Homily for the 4th Sunday in Advent, 2021
Advent 4
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”[1]
You are sitting outside your home on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. From over your neighbor’s fence you hear children singing the familiar song “Happy Birthday to You.” Even before they finish, your mind will correctly fill in many details about what is happening. You know there are games, balloons, presents, and a birthday cake. You do all this, sight unseen, from just six notes of a song. From today’s Gospel, we learn that when St. John the Baptist was asked by priests and Levites, “Who are you?” he replied with a quotation: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.”[2] To his audience, that quote was like the beginning of “Happy Birthday.” They would have known immediately the relevant passage from Isaiah, and recalled specific people, events, themes, and prophesies associated with it. For many of us, though, when the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it’s like hearing “Happy Birthday” as just another song with no idea of all the other things that are connected to it.
To address that, let’s turn to Isaiah 40, verses 1-11, in your Bibles or service booklet (page 12). It is the appointed First Lesson for Morning Prayer, which we said as the Fifth Lesson in today’s Lessons and Carols. While you are doing that, we need to understand first the historical context of this passage. The prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th century B.C. This was the most prosperous time in Judah since King Solomon. And yet, Isaiah prophesied that the Babylonians would later invade Judah, burn Jerusalem, destroy the Temple, and deport much of the population to Babylon.[3] What is known as the Babylonian Captivity would last about 70 years. But Isaiah also prophesied that God would later raise up Cyrus, King of Persia, who would defeat the Babylonians and allow the Jews to return to their homeland.[4] Isaiah’s prophecies included times of prosperity, loss, destruction, and renewal. Let’s turn to the text.
Verse one - “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” “Comfort” is repeated for emphasis. Now, more than any other time of the year, we see people trying to maximize their comfort. But the verse ends with “my people, says your God.” “My people” and “your God” are covenant words. We are not to be satisfied with superficial, temporary comforts. Real comfort comes through divine covenant; and Holy Communion, where we receive the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice for us, is the covenant meal.
Verse two - Jerusalem’s “warfare is accomplished,” that is, ended, and “her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Exile in Babylon was God’s punishment for the people’s sins. But it was a corrective punishment. It has served its purpose, and God is now ready to restore them. He offers comfort.
Verse three is key, for this is the verse that John the Baptist quotes - “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” This verse is one of the Opening Sentences for Advent that we’ve said in Morning Prayer the past three weeks. Do you remember the other verse? Matt. 3:2: “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The connection between these two verses is clear. We prepare for the coming of the Lord - we make straight His path - by repentance. Repentance involves removing obstacles to God working freely in our lives. Verse four – every valley filled in and every mountain leveled - are vivid metaphors for repentance. The way is made straight for the coming of the Lord.
If we prepare in this way, verse five tells us what to expect - “The glory of the Lord,” that is, His redeeming presence - shall be revealed. This is certain because “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Look at how the following verses expand on the certainty of God’s word.
Compared to God’s unchangeableness, all creatures are as grass. Compared to God’s absolute and eternal goodness, all earthly goodness fades away. When the Apostle Peter quotes verses 6, 7, and 8 that we are now looking at in the first chapter of his first Epistle, when he reaches verse 8 - “The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever,” he immediately adds, “[And] that word is the good news which was preached unto you.”[5] Isaiah’s “the word of our God” becomes Matthew’s “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”[6]
In verse nine, we become heralds of this good news. “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength.” We are to be strong, and no longer afraid. We can say, “Behold your God.”
The passage ends with verse 11. When we have prepared the way of the Lord, He shall be like a shepherd to us. Notice the repetition: He shall feed, He shall gather, He shall carry, He shall gently lead. We cannot help but think of the future Good Shepherd, who will do all that and more – He will lay down His life for the sheep.”[7] Verse 11 then serves as a bookend to the opening verse. Verse 1 begins “Comfort, comfort my people” and we end with the image of the Lord God as shepherd, tenderly carrying for His flock.
Let’s summarize this passage to see why John the Baptist quoted from it. When John said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” his audience would immediately have recalled Isaiah’s prophesies. They would have thought of prosperity and loss, entire nations rising and falling, and exile and deliverance which occurred over several centuries. What does John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets choose to say about all that? “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
You may be in one of two groups of people this morning. Group number one. You haven’t made the best use of Advent so far. Christmas is Saturday. Maybe your work demands increase this time of year, or perhaps you know of some obstacles you have not dealt with, or perhaps it’s more of a lack of spiritual anticipation for Christmas. Don’t despair, and don’t give up. Here’s four ideas in quick order. Advent is a penitential season. There are seven Penitential Psalms listed in the front of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.[8] You can pray one of those Psalms each day. Second – The Advent hymns are all grouped together in the front of the Hymnal. Prayerfully read one each day. Third – Take your service bulletin home and reread it. In reading something a second or third time, we may read it more deeply. Last - spend more time in intercessory prayer this week. There is a definite lack of “peace on earth” and “good will towards men” these days. Turn a bleak news report into an opportunity to pray for a world who clearly needs a Savior – for people who need true and lasting comfort. What if you could look back and say, “The last year was full of loss, confusion, and uncertainty, but Advent 2021 is when I learned to be a more of an intercessor.” None of these actions are complicated or take much time. All that is required is an act of the will that says, “I will prepare the way of the Lord; I will make straight His path.” When it comes to responding to God’s call, there’s no such thing as “it’s too late.” It’s in the book called Lamentations that we find, “[Thy mercies] are new every morning.”[9]
But maybe you’re in group number two. You have been making preparations. You adopted the suggestions in Fr. Tony’s Weekly Notes to the Mission on how to keep a holy Advent. Yet, you feel that something is missing. In a year which for many people has been far from ordinary, you need something more than an ordinary Christmas. Before his conversion, St. Augustine of Hippo sought fulfillment in the usual areas – career, relationships, influence, and security. Years later, though, he looked back and concluded the dissatisfaction he felt at those things were actually signs of God’s mercy. In his Confessions he said, “…You gave me the less occasion to find sweet pleasure in what was not you.”[10] If the decorations, Christmas music, or even the extra Advent devotions seem to leave us unfilled, perhaps that is God’s way of drawing us past all those to Himself.
In general, how much we prepare for the coming of the Savior depends on how much we think we need one. If you’re facing bankruptcy, you will thoroughly prepare for that meeting with the loan officer. If you’re in a lot of pain, the doctor’s appointment can’t come soon enough. This is why we have been singing “Come, thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free, From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in thee.”[11] Whether the birth of Jesus is “long-expected” will be in proportion to my desire to be released from my fears and sins. And how deeply I pray “Let me find my rest in thee” depends on how much I am seeking rest in other things.
When we lit the Advent Wreath this morning, we prayed, “Purify us, O Lord. So that we may be ready for your Son.” We need to be purified from distractions, complacency, and misplaced priorities. The valleys need to be filled in, and the mountains leveled. Make straight the way of Lord.
[1] Is. 40:3.
[2] Jn. 1:23a.
[3] Is. 39:6.
[4] Is. 44:28; 45:1.
[5] I Pet. 1:25b, RSV.
[6] Matt. 1:21b.
[7] Jn. 10:11b.
[8] The Book of Common Prayer (1928), pg. ix.
[9] Lam. 3:23.
[10] St. Augustine, Confessions, VI, 9.
[11] Hymnal (1940), 1.