Gentle Power

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, inhabit these words, may they bring comfort to your people as we await the coming of your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Comfort, O comfort my people. YES please! What a time, what a need for comfort we all have in our world today. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah says. Speak tenderly to these United States and to this world we live in as we approach the new year, two thousand twenty-four. Cry to her that her time of suffering, pain, and violence have been served, the penalty paid, enough. Enough bad news, devastation and despair. We’ve already had a double portion. Into this darkness and pain a voice cries out:

In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. In the fierce and ferocious times of our lives, our own wilderness wandering, we are to prepare, to get ready, to stay awake, and to watch for the comings of Christ into our lives.

Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Lay out a direct path, no swerving or meandering, a direct line for Christ to come to us. An amazing road crew, engineers and heavy machinery cutting a swath through the desert, that arid, dry and dangerous stretch will soon be easily crossed. 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. Those low times, those hard times will be brought up, those high mountain passes, those heights so hard to attain,

will be brought down to our level, no more struggle to huff and puff and slowly make our way up. Where once we had to be so careful, painstakingly placing each foot, now we can walk without thought on even ground. Those rough spots will be leveled out, smooth hiking. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together. God’s loving light and grace will be evident, shining brightly, an enormous beacon for ALL people to experience and approach together, united. This is what God, the Creator of the universe has said, and so it will be. Amen.

These are not the words, vision, and promise of men. No. Compared to God people are just like flowers or grass that withers and fades and is gone. These words of God are everlasting and they will never fade, indelible. Know this and rejoice. This is Good News! Get you up to a high mountain, lift up your voice with strength, be heralds of good tidings, do not fear; say to the cities of the world:

“Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with mighty arms that rule. And notice how this mighty God rules. Yes, God is all powerful, AND… God cares for us, God feeds us, like a shepherd cares for their flock; and God gathers the lambs and carries them in God’s bosom, and gently leads the mother sheep.

What lovely images of the powerful, almighty God AND the loving, nurturing, God who gathers us up in protecting arms, holding us close, feeding, and gently leading us.

These words of the prophet Isaiah were words of comfort for the people of Israel who had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Defeated in battle, they became an occupied nation, their holy temple desecrated and destroyed, forced to leave everything and everyone they had known and loved, exiled. Isaiah’s words for them are words of hope, words of God’s return. Words inviting them to prepare a highway for the Lord. Words promising them a path a path home, a path to peace, and to restoration. God will bring justice directly to them on a highway. Lifting up the low, bringing down the high, leveling the playing field, smoothing out the rough places. Then, then, God’s glory will be revealed and everyone, everyone, all together will see it and know. And Zion and Jerusalem are called to be heralds, to announce this good news to the cities of Judah and to all. The Mighty God is coming in power and in gentle, loving care.

This ancient message of hope for Israel reverberates into our time this Advent season. Just as it was a connecting message for Mark’s Gospel and the suffering people of his time, so it is for us and the suffering that we face.

Richard Ward, professor of preaching, connects this thread and charges the church with sharing this message of hope, he says:

Advent is a time to hear the promises spoken or sung to the community of faith once again and then sit with them through the season. It is also a time for that community to find its own voice, overcome its objections, and speak words of comfort and assurance to anyone who feels separated or abandoned by God, that God will arrive and will come in gentle power. (Ward, Richard F., Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 1, p. 31).

From Isaiah, to Mark, to John the Baptizer, to the first coming of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, to this Advent season. We watch, and wait, and prepare. For surely our powerfully good and loving God is coming again. And again. And again.

Comfort, comfort your people. Speak tenderly to your beloveds, O God. In the wilderness of our lives, help us prepare the way for your coming in glory for all the world to see. Come Lord Jesus, come!

Amen.