5 December 2007 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
Advent 1 Midweek
Vienna, VA
“Isaiah’s Vision of
Advent: The Mountain of the Lord”
God doesn’t do things as we expect.
In fact, in the Church, what you see is
rarely what you get.
For
here, sinners are called saints, the least are the greatest, the weak are
strong, those the world considers cursed are called blessed, and the dead live.
He seems like a very confused and
upside-down God.
But maybe it isn’t God who is confused
and upside-down at all.
Maybe it is us.
God
doesn’t do things as we expect, and that frustrates a lot of folks,
who want a nice, safe, predictable God.
A God who makes sense to me.
Who answers my prayers as I want and
expect.
A tame God, who fits into my life and
my plans.
No surprises, please.
God doesn’t do things as we expect.
And that’s why there’s Christmas.
For
if you want to consider the most unexpected acts of God . . . becoming a man,
born of a virgin, and laid in a Bethlehem manger, must be one of them.
God
in human flesh.
It’s just not what you expect an
omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God to do!
To become small and weak.
The Mount Sinai God, that we heard
about in Hebrews – yes, that’s God, isn’t it!
The God we expect.
Holy and terrifying. Big.
Demanding. Awesome. Loud.
On the Mountain of the Lord that we
must some how, some way, ascend.
Either morally, or mystically, or
intellectually.
We must overcome and rise to Him, to
live with Him. To be with Him.
Climbing. Ascending.
Struggling. Suffering.
Some how. Some way.
But no; God doesn’t do things as we
expect.
And so instead of man to the mountain,
the Mountain comes to man.
For the Mountain of the Lord is no
earthly mountain, as we think of them.
The Mountain of the Lord is the place
where God dwells with His people.
And that’s what makes it the
greatest and highest of all mountains.
The presence of God for us.
For God is greatest for us when He made
Himself the least.
He is highest for us when He made
Himself the lowest.
He is most powerful for us when He hung
powerless on the cross.
And
so the Mountain of the Lord is in Bethlehem, where the Creator of all worlds
lies in this world as a baby in a manger, serenaded by angels who sing of the
peace He has come to bring to a confused and sin-filled world.
And
the Mountain of the Lord is there that day by the well, speaking to a wounded,
rejected, confused, sin-filled woman in Samaria.
To
lift her up and give her peace in the forgiveness of her sins.
And
the Mountain of the Lord is here this day, speaking to a wounded, rejected,
confused, and sin-filled people, to give us peace in the forgiveness of our
sins.
And this is the Mountain of the Lord
that Isaiah saw and prophesied about.
The
Lord who comes to dwell with His people, and bring peace for all in the
forgiveness of our sins.
That what separated us from God
separate us no more.
That we have hope and a future, no
matter who you are.
Whether a shepherd or a King.
Rich or poor. High or low.
Man or woman. Young or old.
God Your Saviour is here for you.
A most unexpected delight.
And
so Christmas means that we ascend the Mountain of the Lord in a most unexpected
way!
For
we ascend not by climbing, but by falling on our knees.
In repentance and faith.
That
our Lord who came down to us and was lifted up on the cross, and then
lifted up from death, and then lifted up in His ascension, would lift us
also, up to Himself, in Heaven.
And give us peace.
God doesn’t do things as we expect.
And that is good!
And so when the unexpected comes
upon you, whatever it may be, do not fear.
Your Lord is with you.
For He has claimed you as His own.
He has sprinkled you with His cleansing
blood in Holy Baptism.
He feeds you with Himself in His
Supper.
And He bids you hide yourself and take refuge
in Him.
To trust not in the mountains of this
world –
the wisdom,
the strength,
the philosophies of
this world that promise so much and deliver so little.
No, Isaiah says.
There is another mountain. A new mountain. A surprising mountain.
That though it look little and weak, is
the greatest and highest of the mountains.
For it is the Mountain of the Lord.
Here for you and for all nations, that
all flow to Him in faith.
So come to Him who comes to you.
To Him who comes for you.
The One who doesn’t do things as we
expect.
And that’s why there’s Christmas.
In the name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.