First Sunday of Advent
Theme: The
Big Picture..............
What, do you think, is the
most beautiful view in
In or around
735 BC. God gave the prophet Isaiah a view of a summit, a mountain far
off. Only, this mountain was not in
This is the first Sunday of Advent, and on this day, as we come near
the celebration of the birth of Jesus we look forward as Isaiah did, across history,
to the mountain he saw. To which, at the end of time, the whole earth will come
streaming....... and all the wars, conquests, cataclysms, catastrophes,
violence of this troubled earth will be at an end. Men and women will say on
that day He will teach us his ways, so
that we may walk in his paths.
Now it is very striking that what Isaiah saw was given to see
was a mountain with all the nations pouring in hundreds and thousands and
millions, along all the roads and paths of the earth. At the
end of time. For you see, you could say, that a mountain,
16. On the morning of the third day there was
thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud
trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the
camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18
Fire on the
After the rich experience of
God’s love in the way in which He led them out of Egypt, protected them, from the Egyptians, given
them water when thirsty, food when hungry…… Here the people of
It is no exaggeration to say
that the life of
ordered
life. He confirms them as His own people at
Now, Isaiah looks across time,
and sees there, afar, another mountain......... where not just the people of
So, how does
Jesus Christ, whose birth we look forward to. For the prophet Isaiah also spoke of Him, declared that there was One who would come, the Saviour. Seven centuries before,
the prophet Isaiah had said that He
would come as the Servant of the Lord Himself.......... despised and rejected, a man of
sorrows, familiar with suffering............ and
that He would bear the sins of many...........
Where once God called
It will be because of Jesus
Christ that all the nations of the earth will come streaming to the Mountain of
the Lord.
Looking back, we see the Cross, and see
there that the Father has sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to us, for us.
And hear the message of the Cross: that Jesus Christ has taken the sin, the
guilt and the judgment that was ours, and has
dealt with it once and for all. In taking the sin of the world, our sin, and
our judgment upon His shoulders, taking our place, we, who were once far away,
have been brought near, into the presence of the Holy God, through Jesus. And
yet more than this: In raising Jesus from the dead, God has promised that we
will share in that resurrection, that life, that new life.
So, healed and forgiven at the Cross of
Jesus, living in hope in the resurrection of Jesus, we look forward to the day
when He comes again, we looking forward with Isaiah to the end of all the ages,
to the mountain there - to the peoples streaming in untold numbers, look
forward to the world made over, the world made new, through the perfect holiness,
lowliness and love of
Jesus, His Cross and Resurrection.
This is what Jesus tells us Himself. Jesus tells us: the day He returns will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, light, His light will fill the world from one end to the other....... the day will have come when He returns, the one despised and rejected, now Lord of all..........
Now, it has to be said, that most of our thinking, most of our
work most of our life in the Church is spent, not looking away to the big
picture of history as we are doing now, but just getting by, struggling on
through. Facing the next difficulty, or challenge, or
problem. And that’s a pity, a great loss. From the summit of Green
Lowther, with its wonderful view, so far, so uplifting, so amazing, you can
also see, down below the villages of Wanlockhead, and Leadhills - late on a
winter’s morning these villages are still in the shade in the valley, in the
shade. The bright sun’s warming, health giving rays
haven’t reached the valleys yet.
Just so, much of what we do, our thinking, our work, our life in
the Church is spent, just getting by, struggling on through. Facing
the next difficulty, or challenge, or problem. But there is a wider
view, a bigger picture, often forgotten. ........ And that’s a great loss.
Because the time when Jesus went up into heaven is now far
behind us, which means that the day when He will come again is all the nearer pressing
closer and closer to us, in fact. The coming of Jesus is, day by day, coming nearer. The
moment when when the curtain of time of will be suddenly drawn aside it is
already right at
the door. .
As the New Testament says: the
Church lives in the time between Jesus leaving earth to return to heaven, and
the day when He will come again. And God has given us time, to bring the gospel
to all the nations of the earth. There
is still time. So many of the parables of Jesus speak of this: the parable of
the talents, where
a king or householder goes on a
journey into a far country,leaving his servants in charge, and then returns.
Jesus teaches us that while His coming is, day by day, nearer, there will
be time, there is still time, for all the peoples of the earth to hear the gospel,
the good news of Jesus Christ.
So the
looking
forward always to the day Isaiah saw long ago,
and
the Lord Jesus Christ promised, when He will come again.
as
the apostle Paul says:
understand
the present time. The hour has
come for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first
believed. The night is nearly over; the day is
almost here