First Thursday In Advent

FIRST THURSDAY IN ADVENT

Thursday, December 2, 2010

First Lesson: Isaiah 2:1–5The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.  ²In days to come the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.  ³Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths."  For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.    ⁴He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  ⁵O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

When reading the scriptures, context is always important.  We can best understand God’s word to us if we understand the situation to which it was first spoken.  In this case Isaiah lived about 750 years before Jesus.  This was a time when the people of God were afraid.  They were being threatened by the powerful and ruthless Assyrians who had already defeated Judah’s neighbors and were knocking on Judah’s door.  Their faith was being eroded.  Their fear of the Assyrians led them to doubt their God and God’s promises to them.  Amid their fears and doubt, Isaiah calls them to faith and hope.  They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  Is that not a word of hope to a people who feared annihilation by their enemies from the north?

I have an idea of how those Jews might have felt.  The U.N. Convention of Climate Change has predicted that if things don’t change in 50 years whole countries may become uninhabitable.  North Korea may or may not have the bomb and threatens the delicate balance of power in the East.  Iran seems to be doing the same in the Mid-East.  And in the good ole U.S. of A, a popular good student, 15 year old boy holds his classmates and teacher hostage for six and a half hours.  No one knows why.  If you are paying attention, you should be too frightened to leave your front door!

But then our God calls to us, as God did to the Jewish people to whom Isaiah spoke, in the midst of our fears to calm those fears and give us reason to hope even when our worst fears are realized. 

SO WHAT does it mean in your life that God calls to you in the midst of your fears and gives you hope?  Can you recall a fearful time when our Lord called to you and gave you hope?

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Come to us in the midst of our fears.  Open our ears to you when you call but especially when we are afraid.  AMEN