Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, 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 wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 [APB]
2 Peter 3:8-15a
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation…
Mark 1:1-8
1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”’,
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
May I speak….
Our Gospel reading describes ‘John the baptiser’ appearing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance, and proclaiming the coming of the powerful Messiah, who John said would baptise the people not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.
Our reading from 2 Peter describes the people repenting, and then the coming of the day of God, a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Our reading from Isaiah describes God telling Isaiah to comfort the people, to speak tenderly to them, crying out that we have been set free from our sin, how the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together. God tells Isaiah and the people of God to CRY OUT, from the mountain tops, to be heralds of good tidings, to boldly proclaim God, the God who is searching for the lost, like a good shepherd.
What an exciting time we live in!
In “Your Church is too Safe”, Mark Buchanan describes how, in the 19th century, we stopped calling people who go on trips ‘TRAVELERS’ and started calling them ‘TOURISTS’.
What’s the difference?
A TRAVELER is (literally) someone who TRAVAILS, someone who labours, suffers, endures.
A TRAVELLER – a TRAVAILER – gets impregnated with a new and with a different reality. A TRAVELLER immerses themselves in a culture, learns the language and customs, lives ‘cheek by jowl’ with the locals, imitates their dress, eats their food, and is changed by the experience, by their TRAVAILS.
Even if he or she returns home, they are changed – in a sense, they never go back.
A TOURIST, on the other hand, is fundamentally different. TOURIST literally means “one who goes in circles”. A TOURIST is essentially just taking an exotic detour home – merely passing through, sampling wares, acquiring souvenirs, at best merely tasting the foreign food, if they dare drag themselves away from the ‘safe’ tourist spots serving their usual food at all!
A TOURIST retreats each night into what’s safe and familiar, at best picking up a word or two, a few phrases, but the language and the culture and the world it’s embedded in remains unknown, and vaguely menacing…
A TOURIST spectates and consumes, returning to where they’ve come from with a few pictures, an update on Facebook, a few mementos, happy to be back home, unchanged…
Do you think the analogy applies to some Christians? Have we not made a similar shift in the church by calling Christians BELIEVERS, instead of calling ourselves DISCIPLES?
What’s the difference?
A DISCIPLE willingly loses their life to find it, a DISCIPLE is steeped in the language and culture of Christ until His Word gradually reshapes theirs, redefines them, changes how they see the world, how they think, how they dream and, ultimately, how they live, as their values and dreams are re-ordered, as God’s values take their place…
Eventually, friends who knew them will hardly recognise them…
A BELIEVER, on the other hand, is different. A BELIEVER might proclaim Christian values, but how deeply these are held depends on their circumstances and mood.
In their heart of hearts, they realise a BELIEVER might even wonder if their BELIEF has made any difference in their lives at all… A BELEIVER will not show evidence of transformation, he or she will still want what they’ve always wanted, and will still fear what they’ve always feared, with no noticeable transformation…
Our readings are written by 4 TRAVAILERS - Isaiah, David, Peter and Mark and they all encourage us to also be DISCIPLES, rather than only BELIEVERS.
Now there is a potential trap here – the trap is to say “well, I’m not like Isaiah, David, Peter or Mark” or “I’m not worthy” or “I’m not a TRAVELLER” or some other devilish lie…
But what Isaiah, David, Peter and Mark all have in common is that they PERSEVERE, like TRAVELLERS, despite their imperfections, as our patron Saint Paul also did, encouraging us too to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us”.
The lie of the world is that we must succeed, we must finish, and finish first. The Gospel message and the life of Jesus and all the saints is that we too must persevere, not alone, not in our weakness, but with God’s help. Isaiah, David, Peter and Mark all got it wrong sometimes, as I do, as you do…
I remember being afraid of making my marriage vows … “till death us do part” – and I asked our priest how I could possibly make the vows, and he wisely said, “You can’t vow to do it in your own strength – you can only vow to do it with God’s help”. You see, I had wanted to skip the TRAVAILING, as if marriage or life was a destination, instead of a journey, but he taught me a valuable lesson – TRAVAILING is the point of marriage, parenthood, career, life, as well as our Christian JOURNEYS.
We live in challenging, trying times – there is corruption, anger, fear and doubt, but there is also HOPE, FAITH, LOVE and even JOY to be found in TRAVAILING, in persevering, in fulfilling our God given purposes….
If we do not persevere, if we do not TRAVAIL, all will not be lost – the Gospel message is God’s Kingdom WILL still come, but if we merely are TOURISTS, we will be deprived of enjoying TRAVELLING through playing our part in building God’s Kingdom.
I thus exhort and encourage you, my friends, to just keep putting one foot ahead of the next, as we TRAVEL together on the path God has prepared for us.
AMEN!
Rev Gavin Smith
