December 24, 2020: Those Who Dream Prepare The Way

Isaiah 40:1-11 & Mark 1:1-8
Rev. Rhonda Blevins

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

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The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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Are you familiar with the “Florida Man” game? The phrase, “Florida Man,” is so common in bizarre headlines that it has become a joke across the country. Here’s how you play: you google “Florida Man” alongside your birthday and then read the headline. It’s fun to play in a group of people, back when we had groups of people. If you have a phone handy, play along with me. For instance, my birthday is August 20 so: “Florida Man August 20.” Here’s my “Florida Man” headline: “Florida Man Arrested for Botched Castration On Another Man He Met On Eunuch Fetish Website.” Seriously. There’s so much wrong with that headline.

There was a “Florida Man” headline that caught my attention in the news this week—maybe you heard about this story.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, “Florida Man” Stuart Bee decided to take his 32’ boat out from Cape Marina in Port Canaveral. He decided to spend Friday night on the boat roughly 86 miles from the Florida coast. Everything was going swimmingly until he tried to start his boat on Saturday to no avail. After trying and failing to fix his boat, Mr. Bee spent another night on his boat. But sometime after midnight he was awakened by a violent rush of water. His vessel capsized so quickly that he did not have time to call on the radio for help. The capsized boat came to rest with four feet out of water, to which Mr. Bee clung for dear life. That four feet on the wrong side of a boat became his perch throughout the rest of Saturday night, all day Sunday, throughout Sunday night into Monday morning.[1]

Can you imagine? All alone, clinging to life by a sliver of wreckage, no food, no water, no one around for miles of open sea. Stuart Bee thought he would surely die there. Can you imagine what you might be thinking? Surely his thoughts turned to wondering how he would die. Would he die of dehydration? Would the boat eventually go all the way under, leaving him to tread water as long as he could until his body and/or his will to live gave in? Or, as the mind is want to do, would a band giant man-eating sharks have their way with him? Mr. Bee found himself in a hopeless situation, with no apparent way out.

Have you ever found yourself in a hopeless situation with no apparent way out?

By the time we get to our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 40, the Israelites had been living in a hopeless situation for 70 years as captives in Babylonia following the Babylonian conquest of Judah in the early 500’s B.C. And when I mean conquest, I mean conquest. Jerusalem, including Solomon’s glorious Temple, was razed to the ground. The best and brightest were forced to make the 540-mile journey from Judah to Babylon where they would live in captivity. If you’re a Jew living as a slave in Babylon 70 years after your homeland was destroyed, can you imagine what you might be thinking? The situation seems hopeless, doesn’t it? The Jews found themselves in a hopeless situation, with no apparent way out.

Enter into that hopeless situation the words from the prophet:

Back to Mr. Bee, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean clinging to life by four feet of capsized boat. It’s nearing midday on Monday; he’s been in this tenuous situation since the darkness of early morning on Sunday. For roughly 35 hours, alone with his fears. The sun is getting high over the Atlantic, and in the distance—is it a mirage?—he sees a large ship coming his way. He takes his shirt and begins waving it, hoping against hope that someone on the ship will see him. Hopelessness gives way to hope as, for 45 minutes, he waves for his life!

Back in Babylonia some 70 years after the diaspora, the Jews live hopelessly as slaves in a foreign land. But then the whispers begin as Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, leads his armies in victory against the Babylonian king. “Did you hear King Cyrus is going to let us return to Judah? We’re going to be free! Did you hear? We get to go home!” Hopelessness gives way to hope as the Jews in Babylon begin imagining their freedom

That’s why the prophet cries out:

The Gospel writer Mark, as he begins this first account of the life of Christ, quotes from this passage in Isaiah 40. Of all the Old Testament writings, this is what Mark chooses to begin the story of Jesus. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” Mark quotes, “Make his paths straight!”

As we consider this admonition to “Prepare the way of the Lord,” we might wonder what that means for us. How do we “Prepare the way of the Lord?” What does that look like, practically speaking?

The best example I can think of is preparing to welcome a new baby home. Think about all of the preparations that have to be made? You have to buy a crib and a crib mattress and a stroller and baby bottles and diapers and a diaper genie and wipes and a wipe warmer and a changing table and a car seat and tiny little clothes and a baby monitor and cute bedding with animals or flowers or planes and trucks and a baby bath . . . you make sure you have everything you need to welcome baby home. The manliest macho man finds himself putting painting a nursery pink in expectation of baby girl’s arrival. Everyone wants to create a warm, hospitable place for baby.

That’s what we’re being asked to do from Isaiah and from Mark from across the centuries. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” they urge. “Create a warm place in your heart for the coming of the Son of God.”

We abandon hopelessness in favor of hope. We abandon greediness in favor of generosity as we buy socks and toys, with the hope that our gifts will make Christmas day brighter for some little boy or little girl who has been displaced because of domestic violence.

Like Stuart Bee waving his shirt with reckless abandon or the Jews making their exciting plans to return to Judah, we prepare our lives by making space for greater Christ-consciousness to find its way into our hearts and minds. We hang lights as if we’re the Motel 6, leaving a light on for the weary traveler. We plan and purchase gifts for one another as if showering a new mother for the arrival of baby. We sing Christmas carols in the way that some expectant mothers and fathers sing to their newborn babies or even to their babies in utero. We do these things to “Prepare the Way of the Lord!”

In making preparations for the arrival of Christ, we remind ourselves that we do not wait as those without hope. Our hearts quicken at the thought of Christ entering our lives more fully, like despondent hearts beat a little faster upon hearing the news that a new king is granting freedom, or a desperate heart pounds with energy upon seeing a ship that could be the source of salvation.

Hopelessness give way to hope and hope to manifestation.

Today, if you google “Florida man November 30,” you might just come across this headline: “Florida Man Rescued After Hours Clinging to Capsized Boat.” Good news! The crew of the 740-foot Angeles voyaging from Honduras to Delaware with a boat load of Chiquita bananas spotted Mr. Bee lost at sea. They maneuvered close enough to throw a life ring, pulling him on board.” The crew gave him some dry clothes. They fed him . . . probably all the Chiquita bananas he could ever want.

As for the Jews, living in captivity in Babylonia, King Cyrus grants them their freedom. Little by little they begin making their way back to their homeland, back to Jerusalem where they will rebuild the city walls around Jerusalem, they rebuild the Temple, they rebuild their lives.

During Advent, we “Prepare the Way” for our coming salvation. We “Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah.”

As we think about our waiting in 2020, we should recognize the reality—the possibility for a long, dark winter ahead. But again, I remind you: we do not wait as those without hope. “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.” Salvation is on its way!

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/us/Stuart-bee-missing-boat-Florida-port-canaveral.html

Guest UserJanuary 5, 2021