Second Sunday of Advent

Call to Worship

Reader 1: In days when God’s people longed for peace, Isaiah declared, “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1).

Reader 2: We who gather today also seek comfort and peace, yet we are unsatisfied with ideas of peace that tell us to keep quiet and go with the flow. We long for real peace, true peace, just peace.

Congregation: We wait as people who yearn for peace that bears the fruit of community, equity, and flourishing for all.

Reader 1: We light these candles as signs of God’s shocking hope and just peace. May they be beacons calling us to repent and to live the good news of Jesus Christ as we wait and watch and labor for the day when all people can gather together to worship and glorify God. Amen.

Light two candles of the Advent wreath.

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,  2 as 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 wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ ” 

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, 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 comes the one more powerful than I, the straps 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.”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mk 1:1–8.

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

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 wilderness prepare

the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

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 people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,

and all their faithfulness 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 endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion,

go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news 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 he rules with a mighty arm.

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.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Is 40:1–11.

Sermon:

In the past 7 days, Christ still hasn’t returned. We have gathered here again to worship and to give thanks. To sing and to pray and to listen to the Word of God. And we continue to hope. We hope for Christ’s return. We hope for God to set the world right. We hope that everything will finally make sense. But not yet. So what do we do now? While we wait for the fulfillment of hope, what should we do?

Well, it’s not what we should do but I think it’s what we often do. We worry. What do we worry about? Everything. If we can imagine it, we will find a way to worry about it? What if I get the job? What if I don’t? What if my neighbors don’t like me? What if they do? What if I fail? What if I succeed? What if my children don’t succeed in life? What if, what if, what if. I am convinced that 99.9% of all of the things you and I worry about never happen. And yet we spend so much time in our lives preoccupied and worried about what might or what could happen.

The second aspect of the season of Advent with which we are focused today is, “peace”. Last week’s candle was the candle of hope and today’s is the candle of peace. In our text this morning, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah is speaking. And his role was to bring God’s message to His people. Back in chapter 6, when Isaiah received his call, God had asked, “who shall go for us? Whom shall I send?” And Isaiah responded, “Here am I. Send me”.

These particular words were spoken either during an exile where many of God’s people were taken to Babylon while some were left in Jerusalem or shortly after those who had previously been taken had returned home. And Isaiah obeys God’s call and begins to preach to the people.

And the word of God Isaiah is to bring to the people is comfort. The people are hurting. Either during the exile and worrying about what else may happen, or after the exile and worrying that it might happen again. Isaiah is to tell them the last word has not yet been spoken. Their captivity is not the “end of the story”. God is still in charge.

Today, there are three things I want you to know.

First, Jesus loves you.