I want you – to the best that you are able – to try to imagine what it must have been like to be one of those shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. We don’t know what time it was. We don’t know how many there were. But there you are, with your colleagues, perhaps warming yourself around a little fire. The drowsy sheep over yonder. As many who work the “night-shift,” maybe you are thinking it’s going to be another night of the “same-old-same-old.”
Impracticable, nonviable, unworkable, beyond one, unthinkable, unimaginable, inconceivable, paradoxical, illogical, irrational, undoable, like herding cats, unattainable, unachievable, unobtainable, hopeless, implausible, far-fetched, forlorn, vain, incredible, unbelievable, absurd, ludicrous, ridiculous, laughable, preposterous, outlandish, outrageous, wild, and harebrained. Do you know what all of those words are?
Our text this morning is not the easiest text to understand. Oftentimes texts from the Old Testament prophets can be like that. But two things will help us make sense out of this text. The first is this: the prophet Isaiah was sent to the people of Judah and Jerusalem to deliver a message of God’s judgment. He told them that because of their sinful defiance of the LORD, the Babylonians were going to come and destroy the city of Jerusalem and carry off many of the people into exile in Babylon.
It wouldn’t be Advent if we didn’t spend some time with John the Baptist. John is a unique figure in the Bible. He is called the “Forerunner” of Jesus. His job, his ministry, was to run before Jesus to get things ready. We might say he was the very last prophet God sent before Jesus Christ entered upon his public ministry.
Grace to you and peace… That’s the way the apostle Paul begins our text today. Paul wrote 13 books in the New Testament. He begins all 13 with these twin words – grace and peace. That’s not accidental or merely coincidental. These two words are the sum-and-substance of our existence as Christians. We are saved by GRACE. God’s love for us sinners that caused him to send his Son to save us. And this love of God in Christ, this GRACE, results in PEACE.
High above Rio de Janeiro is a famous statue. It is a statue of Jesus called Christ the Redeemer. It is situated on top of a 2300 foot high mountain. The statue of Jesus stretches another 98 feet into the sky. The arms of the statue are stretched out wide, 92 feet wide. It is beautiful and breathtaking when you see pictures of it high above Rio.
I want to begin by telling you about an amazing thanksgiving that once took place. This thanksgiving took place long before the Pilgrims. There was no turkey dinner at this thanksgiving, but there was a sacrifice of what are called “clean birds.” (There might have been a turkey in there.) It is the thanksgiving that took place on the day Noah and his family finally came out of the ark when the Flood was over. On that day, we are told, Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed some of all the clean animals and clean birds. (Genesis 8:20) Can we even begin to imagine how happy and thankful Noah must have been that the Flood was over?
To understand our text today, it will be helpful for us to see this parable in its context. The first important thing we note is this: this parable is part of a conversation Jesus has with his disciples which began back in Matthew 24. It began with these words, As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. (Matthew 24:3) This parable was not spoken publicly to all. It was a private conversation. It was meant for his disciples’ ears only.
Jesus is coming back. This has been a truth preached by the apostles and confessed by the Church since its beginning. The early Christians called the return of Jesus his “Parousia.” Parousia means “a visible, personal presence.” The early believers in Jesus were not expecting a secret, quiet return of Jesus. They were expecting a visible, personal, bodily return of Jesus at the end of the ages.
We are the culture of “supersizing.” Just think of all the things you can “supersize.” You can supersize your order at the fast food restaurant. You can supersize the fountain drink you get at the gas station. Auto makers a while back figured out they needed to “supersize” the cup holders in the vehicles they make so they could accommodate the supersize drinks people were buying. You can supersize your furniture and supersize your bed and buy an oversize pillow to go on your supersized bed. Of course, one result of oversizing all our food is the market for oversized clothes. And finally, if need be, you can purchase a supersized casket.
