bills this week? Can we find that grace and patience for the grumpy customer in front of us, who we wish would just go away? Or maybe if we see them, then when we get to the cashier, maybe we will be kinder. How can we affect those around us in ways that bring more hope, peace, love, and joy?
Well, today we are focused on the joy, and I called this sermon Singing Out Our Joy.
Even Isaiah 35 is written like a song. It’s very lyrical, so now I’m gonna invite you to sing again, but this time we’re gonna sing another song that you know well, which is called Give Thanks. And I want you to pay attention to these words too, because I think they also support Mary’s song.
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich”
Because of what the Lord has done for us
And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich”
Because of what the Lord has done for us
This is not the end. God is still at work in our world and bringing about new life. We may be tottering, but all we need to do is to watch, wait, and be attentive to all that God is doing.
May it be so. Amen.
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