Highway of Hope

Advent II

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord"

December 7, 1997

Luke 3:1-6

Advent is a time to prepare.

Exactly fifty-six years ago December 7 was also a Sunday. Although I don't remember it, our family went to church in the morning, went home to Sunday dinner, and I suppose for us it was just another ordinary Sunday. My father never allowed us to listen to the radio on Sunday, although he made an exception for Toscaninni and the NBC symphony in the afternoon. So we had no way of knowing what was going on half way around the world. But fifty-six years later I can still remember exactly where I was, as we came down the church stairs into the 'NYPS auditorium,' and I can still remember what time it was and who told us that our nation had been attacked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and that we were now at war. Today is the 56th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

History tells us that our admirals and generals knew of the danger of such an attack but they did not take it seriously. Radar was in its infancy, but the radar outposts clearly saw squadrons of airplanes approaching Hawaii from the north that were not from any American carrier or base. Still none of the warnings was considered seriously. And so a tragedy occurred which led to the deaths of thousands of American young men in uniform.

Advent is a little like a warning— it tells of a God who comes looking for our love. There is ample warning and enough time for us to get ready to greet this God with joy. The key to whether or not his coming is a time for hiding or a time for fellowship lies in the kind of preparation we are willing to make.

1. A Savior at a particular time in a particular place: The gospel lesson today introduces John the Baptist. The writer, Luke, emphasizes the exact time when John was preaching and the political circumstances into which Jesus entered the world arena. It's important that Luke is so specific in times and dates; he intends us to see that God came down at a particular time into a very specific political situation. The Baptist told the people that soon they would meet Messiah, and that Messiah wanted to baptize them all with the Holy Spirit and fire. But first they needed to prepare. And many of them did just that. They confessed their sins, they repented, they were baptized as a sign they were looking for Messiah's coming.

   Last week, on the first Sunday in Advent, we said that God comes, and that he comes looking, calling "Adam! Where are you?!" He comes calling your name and mine. The message of John the Baptist, that God's imminent coming is a time for preparing, is still as valid today as it was when he first preached it. The need for repentance extends to all mankind.

   Repentance basically means "a turning." It means a change of directions, or a willingness to change the directions of our lives.

2. God comes looking. The initiative is his. He is looking for a response of trust, of love, of turning. He comes to us so we can be together. But the turning is on our part (Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?") We need to agree with God. Perhaps we think we don't have many (if any) sins. But maybe we need to clean our spiritual eyeglasses.

   Remember a couple of years ago he problem with the Hubble Space Telescope—it had a flaw in a mirror which prevented it from focusing clearly? The manufacturer's mistake had rendered the $1.5 billion telescope almost useless. After a 5-month investigation, a NASA panel uncovered what had gone wrong. The NASA engineers learned of the flaw before Hubble was launched because of a test by a "null corrector," as it is called. It is the principal optical instrument used to test the telescope and measure the progress of the polishing. They discounted the results of the test, however, because "engineers working on the mirror were confident that their primary test instrument had been assembled so carefully that it could not be giving false readings." But it was giving false readings, they learned too late. Their testing instrument, in which they had placed complete trust, so much so that they refused to consider the warning signs that it had not been "so carefully" assembled.

   There's an Advent message here. Within us there is a spiritual "instrument" that tells us, if we'll heed it, that the time has come for us to admit our flaws, to confess our sins, and so to prepare to meet the Savior.

   If you thinks sins are first of all what you DO— you might think again! Your sins may be attitudes— they might be who or what is really at the center of your life— creeping into crowd out the Life God wants to share...anything and everything that makes meeting this God who is coming something to fear instead of something to anticipate with joy.

3. God comes to us along the highway of our simply turning to him.

   Reporter Terry Anderson was imprisoned in Lebanon for more than six and a half years, 2,454 days, ending in 1985. At first he was blindfolded most of the time and held in chains. He was losing his capacity to think. When asked what he wanted, he replied that he wanted a Bible. An object thumped onto his bed. He removed his blindfold and found a Bible. He began to read, starting with Genesis.

   Terry Anderson was raised as a Roman Catholic but had not been practicing his faith for many years. That Bible was like a gift from heaven. He read and read, and thought about his life. He had lots of time to think. He wanted to confess that he had hurt his first wife and daughter. He wanted to confess his many mistakes and his arrogance. He wasn't sure that people liked him and he certainly didn't like himself very much.

   Later in the first year of his captivity, Terry Anderson became aware that other hostages were living next door. One was a priest, Father Lawrence Jenco. He asked the guards if he could see the priest. "I am a Catholic and I want to make a confession," he said. His captors agreed and Father Jenco came to Terry Anderson's room. Both men took off their blindfolds. It had been 25 years since he had made a confession. Father Jenco gently encouraged him. Terry Anderson began telling the priest of his sins. There was much to confess! A bad marriage. Casing other women. Drinking. It was a tremendously emotional experience. When he had finished, both he and Father Jenco were in tears. Father Jenco then laid his right hand upon Anderson's head and proclaimed, "In the name of a gentle, loving God, you are forgiven." This was a turning point in Terry Anderson' life. His faith deepened. He had begun the process of turning around, leaving the darkness and facing the light. This is what is repentance is like.

When the Bible says that John came preaching "Good news," we wonder how Luke can call confessing our sins and repentance "good news." Then we see that it is only in confessing our sins and repenting that we open the way for Jesus to come to us. He is waiting to hear us say, "Come, O Christ! I need You! I want You to take away my sin and walk with me!" Do you see that in this light, repentance is truly "good news,??" It becomes the Highway of Hope, because it opens us up to life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We still have: A Savior at a particular time in a particular place:

John told the people there at the Jordan River that if they would repent Messiah would come! This same Jesus Christ is just as interested in your life and mine— and by His Spirit He is here just now in this Advent service. I know we are "anticipating" his coming. But don't miss the full message— he came, he comes, he is coming again— and he comes where meek souls will receive him. Not receive a creed or a doctrine— no matter how true or important— nor receive a fellowship in a church, although that will come in due time— but first of all— make a way to receive this Savior and Friend into your life right where you are today!