Prepare
WHAG December 18th, 2016
Scripture: Isaiah 40:3-5
You’ve probably noticed that we are doing the Christmas season a little different this year. We are celebrating the Advent Wreath, focusing more on prayer and meditation during the service, and trying to focus more on the real reason for the season.
For years, around the time of my birthday on Dec 3rd, I’d look ahead to the Christmas season and say, “This year- I’m going to focus on the real reason for the season. I’m not going to buy into the commercialism, the stress, the shopping, or the busyness. I’m going to focus on Jesus’ coming to this earth.
Then life smacks you in the face with a cold rag. If you work in Emergency care the Christmas season gets very busy, a lot of sleepless nights and tragic situations. On top of that, there is a natural increase in the demands of ministry and by the time Christmas Eve rolls around I just wanted it to be over and done with.
So I wanted to do something a little different this year.
One of the wisest sayings I’ve ever heard, in so many words the bible does address in several places is this saying-
Your focus determines your reality. (repeat).
What you focus on, is what you will become. This is the reason that God set so many seasons and feasts in the Old Testament- to remind us what is important in life. When you read your bibles and you get to books like the second part of Exodus and then Leviticus through Deuteronomy it really seems tedious to read all those laws and regulations and you start to wonder why Moses was so detailed in his descriptions.
It was because our Father God knows the human heart- how easily it is for the enemy to take our eyes off God and cloud our vision with the worries and pursuits of our existence here on earth.
In section of the bible we are going to read this morning in the book of Isaiah- this is what has happened to the people the prophet is addressing. For the 26 chapters preceding the verses we will read in a few moments, it’s been all about God’s wrath and coming judgement, which leads to the eventual exile of Israel into Babylon.
And for 26 chapters and several decades, they ignored the prophet’s warnings and finally the judgment has now come.
Put yourself in their place- It is very conceivable that the people were living in regret now- “If we had only listened, we’d be in our own nation, living under our own roofs, serving our own kings. Instead, here we are, little better than slaves in a foreign land where we are considered second class citizens”
Therefore, God instructs Isaiah to change the focus of his message. I found a great way to explain what is going on using the Preacher’s Homiletical reference.
The section we are about to read relate to the restoration of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. In essence, they are the Gospel of the Old Testament. This is their value to us.
To quickly summarize it, the ideas contained in the first five verses of this chapter are—That a glorious change awaits the exiles, consisting of a new and generous manifestation of Jehovah’s presence, for which His people are exhorted to prepare.
The prophet is commanded to speak words of comfort to those captives from Jerusalem—to assure them that her warfare, her time of slavery, is about to end; that her sins are pardoned, abundantly expiated by her sufferings; that her God is coming to deliver her from the oppressor; and that she must prepare the way for His coming, as heralds ride before a conquering king.
This is the context of what we are about to read this morning, and with that in mind, let’s read Isaiah 40: 3-5
Isaiah 40:3-5
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. b
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.”
Prayer
A few questions to get us thinking about these verses-
Have you or do you have a similar reaction to the holiday season as I did in the past? Is it more of a burden for you, or is it as God intended- a time of spiritual refreshing.
Maybe you’re like Israel- You’ve messed up big time. Maybe you’ve messed up big time a few times in your life. . You feel like your parts of your life have been stolen from you, like someone has exiled you from the life you thought you had and now you’re in the wilderness
Uprooted, Unsure of your future, and it feels like you have no foundation to stand upon.
This is exactly what this section of scripture is speaking to.
If that sounds anything like you, this message will speak to those deep needs.
Isaiah 40:3-5 centers around the idea that we are to
I. Prepare the Way
A. What and Why do we need to prepare? Because Jesus is worthy, and HE IS COMING
We are celebrating the birth of the King of Kings, and LORD of LORD’s. This is Jesus we are talking about- isn’t he worthy of taking a few minutes every day of this holiday season and preparing your heart to receive HIM anew?
WE do this for earthly leaders don’t we? If President Obama or President-Elect Trump came to town it would be a huge event wouldn’t it?
*Preparation behind the president coming to town
-about 2-3 weeks before he is to show up, the secret service sends out an advance team.
They look at the street- inspect manhole covers and then seal them that they are clear of explosives
The look for vantage points for snipers, and set up counter sniping positions to keep an eye on them.
In Whitehall, they’d have people on main street doing nothing but looking at the upper floors of main street- sealing those areas until after the president left.
The day off-
Kwik Trip and Cenex would be closed, and closely monitored as they are huge terrorist targets for a huge explosion as the president drives past.
Most business’ in town would be closed off. Airspace around this area would be closed to everything except a few high altitude drones and a flight of air force fighters running a combat air patrol above us. Road would be closed, even for emergency traffic.
If the high school was the place he was speaking at- it would have be swept, reswept, and then swept again for any chemical/biological contaminants. If he was going to eat here- the food would be brought in and prepared under the supervision of the SS. We would see a lot of people we’ve never seen before, dressed in ordinary clothing, but looking intensely around- those would be the undercover secret service people walking around, listening to conversations, getting close to people that didn’t look right and doing bump and frisks to see if they were carrying weapons. (demonstrate if time)
All this preparation so that the president of the United States could visit and be safe.
How much more so should we as followers of Jesus Christ recognize His coming into our world. Doesn’t HE deserve the same consideration?
B. You have to make a decision to prepare the way for Jesus in this Christmas season.
Advent is about preparation. One of the things they pound into your head in any leadership course you take is this saying-
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
You can’t prepare to do anything unless you make a concerted effort to map out what is required and what has to be done in order to accomplish what you were planning for.
*Trip out west-
In 2002, my sister graduated high school, and we decided to drive to Washington State and celebrate with her. I had always wanted to take a cross country trip out west, and was really looking forward to going.
We planned it out- found KOA’s near places we wanted to visit- Mall of America, Rapid City for Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands, West Yellowstone for Yellowstone National Park, then the last 14 hr drive from there to Dixie Washington.
We had the reservations. At work I set up for my paycheck to be mailed to my house- a friend of mine had one of our deposit tickets and would take it to the bank and deposit it for us so we’d have money.
We had everything planned out. We found a great deal on a rental car with unlimited mileage (5k mile trip over two weeks). Tammie made the deal, confirmed the deal months in advance, and then we went to pick up the car the day before we were to leave.
The deal as originally planned out a few months before was we’d pay for the first week, and then the remainder when we dropped off the car. We got to the rental place, and found out that the person who set that deal up with us was new and did it wrong, and now they wanted the whole cost up front because we didn’t have a major credit card- we cut up all of our credit cards to get out of debt. Now we had to front a fee that was pretty much up all of our money that we set aside for fuel.
That almost stopped our trip right there. We barely had enough money to even leave town much less travel across the whole country.
Just the fuel cost for the trip was going to be around $400…which was about how much cash we had on us at the time- the cash for food, for shelter, admittance to attractions.
We found a way to still go- Tammie is a great negotiator (I don’t know if you have ever seen her cry- but she looks pretty pathetic and you want to do anything you can to make her stop) and I agreed to speak at my sister’s church for an honorarium plus my stepmother gave us some money when we got there so we could still come out, but it just cemented something my grandfather had always said and the military reinforced- if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
Advent is about preparation- that means we have to PLAN to be purposeful in our pursuit of Jesus during this season. Right now in this last week before Christmas, I encourage you to make a plan in your mind, and ask God for the strength to follow through on it. Maybe it will be a morning thing- before you look at Facebook, the news, or anything else, you’ll spend time reading God’s word and praying.
If you make that a habit, I can guarantee that 10 or 15 min will change your life.
Another thing this verse speaks about is-
II. Removing the Obstacles
Verse 3b “Make Straight in the Desert the Highway for Our God”
What does this mean to us?
It means that God wants and deserves the best in us.
As most of you know, I work in Black River Falls. The quickest route to Black River I’ve found is to go Northeast on Hwy 121 to Northfield, jump on the interstate and go Southeast take that down to Black River. You can also go south to Blair, and then head northeast to Hixton, to go south to Black River Falls. With either route, there is probably a good 8-10 miles of backtracking.
How much easier, and how much quicker would it be for me and for all the people living in Whitehall but work in Jackson County if the State of Wisconsin made a 4 lane Highway directly connecting Whitehall with Black River- a straight shot- bulldoze the all 10 of the thousand foot bluffs in between here and there and fill in a few valleys and just make another interstate hwy with no speed limit.
Wouldn’t that be easier?
This is the idea of what this verse is saying- God wants direct access. GOD Wants and deserves a straight path.
God doesn’t want to overcome an obstacle course every time HE wants to spend time with you.
That’s why there is some meaning to the various terrains described here in verse 4-
A. Valley’s Raised Up
Whenever the bible talks about low places or valley’s, it’s generally referring to earthly pursuits, temptations, or dangers. One of the most famous references to a valley in the bible is found in Psalm 23- the valley of the shadow of death.
Raising up our valleys refers to applying our faith to our lives. Too often we let our vision be clouded by what we see around us, and we forget the real truth- that we are spiritual beings trapped in earthly bodies.
This existence we find ourselves in is a curious one- we were created to exist forever, but have this temporary stopover within a physical and earthly vessel.
The earthly vessel is so all encompassing that we forget that we are primarily a spiritual being.
Every weapon our enemy has to use against us aims to keep our vision low. He wants to keep it down. He wants to make sure we never lift our gaze off of our lives here. He attacks our minds to keep us in the earthly realm. He does everything he can to make sure we never spend that time with God to tap into His power.
That’s why this verse talks about the valley’s being raise up- God wants to you lift up your eyes and see reality for what it really is- you are spirit being on a spiritual journey that is completed upon your graduation from this life and into the next.
One of the greatest examples of this found in scripture is found in 2 Kings 6
Syria is at war with Israel, and the Syrian King learns that the prophet Elisha is using his prophetic gift to advise the King of Israel how to defeat him. The king of Syria orders his army to surround the city that Elisha and his servant were inside. Elisha’s servant sees this and has a panic attack. He is breathing into a paper bag at this point and is trembling in fear about suffering an awful death.
In his defense, he was looking at the situation through his human eyes- there is no chance of surviving the next few hours. The prophet didn’t’ rebuke him, or tell him to man up, but prayed instead that God would allow this servant to see through his spiritual eyes.
Elisha’s servant was amazed that he saw the army of heaven surrounding those who were surrounding them- millions of mighty angels, with heaven’s Calvary ready to defend the city.
Maybe you need that this Christmas season.
(Pray that God lifts up people’s eyes.)
Another way we can prepare the way for the Lord into our hearts this Christmas season is
B. Every Mountain and Hill be made low (High Places)
In the Old Testament, particularly in 1&2 Chronicles and Kings we see this idea of something called a high place.
High places were areas which people would go to participate in worship activities that were either for other god’s, or attempting to worship the God of Israel in a way that He either had expressly forbidden them to do, or in a way in that God had not told them to do. Remember that worship in the Old Testament was very ritualized and set- there wasn’t a lot of leeway within the Levitical worship pattern.
So people would go to the high places to either participate in the worship of other god’s- like Baal or Ashtoreth which included a lot of drinking and or sexual sin and even human sacrifice!
Or they would set up their own altars to God saying- I worship God in my own way and I don’t need church or some paid preacher sucking money of our my pocket to do that.
Sounds really familiar doesn’t it? I hear that all of the time.
High places have to do with an elevated opinion of your opinion. X2 It’s self-worship, which is the worse form of idolatry. It’s placing your opinion, your thoughts, your feelings above God’s finished truth in the bible.
High places will always keep you from experiencing God in HIS fullness.
The cross of Jesus Christ was not just about the forgiveness of sins- it was about restoration. God wanted to restore the concept of Immanuel- God with us. To do that HE had to take care of the problem of sin, so He took upon Himself the penalty so that He could dwell in our hearts again.
God is a King, and as the Kings of this earth will tolerate no rival, how much more so should the creator of the universe deserve our undivided attention, worship, and honor.
Another thing that can put an obstacle for Jesus coming into our hearts is rough ground
C. Rough Ground Becoming Level (Holding onto past hurts)
When I first came to this church, I used two rocks to illustrate the point of the value of church to spiritual growth. In that illustration I had two rocks taken from the breakwaters in Lake Michigan which were really chopped up concrete. They were jagged with sharp edges, and I used them to show the value of frequent church attendance- that through the constant rubbing against one another we grind off the rough edges.
We all come to Christ with rough edges. Some of them are bad habits, bad mindsets, or deeply held hurts that have shackled us to our past- and that is what I want to address here this morning.
One of my favorite life sayings is that life is a contact sport- you will get punched, you will get kicked, you will occasionally get knocked around, knocked down, or knocked out.
Maybe that’s you today- Something has happened in your life that was meant to destroy any destiny or future that God had for you. Life seemed to be going pretty well, and all of the sudden, you’re flat on your back looking up at the sky wondering how you got there.
You got smacked down by a sucker punch from the enemy.
If the enemy can keep you there- he wins.
If this is you this morning, I invite you to drink in some Gospel truth from the LORD Jesus HImself
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Mat 11:27-30)
Give Jesus that burden. Give Jesus that failure. Take His hand and let Him pick you up, dust you off, bringing healing to your soul, and get you back in the game.
If we make straight in the desert the highway for our God by raising up our valleys, bringing low the high places, and letting Jesus heal that rough ground, then we have a promise in this scripture that says-
D. Rugged Places a Plain (Dead areas coming back to life)
This is a promise that if we allow God to bring healing to our lives in healing our vision to see reality for what it is, to stop the cycles of building high places in our lives, or to allow healing in the rough ground of our hearts- all of those rugged places will smoothed over, the seed of the truth of God’s word will be able to take root, and start producing a harvest of blessing in our lives, and in the life of this church.
Finally, we have a promise-
III. Promise- You will see the Glory of the Lord.
All of us need a fresh encounter with God. The importance of this is shown to us in 3 of the 4 Gospels which tell us about Jesus in the desert-
When Jesus was in the desert fasting for 40 days and nights, He understandably got a little hungry. The devil came and told Jesus to use His divine power and turn stones into bread.
Jesus’ answer was “Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”
-Rhema versus Logos.
-Manna would not keep more than 24 hrs- to show them they needed a daily fresh touch from God.
-Jesus saying we need to feed on his flesh and drink of His blood
All of these examples in the scriptures are meant to point us to this truth-God is our source. Anything else is a seductive poison that slowly kills us.
Musicians (if time)
We need a fresh encounter with God. A daily encounter. Even a moment by moment encounter.
All of us face huge problems on a daily basis, that’s why we need an infinite God to deal with them
That’s why the promise of the Glory of the Lord is vital to us- we need to allow the Holy Spirit to make a straight path for our God so that HIS power is available to us at all times so we can live in victory through Jesus.
