Prepare the Way
When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes Me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
And it will be said, "build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
For this is what the high and lofty One says – He who lives forever, whose name is holy; "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."
Our church is comprised of all generations. In this church, we are the "greatest generation" who changed the world. We are the Baby Boomers, who also changed the world. We are Generation X, who never set out to change the world, but did so anyway. We are Millennials, who once again believe they can change the world.
Those who lived through the Great Depression and learned to scrimp and save to get by; they figured out how to use every scrap, because they would probably need it.
Then came World War II, through which people voluntarily lived on less in order to help the war effort.
After these lean times came times of prosperity: we had everything we need. We built bigger houses and drove bigger cars, and even a recession and a gas crisis in the 70s was more of a speed bump than anything else. For years, the stock market was constantly growing and growing.
But unless you’re living under a rock, you can’t escape the news: we are living in uncertain times. If I hear the phrase "bail-out" again, I think I’ll puke. What I see is that much like the people of Judah in Isaiah’s time, our country is crying out.
Why do we cry out? Plain and simply, life is hard. Sin got in the way of our the life we were meant to live, a life spent face-to-face with God, a life depending on Him for everything.
Because our life is hard and uncertain, and because our sin has separated us from God, we make our own way in the world. We find things to satisfy ourselves or to dull our pain. Why do you think alcohol and drugs are so popular? Because they take the edge off a hard life... for a while, that is.
And often the things we have chosen to lean on become elevated to the utmost importance. We depend on them, and they become objects of worship. What is it that takes God’s place as THE only one worthy of our worship? In ancient times, the nations built idols to represent their gods, but the Bible is clear that idol worship is more than that.
Ephesians 5:5 says this: For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person – such man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Devotion to anything over God is idol worship, and it must stop now. None of our idols can save us. We’ve learned that Wall Street can’t. Politics can’t. Good health and physical fitness can’t. Having the right name or social status or living in the right neighborhood can’t. Our possessions can’t.
Isaiah 57:13 says When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes Me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
Idols will not save. But the Good News is that the Kingdom awaits the one who makes God his refuge.
So the prophet Isaiah says, Prepare the road; remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.
What gets in the way? Anything can get in the way of us worshiping God with everything we are. We worship the creation rather than the created. Usually that comes in the form of self. I don’t mean a "stare-in-the-mirror" kind of narcissism, but a reliance on self for everything.
In the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, John Oswalt says this:
Our job is to prepare the road: we are the ones who make the obstacles, and it’s our job to remove them as well! When it comes to preparing for Christmas, we do a really good job. We decorate and buy and host parties. But these things don’t prepare us for Jesus’ return. Advent is a time of thanksgiving, hope, excitement, and joy, but it is also a time of reflection and repentance.
In Isaiah 57:15, God tells His people this: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."
John Oswalt again:
The Holy One is with us for our deliverance. This is the good news of salvation!
I started this message by talking about what characterizes your generation. As a church, our mission is to be and make disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world. Let’s allow God to transform us into multiple-generations of disciples, characterized by transformation and reliance on God for everything.
And it will be said, "build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
For this is what the high and lofty One says – He who lives forever, whose name is holy; "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."
Isaiah 57:13-15
Our church is comprised of all generations. In this church, we are the "greatest generation" who changed the world. We are the Baby Boomers, who also changed the world. We are Generation X, who never set out to change the world, but did so anyway. We are Millennials, who once again believe they can change the world.
Those who lived through the Great Depression and learned to scrimp and save to get by; they figured out how to use every scrap, because they would probably need it.
Then came World War II, through which people voluntarily lived on less in order to help the war effort.
After these lean times came times of prosperity: we had everything we need. We built bigger houses and drove bigger cars, and even a recession and a gas crisis in the 70s was more of a speed bump than anything else. For years, the stock market was constantly growing and growing.
But unless you’re living under a rock, you can’t escape the news: we are living in uncertain times. If I hear the phrase "bail-out" again, I think I’ll puke. What I see is that much like the people of Judah in Isaiah’s time, our country is crying out.
Why do we cry out? Plain and simply, life is hard. Sin got in the way of our the life we were meant to live, a life spent face-to-face with God, a life depending on Him for everything.
Because our life is hard and uncertain, and because our sin has separated us from God, we make our own way in the world. We find things to satisfy ourselves or to dull our pain. Why do you think alcohol and drugs are so popular? Because they take the edge off a hard life... for a while, that is.
And often the things we have chosen to lean on become elevated to the utmost importance. We depend on them, and they become objects of worship. What is it that takes God’s place as THE only one worthy of our worship? In ancient times, the nations built idols to represent their gods, but the Bible is clear that idol worship is more than that.
Ephesians 5:5 says this: For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person – such man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Devotion to anything over God is idol worship, and it must stop now. None of our idols can save us. We’ve learned that Wall Street can’t. Politics can’t. Good health and physical fitness can’t. Having the right name or social status or living in the right neighborhood can’t. Our possessions can’t.
Isaiah 57:13 says When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes Me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
Idols will not save. But the Good News is that the Kingdom awaits the one who makes God his refuge.
So the prophet Isaiah says, Prepare the road; remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.
What gets in the way? Anything can get in the way of us worshiping God with everything we are. We worship the creation rather than the created. Usually that comes in the form of self. I don’t mean a "stare-in-the-mirror" kind of narcissism, but a reliance on self for everything.
In the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, John Oswalt says this:
Since God is the only high and holy One, the people He most definitely
cannot live with are those who try to make themselves His equals.
The only people who have any hope of living with Him are those who
recognize who He is and who they are.
Our job is to prepare the road: we are the ones who make the obstacles, and it’s our job to remove them as well! When it comes to preparing for Christmas, we do a really good job. We decorate and buy and host parties. But these things don’t prepare us for Jesus’ return. Advent is a time of thanksgiving, hope, excitement, and joy, but it is also a time of reflection and repentance.
In Isaiah 57:15, God tells His people this: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."
John Oswalt again:
Our God offers life to those from whom the life has been all but
crushed out; he offers life to those whose spirit has been ground down to
nothing. They need not be captive to their sin and shame, as they need not be
broken by their captors.
The Holy One is with us for our deliverance. This is the good news of salvation!
I started this message by talking about what characterizes your generation. As a church, our mission is to be and make disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world. Let’s allow God to transform us into multiple-generations of disciples, characterized by transformation and reliance on God for everything.
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