Under construction, again and still

Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

This year, Hope is using the theme for Advent called, “Prepare the Royal Highway.” Tonight’s topic is ‘Highway under construction.’ The prophet Isaiah charges us to build a highway for our God; make a straight pathway through the wilderness.

This can be taken literally. The area of Israel surrounding Jerusalem is hilly – low mountains abound. For example, when Jesus travels from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives, he goes downhill and up again. When he is in the Mount of Olives, he can see straight across the Kidron Valley to the city. Not far from the city is the wilderness, a hilly, rocky, barren land, where straight, level roads are not possible without major construction equipment.

As I shared earlier, this worship service itself is a highway under construction. Long ago, I learned this saying: Blessed are the flexible, for they will not get bent out of shape. It’s a good thing to remember, since we also remember that “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

Any time there is a construction project, whether it’s a remodeling of the church kitchen, adding a new church sign, or the building of a road, there are always surprises and delays and cost over-runs. We are not always happy to see barrels and barricades, yet, we all need to be flexible.

I am involved in an Eagle Scout project this weekend, blessing some replacement headstones in an abandoned cemetery in Floral City. The young man shared with me that when the railroad was built through that part of Florida, the crew simply dug up the graves and threw the caskets aside. This actually happened twice to the same cemetery. The second time, the families posted guards to ensure that nothing more would happen to their loved-ones’ remains.

You and I exclaim against such construction practices. We know we would be more careful and respectful with the remains, even in an abandoned cemetery. If we take literally the charge to build a highway for our God, we must be careful to do it God’s way.

… We can think about this call from Isaiah as meaning to literally build a new road, with all its permits and barrels and mess. However, I think this call to build a highway for our God is meant to be a spiritual highway. How do we make a highway in our hearts for God to come to us? How do we take time in December, amid all the shopping and baking and cleaning and decorating for the celebrations we plan for Christmas? What else takes our time and attention this time of year? _____

Cyber Monday helps us at least with our shopping lists. We can shop at midnight in our pajamas and have our gifts wrapped and delivered to far-away places, if we want to. We can close doors on the clutter and dust so our guests can’t see that we have been too busy to clean everything.

But even this is not what God wants. God wants us to be available to notice the glory of the Lord. God wants us to clear our calendars enough that we have time to worship, and to really enjoy the gatherings with our family and friends.

In other words, we are to clear a pathway in our hearts for God’s presence to be revealed and recognized and bring us to rejoicing. Paul’s words to the Thessalonians give us some pretty clear blueprints for how to construct a spiritual pathway to God.

Paul urges the folks to do just what we are gathered her tonight to do. Be at peace with one another. Be patient with one another. Repay evil with good. Rejoice, pray, give thanks. Do not quench the Spirit.

On nights such as this, and in many other times and places, we give the Spirit the space in which to move and construct new pathways among and within us. On nights such as this, the Spirit is able to join us as we rejoice in each other’s presence. On nights such as this, we are able to celebrate the gifts God has given us and encourage each other in using those gifts.

Let’s build a highway with many exits: some Lutheran exits, some Baptist exits, some Church of God exits, some African Methodist Episcopal exits, some Assembly of God exits, some Written in Heaven exits, some Roman Catholic exits, some Presbyterian exits. Whose exit did I miss? ___

Let’s show the community that more unites us than divides us. Together we can work to make way for Jesus to be plainly visible on all the highways and boulevards and dirt roads in our community. When we feed hungry people, when we support people in financial and emotional crisis, when we stand up against injustice, we make a highway for our God to travel on. 

Let’s go from here and remember how the Spirit moves among us to share that same Spirit with the world around us. Let’s make a pathway in our community for our God so more people can find God, can know how much Jesus loves and cares for them, and is calling for them to follow him on the pathway.

Such a pathway will always be under construction. That’s OK. Jesus knows we will always need new and different pathways if he is going to reach those he wants to reach.

What new roads will we construct this year as we wait for Jesus coming to us as an infant? Will we open our hearts wider to receive him and all that he came to teach us? Will we welcome folks we used to reject and exclude? Will we reach out to folks who think religion is a waste of their time, folks who realize they are being called to something, but they don’t know what?

Life, even a life of faithful obedience to Jesus, often causes us to construct new roads. We can be secure in the knowledge that Jesus has walked this way before, and walks ahead of us as we travel. Jesus may even be holding the shovel for us to use.

Please pray with me. Lord Jesus, Son of the God we all worship and adore, we ask you to join us on our life journeys. We ask you to rejoice with us as we prepare for your coming again as a child. And we ask that you guide us in constructing new pathways and new highways so we can reach out to those who do not yet know you love them with your whole heart. Amen