JOY: IS IT TIME?

            When I was deployed to Iraq, one of the things I missed most, besides my family of course, was the color green.  Everywhere you looked, all you saw was tan…tan tents, tan equipment, tan buildings, tan uniforms, tan ground, tan, tan, tan tan….  However, there was a secret place that only a few folks knew about.  Behind one of the tents, hidden from view was a 2’ x 2’ wooden box.  Almost every day I would make it a point to stop by this box and marvel, for in this box was a patch of green grass that one of the troops had grown as a little piece of home.  You don’t realize just how wonderful grass feels until you don’t have any grass to feel.

            When I think about that little green oasis in the sea of tan, my mind goes back to the Book of Genesis where we find Adam and Eve walking in the Garden with their Creator God.  As the contemporary Christian song goes, “I can only imagine,” what that must have been like to dwell in this most beautiful of gardens, talking with God, face-to-face just like children on a hike with their father.  I can only imagine!

            But then, everything changed in an instance!  One disobedient act changed that part of the world from a beautiful garden paradise into a desert wilderness.

            To state it plainly: sin turns a life of beauty into a life of desolation!

            Join with me as we read the words of the prophet Isaiah, the 34th chapter <  >.

            Not a pretty picture to present during this holiday season, but this is where the world is today.  In these words, from God via Isaiah, we are presented with 2 facts: (1) God has an overpowering anger against sin, and (2) that anger is against every single nation on earth, without exception.  Thankfully God is amazingly patient with us, but Isaiah is clear that God’s just anger is a reality and he wants to make sure we get the message -- vv. 1-2 <  >.

            Yet, this judgement goes far beyond planet earth for in v. 4 we are told that God’s judgement will cause “all the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll.”  Hebrews 1:10-12 reiterates this where we read, <  >.

            In every generation, God’s wrath moves against all the godliness and wickedness of every nation and individual, and God’s use of one wicked nation to punish another wicked nation has been a major feature of the tapestry of human history.

            Isaiah tells us that a day is coming when that which we humans, in all of our supposed wisdom and strength, have built will be gone.  <vv 8-15>.

            The destruction will be so great that only the inhabitants will be the wild animals and birds who, with no humans to bother them will mate and raise their young in peace.  How do I know?  <v.16>.  It’s God’s plan, written down in detail before the foundation of the world.  God has written His scroll and every line will be fulfilled!

            Now that’s a lot to take in on an Advent Sunday morning, and I’ll bet you’re wondering, “Where is the joy?”  Our theme today is joy, so where is it?

            Lest we think that this un-creation is God’s last word, Isaiah 35 changes the scene to one of life and abundance as God transforms this fallen world through His Son Jesus Christ. <35>.

            The chapter begins with the desert rejoicing and blossoming, singing praise to God.  In Luke 19 we are told that if the disciples were to stop proclaiming Jesus as Lord that the very rocks would cry out! (A part of me wished they would have done so as I would love to hear what the rocks had to say).  The parched desert will transform to something greater than the glory of Lebanon and the splendor of Carmel and Sharon, 3 of the most fruitful an beautiful places in the land at the time.

            In vv. 3-4, Isaiah, after painting a dark picture of a world which has turned its back on Christ, tells us that all is not lost!  The message of God, given through His prophet Isaiah is meant to strengthen weak hands and steady shaking knees for there is joy on the horizon!  “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come!

            Now if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.  God, in the person of Jesus Christ has come, and He is coming again!  He came to save us, to save His creation from turning into a desert wilderness and to transform us in to a breath-taking paradise.

            When Jesus comes Isaiah tells us, the eyes of the blind will be open; the deaf will hear; the lame will leap like a deer!  Look at Matthew 15:30-31 <  >.

            Water will gush forth in the wilderness; the sand will become a pool and the ground a spring.  (John 7:37-38)

            This is exciting stuff!  It is a promise from God that should bring joy to every believing heart.  Yet, God is not finished yet.  <vv.8-9>

            In the time of Jesus there were certain roads and paths that only the nobility and who’s-who of the land could walk on.  But God says, do not fear for a time is coming when the redeemed will have a highway of their own, a Way of Holiness where the unclean and wicked fools will not be allowed to travel and will be a road free from danger.

            The highway will lead to Zion where there will be singing, and there will be crowns of everlasting joy.

            Like the prodigal son, we are moving ever closer to home, but we know far better than he did what welcome awaits us.  Isaiah tells us in the last part of v. 10 <  >.  This is what we have to look forward to.  This is the message that the world needs to hear.  Many of us have already experienced the spiritual desert….you may be in one right now.  Where their used to be peace is dwells conflict.  Where there used to be hope is now despair.  Where their used to be joy is only heart-ache.  Isaiah says, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come.”  And come He did, as a baby born in a manger, grew to be a man who taught us how to love and how to die, defeated sin and death by His resurrection, and now sits at His Father’s side waiting for the signal to come again to take His children home.

            As the days tick closer to Christmas, children are asking with greater expectation, “Is it time?”  Not yet.  As we watch our world take more and more steps away from the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we await his Second Coming to set the world right again.   We look to the sky and ask, “Is it time?”  Not yet dear Saint.  Not yet.  But we know that a day is coming, a day of everlasting joy is coming….We have God’s Word on it.   Amen.