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Bible Readings for Sunday, December 4th, 2011

– The Week of The Second Sunday of Advent *Click on each bible passage to expand the text. Isaiah 40:1-11 1. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

3. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

4. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

5. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6. A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

7. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.

8. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

9. You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10. See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

11. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 1. You showed favor to your land, O Lord; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. Selah

8. I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly.

9. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

10. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.

13. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps. 2 Peter 3:8-15 8. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12. as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. Mark 1:1-8 1. The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2. It is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way”—

3. “a voice of one calling in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’”

4. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7. And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” – Isaiah 40:3-4

You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. – Psalm 85:2

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” – Mark 1:7-8

On The Level

2 Peter 3 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

How will the Lord keep his promise? How will God get what God wants, that nothing shall perish and everyone shall come to repentance?

God shall accomplish all things by bringing everything level, in other words, equal.

Isaiah 40 3. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

4. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

5. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” *For more on my thoughts regarding this “highway for our God” imagery, please read “The Ultimate Commandments – Love, Traffic Jams and Jesus“.

Valleys brought “up, mountains and hills made “low”… no we’re not talking literal landscapes here, we’re talking about society. This is a description of God’s Great Equalization of Society, where the high and mighty are brought low and the poor and downtrodden are raised up. This “radical equalization” is a theme throughout the bible, and was even featured in a song sung by Mary when she first told Elizabeth of the angel’s proclamation about her son:

Luke 1 52. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

53. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Mary’s Song)

Even Yeshua warned of God’s Great Equalization in his Beatitudes, one of his earliest sermons in his short ministry:

Luke 6 20. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 24. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

Promises Fulfilled?

Yet, I am confused. I look around this world, and I don’t see the results of a “Great Leveling”. There is still so much inequity, injustice and disparity amongst the high and low of our society. What was the point of Yeshua’s life, ministry, death and resurrection if we can’t see the outward signs of this leveling. Where is the Way of the Lord?

Is this some future promise, the “easy out” as I like to call it? This is the standard Evangelical line in America: all the good stuff comes later… after… and only for the righteous few.

Bullshit, I say. There’s a reason we can’t see the results of God’s Great Leveling, the work of the Son, the blood of the Cross, the promise of the Resurrection…

… the reason is: WE won’t let it happen.

That’s right: WE won’t let it happen. The landscapes depicted in the Great Leveling that are made smooth, level and equal are not the landscapes of this world, but the rough edges and dark recesses of the human heart. But we refuse to let the change occur.

We deny everything God stands for – compassion, justice, redemptive love, Grace – and in doing so we deny God.

How are we so powerful, as to deny the will of the Glorious Author of Existence itself?? Who are we to have any say in the matter?

We are the very image of God, indued with all of the knowledge and power of creation/destruction as the Divine Artificer. We are the pinnacle of God’s creation on Earth, and as far as this realm is concerned, we are the hands, heart, and mouth of God. Our will is God’s will.

This Great Leveling cannot be done for us, we must do it ourselves.

Romans 8 19. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21. that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

… and as long as our will is focused only toward “me, myself, and mine”, then it might as well be that Mary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist and even Yeshua never existed. We negate God when we live against God’s will for this world.

So, in this season of Advent, let us begin to let go of our selfish desires, and start to live – even tiny moments – of each day for the “other” of this world: those with less, those without, those in need. These deficiencies could be that of love, freedom, equality, financial, spiritual… the list could go on and on and may at times seem overwhelming.

There is so much leveling to be done, but one rock at a time, the craggy landscape of the human heart can be made level for the Way of the Lord. Together, empowered through Grace, emboldened by the promise of Life in Christ, for the sake of the world.