{"id":4580,"date":"2020-12-06T13:44:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/06\/the-only-way-home-is-through-the\/"},"modified":"2020-12-06T13:44:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:44:50","slug":"the-only-way-home-is-through-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/06\/the-only-way-home-is-through-the\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Only Way Home is through the Wilderness\u201d\tbased on Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8 Advent 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Does the present moment feel like Exile
\nto you?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I mean, does it feel like there has
\nbeen utter destruction of life as we know it, and that we are \u00a0living
\nin a holding pattern waiting and hoping for change and a return to
\n\u201cnormal\u201d knowing it will still be different?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It seems to me that this metaphor holds
\nwater.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was into the experience of Exile
\nthat the prophet Isaiah spoke saying, \u201cComfort, O comfort my
\npeople, says your God.\u201d \u00a0This seems important. \u00a0The comfort didn’t
\ncome when things were relatively OK, nor when things were getting
\nworse. \u00a0Really, it was spoken into the darkest of days, when hope was
\nlost, and the people might have simply given up.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m telling you. \u00a0Advent is ON POINT
\nthis year.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Into the hopelessness, when the Exile
\nfelt heaviest, God spoke, \u201cComfort, O Comfort my people. \u00a0Speak
\ntenderly to my people.\u201d \u00a0Indeed. \u00a0God speaks into this moment with
\ncomfort, and hope.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Given the incredible efficacy of the
\nvaccine trials, I’m hearing that if everything goes right, the
\nearliest we could return to \u201clife as normal\u201d is May. \u00a0On one hand
\nthat feels really great. \u00a0There is light at the end of the tunnel!
\nOn the other hand, May isn’t exactly right around the corner, and
\nwe’re already 9 months into this thing, and May is BEST CASE
\nSCENARIO, and I think we’ve all gotten good at being hesitant to
\nbelieve that best case scenarios are exactly how things will go.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Thanksgiving hit JUST
\nas we were otherwise about to bring this latest crest of COVID cases
\naround, and the next few months are terrifying. \u00a0Today, I know more
\npeople who are sick with COVID than I have at any other point in the
\npast 9 \u00a0months. \u00a0The worry for the world in general is even heavier
\nwhen I add the worry for people I know in particular.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And, of course, it gets dark SO EARLY.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Whenever I read this Isaiah passage I
\nthink that, if not for these words of comfort and hope, the people
\nmight have broken, and the return might not have been possible.
\nThese are the words \u00a0that remind the people who they are, whose they
\nare, and what their job is.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The problem for the Exiles, as well as
\nfor us, is that the way home is through the wilderness. \u00a0Biblically,
\nwilderness and desert mean the same thing: a place that life only
\ncontinues to exist by the grace of God. \u00a0The problem is that the
\nExiles had been force marched across the desert to get to Babylon,
\nand the way home required crossing the desert again. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Feel familiar? \u00a0To get to May (let’s
\nhope it is May) requires a lot more of the same pains we’re now
\nfamiliar with. \u00a0There is no way home except… through.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The prophet Isaiah sees this, and
\npromises God will ease the journey as much as possible \u2013 making it
\nlevel and safe, even, and easy to walk. \u00a0But, friends, they still
\nhave to go through the desert to get home. \u00a0For the Exiles, it was
\n650 miles. \u00a0For us…. well, that sounds about right \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To the exiles, the prophet says that it
\nis not necessary to depend on themselves. \u00a0God is with them. \u00a0God is
\ntheir shepherd, God is their protector, it is God who is steady and
\nsteadfast, and God can be counted on.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

EVEN in Exile, even in the midst of
\ndeath and destruction. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At this point in this pandemic, that’s
\nexactly what I needed to be reminded of: \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\tThe world is not on my shoulders<\/p>\n

\tChristianity is not on my shoulders<\/p>\n

\tThe UMC is not on my shoulders,<\/p>\n

\tand even though I bear much
\nresponsibility for the well-being of FUMC Schenectady,<\/p>\n

\tthat too is on God’s shoulders.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The path \u201chome\u201d IS through the
\ndesert, and it will be inherently difficult.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But God is with us, and God is easing
\nour way as much as it can be eased.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The other side of Exile will be
\ndifficult as well (it took GENERATIONS to rebuild the first time),
\nbut God is going to be with us then too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the midst of this experience of
\npowerlessness, it is such a relief to remember that God is still
\npowerful. \u00a0And God is still working. \u00a0And God is still
\nLove-Alive-in-the-World. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(It doesn’t make everything better,
\nnothing does, but it helps.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It is into this metaphor of making a
\nstraight highway in the desert for the Exiles to come home, that Mark
\nplaces the beginning of the Jesus story. \u00a0Because the people of Jesus
\nday were living an existence much like the Exiles, except at home.
\nThey were exiles in their own land. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And the Gospel writer says, that John
\nwas working with God to prepare those \u201chighways home\u201d so that
\nJesus could lead the people down them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I sure hope that we’re like John.
\nWorking with God to prepare the highways home. \u00a0I think we are. \u00a0And
\nI KNOW that God is working with us, and doing most of the heavy
\nlifting too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thanks be to God.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Amen <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

December 6, 2020<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does the present moment feel like Exile to you? I mean, does it feel like there has been utter destruction … Continue reading \u201cThe Only Way Home is through the Wilderness\u201d\tbased on Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8 Advent 2<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,86,929,1893,1894,1892,56,1891],"class_list":["post-4580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-advent","tag-exile","tag-exile-and-return","tag-highway-home","tag-pandemic","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-that-homophobic-umc-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}