"...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and
sighing will flee away." Sure does sound like Christmas, doesn't
it?
I wish everyone could feel it. But the war in Afghanistan
goes on. Families that lost loved ones on September 11th are
preparing for a holiday that, a year ago, they could have never
imagined. There is a certain dissonance to the season. Trips to
malls and stores with the sacred Muzak in the air singing of "Joy
to the World" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" mock the harsh
realities.
Did you happen to see "Ally McBeal" Monday night?(1) The
program opened with Ally slowly making her way home after some
Christmas shopping when she spies a man standing in a cemetery
looking down through tears at a new gravestone. Ally gently asks
if there is anything she can do. The response: not unless you
are an angel...or a prophet. As he turns to Ally, his overcoat,
open at the neck, reveals a clerical collar; it turns out he is a
Methodist minister. He tells Ally that the gravestone belongs to
his wife, just recently murdered by a nervous robber who shot her
while she fumbled too long in her purse. He also notes that he
has just lost his job - his congregation's Administrative Board
fired him. Why? "They say because I can no longer do my job."
"Why do they say you can longer do your job?"
"Because I don't believe in God."
Oh.
Far-fetched? A minister losing his faith? It can happen.
And if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere...maybe even
right here.
The temptation is great to leave it at that, to wallow in
self-pity. But then, good church folks no matter what, we find
ourselves in worship. It happens to be the third Sunday in
Advent - the rose candle in the Advent Wreath is lit, the candle
of JOY. That dissonance strikes again. But then we hear the
lectionary texts, the same ones that millions of others are
hearing on this day, and a new light sneaks through.
There is that gospel lesson. Poor John. All his life he
had been dedicated to the service of God - before he was born he
had been divinely commissioned.(2) An angel had told his father,
"Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord
their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and
power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord." And John had been
faithful to his commission. He had lived an ascetic life. He
had been a powerful preacher, ready to comfort the afflicted or
afflict the comfortable, whichever was needed. He knew his place
in the divine scheme - forerunner to God's anointed one, the
Messiah. In fact, this anointed one, this Messiah, was John's
own cousin: Jesus, son of his Aunt Mary. At least, that is what
he had been brought up to believe.
But now, John began to wonder. After these years of
faithful preaching, he finds himself in jail. He had angered
Herod by publicly calling attention to the king's marital
misconduct. Herod Antipas of Galilee had paid a visit to his
brother in Rome. During that visit he seduced his brother's
wife. He came back home, ran his own wife off, and married the
sister-in-law whom he had lured away from her husband. Publicly
and sternly John had rebuked Herod. Now Herod was taking his
revenge; John was in the dungeons of the fortress of Machaerus in
the mountains near the Dead Sea,(3) and was about to pay for his
boldness with his life.
But could his cousin, the Messiah, not intervene? After
all, the popular picture of God's Messiah had always been one who
would be the people's powerful protector, the one who would come
with terrible swift sword to overthrow Israel's oppressors and
rid this holy land of foreign domination. All right, Cousin
Jesus, is not now as good a time as any to get with the program?
Well? Jesus? Jesus?
Meanwhile, Jesus is not doing what Messiahs are supposed to
do. True, he is traveling about the country, but not recruiting
an army. Yes, crowds follow him, but he never calls them to arms
in defense of the nation. He spends an inordinate amount of time
with those on society's margins - the weak, the hurt, the
outcasts - not the stuff of which great fighting forces are
built. A teacher and a toucher, this Jesus. Can we blame John
for wondering? "Are you the one who was to come, or should we
expect someone else?"
Suddenly, we jump back to 2001. Again the sacred Muzak
sings, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come." But our hearts are
still hurting, and like John we remain prisoners...of our
private, personal pain. John's question well may be ours. John
may be speaking for any who were once sure of their faith but now
are not sure at all (like the minister on "Ally McBeal"), or for
those who wonder, "Is there really a God who knows and cares?
Does this God have a plan for the world? For me?" Lord, are you
the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?
If you notice, Jesus does not answer the question directly.
The response is, "Go back and report to John what you hear and
see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
good news is preached to the poor."
Familiar sounding words to a man of faith like John. He
remembered the poetry of the prophet Isaiah to God's people more
than 500 years before. The mighty empire of Babylon had
conquered the tiny nation of Judah, all that remained of the
great kingdom of David and Solomon. They had stripped that
nation bare. Whole cities had been burned to the ground. They
took the crops and livestock of every farmer and left nothing but
scorched earth. They killed or captured the rulers, the
teachers, the scientists, the priests, the heads of corporations
and took the survivors to Babylon as prisoners. The physical and
emotional and spiritual devastation was horrible.(4)
The book of Lamentations captures the desolation in its
mournful poetry. "How deserted lies the city, once so full of
people...All her people groan as they search for bread; they
barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive...They
say to their mothers, 'Where is bread and wine?' as they faint
like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb
away in their mothers' arms."(5) Picture the destruction and
poverty in Europe following World War II, or the images of
children foraging for food in Bosnia. Or hear the weeping of
people culling through the remains of their homes after the
bombing of their city. It was to these sad people that Isaiah 35
came.
As they picked through the ruins of their lives, the prophet
gave them a beautiful vision of the future. Farms had reverted
to wild ground, but that land would be covered again with flowers
and fruit. All the trees had been cut down either for warfare or
for firewood. But soon the land would be covered with the cedars of
Lebanon, trees so big it would take twelve people to encircle
their trunks. In many places, rivers and springs had been
poisoned, wells had been destroyed, dams and levees had been
ruined. But once again water would flow in the desert to replace
the mirages on the sand. Villages had been abandoned, but were
now the headquarters for thieves and scavengers. Soon they would
again be safe places, filled with people.(6) John in his dungeon
would remember the words - a time when "the eyes of the blind
[will] be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will
the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy."
Wow!
The message of Jesus to his questioning cousin was, "Open
your eyes. What you see will give you your answer." Open your
eyes...and you will find hope for your hurting heart.
A story. It's been around for awhile; it's even been set to music.(7) He was driving home one evening on a two-lane
country road. Work, in this small mid-western community, was
almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac. But he never quit
looking. Ever since the Levi's factory closed, he had been unemployed,
and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home. It
was a lonely road. Not many people had a reason to be on it,
unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left.
They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed
on. After all, this was where he had buried his mother and
father. He was born here and knew the country. He could go down
this road blind, and tell you what was on either side - with his
headlights not working at the moment, that came in handy.
It was starting to get dark. Light snow flurries were
coming down. He almost did not see the old lady, stopped on the
side of the road. But even in the dim light of dusk, he could
see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes
and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached
her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one
had stopped to help for the last hour or so. He did not look
safe, he looked poor and hungry. Was he going to hurt her? He
could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the
cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear
can put in you. He said, "I am here to help you, ma'am. Why
don't you wait in the car where it's warm. By the way, my name is Joe."
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that
was bad enough. Joe crawled under the car looking for a place
to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he
was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his
hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled
down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she
was from St. Louis and was only passing through. She could not
thank him enough for coming to her aid. Joe just smiled as he
closed her trunk. She asked him how much she owed him. Any
amount would have been all right with her. She had already
imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not
stopped.
Joe never thought twice about any money. This was not a
job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows
there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had
lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to
act any different. He told her that if she really wanted to pay
him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she
could give that person the assistance that they needed, and Bryan
added "...and think of me."
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had
been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for
home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small café. She
went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she
made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking
restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The cash register
was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor - it did not ring
much. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe
her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her
feet for the whole day could not erase. The lady noticed that
the waitress was very pregnant, but she never mentioned it or let
the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered
how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger.
Then she remembered Joe. After the lady finished her meal, she
paid her check with a hundred-dollar bill. As the waitress went
to get change, the lady slipped out the door.
She was gone by the time the waitress returned. She
wondered where the lady could be, then she noticed something
written on a napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read
what the lady had written. It said, "You don't owe me anything,
I have been there too. Somebody once helped ME out, the way I am
helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you
do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."
Well, there were still tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill,
and even a few more people to serve. The waitress made it
through another day. That night when she got home from work and
climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the
lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and
her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was
going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was, and as
he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a gentle kiss and
whispered soft and low, "Everything is gonna be all right. I
love you, Joe."
God's word, as we move through this Advent season, as we
experience the dissonance of "Joy to the World" as a serenade to
hurting hearts, as we wonder, "Are you the one...or should we
expect someone else," is open your eyes and look around. With
eyes of faith you will see.
And what do we see? Yes, there are the occasional roadside
Joes and the generous ladies who can spot the need for help.
But ultimately there is the word from on high. Isaiah presents
us with a wonderfully hope-filled scene in a chapter worth
memorizing. As these folks who long ago gave up looking for any joy in
living, these who have suffered a period of spiritual or
emotional "exile" because of a long illness, recovery from
addiction, or even the tragic death of someone very special,
whether in a TV drama like "Ally McBeal," the global-impact drama
of September 11th, or any of life's cruel and painful dramas in
between, as these desperate people scavenge the ruins of their
lives, they see an eruption. "The desert and the parched land
will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the
crocus, it will burst into bloom...Water will gush forth in the
wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will
become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs." LIFE
EVERYWHERE!
And in the midst of it, there is singing. The sound is
distant at first. But it swells and grows. Then a mighty parade
comes into view. The ransomed of the Lord - those who had
languished in exile - return to their homeland. There will
indeed be "Joy to the world, the Lord is come." Yes! "Gladness
and joy," says the prophet, "and sorrow and sighing will flee
away." Praise God! Even in the midst of life's dissonance,
there IS hope for hurting hearts. And all God's people...people
then and people now and people forevermore...ALL God's people can
say, AMEN! And Amen! And...
Amen!
1. David E. Kelley, "Nine One One," FOX Broadcasting, 12/10/01
2. Luke 1:5ff.
3. William Barclay, CD-ROM, Daily Study Bible Series, (Liguori, MO: Liguori Faithware,
1996) Used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press
4. Lowell Hennigs, via Ecunet, "Sermonshop Sermons," #1099, 12/11/98
5. Lamentations 1 & 2, passim
6. Lowell Hennigs
7. “The Chain of Love,” a story whose author is unknown to me but which is widely available on the web (e.g.: http://www.getfed.com/texts/topics/love/chainlove.shtml). Country music artist Clay Walker recorded a version of the story written by Rory Lee & Jonnie Barnett.
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