Sermon Tone Analysis
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Something Special is Coming
In the musical Westside Story, the character Tony sings:
Could be, who knows?
There's somethin' due any day
I will know right away, soon as it shows
It may come cannonballin' down through the sky
Gleam in its eye, bright as a rose
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach, under a tree
I got a feelin' there's a miracle due
Gonna come true, comin' to me
Could it be?
Yes, it could
Somethin's comin', somethin' good, if I can wait
Somethin's comin', I don't know what it is
But it is gonna be great [1]
Something special has come and is coming.
Today is the first Sunday in Advent.
We decorate with bright lights, pine branches, trees, and candles.
They all symbolize the new life that has come through the light of the world, Jesus.
Christmas is coming.
If we only think of Christmas as a day of giving and receiving gifts, we miss the point.
We give gifts on Christmas as a reminder of the greatest gift ever given when Jesus was born in that little town of Bethlehem.
These verses that compose our text today are a message of hope.
They look forwarded to the day when hope will be revealed for all the world to see.
On that first Christmas, there were angels and shepherds, a star and sheep, Magi and gifts.
Within the first two years of his life there was a king who wanted him dead.
There was a rapid trip to Egypt until the king died.
There was a time when he was 12 years old and he was teaching the priests and scribes in the Temple.
He offered hope to the blind, the crippled, the leprous.
He raised people from the dead.
He feed the hungry and he taught the crowds.
He was despised and rejected, beaten and crucified.
He was declared dead and was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Three days late he rose from the dead.
He appeared to his disciples and said to them “Peace be with you.”
He ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit descended and filled those first disciples with power to preach this hope filled message that there is a God who loves you so much that He came so that we might have life.
What does that mean for us today?
One pastor told this story:
A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas drama.
Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters.
Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play.
After much anticipation, the big night finally came.
The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this Christmas drama.
One by one the children took their places.
The shepherds fidgeted in one corner of the stage.
Mary and Joseph stood solemnly behind the manger.
In the back three young wise men waited impatiently.
Meanwhile, Jana sat quietly and confidently.
Then the teacher began: “A long time ago, Mary and Joseph had a baby and they named Him Jesus.
And when Jesus was born, a bright star appeared over the stable.”
This was Jana’s cue.
She got up from her chair, picked up a large tin-foil star, walked behind Mary and Joseph and held the star up high for everyone to see.
When the teacher told about the shepherds coming to see the baby, the three young shepherds came forward and Jana jiggled the star up and down excitedly to show them where to come.
When the wise men responded to their cue, Jana went forward a little to meet them and to lead the way, her face as alight as the real star might have been.
The play ended.
They had refreshments.
On the way home, even though she only had a nonspeaking role, Jana said to her Mother, with great satisfaction, “I had the main part!”
“You did?” Her mother asked, wondering why she thought that.
“Yes,” she said, “because I showed everybody how to find Jesus!” [2]
She sure understood her role.
That is our role as a church, to show people how to find Jesus.
To show them that something special that has come and is coming.
Mount Moriah is the highest mountain in Jerusalem.
It is where Solomon built that first Temple.
It is the place that Abraham went to when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac.
It is near hear the Jesus was crucified.
Mount Moriah is about 2,500 above sea level.
Here in Boswell we are about 1,800 feet above sea level.
Compare those to Pikes Peak at over 14,000 feet or Mount Everest at over 29,000 feet and it seems that Mount Moriah is pretty puny, but God says that it will be the highest of the mountains.
I’m not convinced that Isaiah is referring to the physical height of the mountain.
I think he is referring to the Lord’s house, the Temple towering over all.
Isaiah prophesies Isaiah 2:2 “In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains.
It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it.”
What have we seen about the Jews?
For nearly 1,000 years of their history, we seem them follow God for a period and then they worship the idols of the gentile people around them.
They repent and return to God and then they go back to worshipping idols.
The Jews adopted the false gods, but Isaiah says that one day the Gentiles would abandon those false gods and worship the God of Israel, of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac.
Isaiah writes that peoples will stream to the mountain of the Lord’s house.
It would be easy to spiritualize this verse and apply it to the Church today.
An interested aside is the idea of the people stream up to the mountain.
Can a stream run up hill?
God is at work drawing people to him.
Advent is a season of hope that God is still at work in the world.
This is a prophecy about something future coming.
There is coming a kingdom of peace and righteousness.
The world today is not a kingdom of peace so Isaiah is looking to the future.
In this year alone there have been over 600 mass shooting incidents here in the US.
642 have been killed and 2560 injured by the reckless violence.
In 2021 there were 20 armed conflicts going on around the world with almost 169,000 people loosing their lives.
One day people will be streaming to God’s house and their will be peace and righteousness in the world.
Hope will be fulfilled in that day.
People need hope.
People need to know that there is someone beyond them who loves them.
Our young people need hope.
They are turning to alcohol and drugs to cure their problems.
Suicide rates among teens is rising.
They need hope.
It is normal for me to have 30 plus people on my caseload at work.
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