A Macaroni and Cheese Maker
a sermon by Rev. Rebecca Segers
Isaiah 40:1-11
Mark 1:1-9
It’s Advent. A season that’s supposed to be about waiting, but really seems to be about rushing. Rushing from one place to another, one store to another, one job duty to another, one party to another. We hardly stop, much less wait, for anything.
This was not the case for the ancient Israelites. The prophecies that we heard read today from Isaiah date from around 540 B.C. They were written after the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire and the deportation of the Jews to Babylon. The people, who’ve been moved en masse out of their houses and interned in a foreign country, have suffered greatly. They miss their homes, their possessions, their way of life. They’ve begun to doubt – to doubt their status as God’s chosen people and even the sovereignty of God.
The passage we heard read today is assurance to the people of Israel. It tells them that God is still Lord of heaven and earth and cares deeply for them. It encourages them that God will act soon to take them home, a glorious journey that will emulate the return of the Hebrews from Egypt with Moses. Isaiah 40 speaks of a Wilderness Highway whereby the Israelites will be led out of captivity as they were in Egypt, only this time they will not suffer the trials that they did the last time, but instead pathways will open up for them. Their way will be made easy. The mountains themselves will flatten out into plains before them, straight and stretching true, easy and comfortable to walk along.
This passage finishes with the good tidings – while human beings are like grass and wither away, God is always there, forever. God is both warrior protecting his people and shepherd comforting them. God will never abandon his people but will stand steadfast alongside them without end. There is an unbridled optimism underlying these verses that proclaims God’s goodness throughout generations, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the suffering, the proclamation is that God will prevail.
These verses are ones of comfort and love. Verses that we can wrap around ourselves and feel whole within. Verses that when we hear them, we know we’re home.
When my little brother, Bo – who’s now 40 years old and 6’3”, not so “little” anymore – was a baby, he had a blanket that he loved. Much like the character of Linus in the Peanuts cartoon strip, Bo carried that blanket everywhere and fondled it and handled it and rubbed the edges between his fingers for comfort until it was little more than a rag. He even named it: “Scrubbie”. But eventually, he grew out of the phase and moved on. He went into kindergarten, elementary school on up through college, grew up into a fine young man, married and is now a father with a son and daughter of his own.
A few years ago, my mother was cleaning out closets and cupboards moving from a condo into a duplex that she had built. My brother had gone to help her and they were together in a bedroom when she opened the bottom drawer of a dresser to clear it out. In it my mother saw a raggedy piece of cloth that she had no idea why she kept it. All of sudden from behind her, my brother’s voice, the voice of a grown man, mind you, cried out: “Scrubbie!” He very gently lifted the scrap of blanket out of the drawer and held it next to his face, feeling the comfort and the love that that blanket had meant to him so many years ago.
Many of us have items like Scrubbie. Things that we own that give us comfort. That help us to feel loved. It is the hope of the Prayer Shawl Ministry group that when they give a shawl to someone that it will be an item such as this. There are other things that bring us comfort as well. Sometimes it can be food. I know that to me there is nothing like a big bowl of homemade macaroni and cheese. Not the orange Kraft kind, but the kind that is creamy and fluffy with a thick crust of melted cheddar cheese on top. When I’m down or blue, nothing quite says comfort to me like macaroni and cheese. It might be something different to you: a bowl of vanilla ice cream or fresh bread hot out of the oven. Warm tomato soup on a cold winter night. Meatloaf with mushroom gravy. We all have foods that give us comfort; foods that make us feel loved.
Then there are physical manifestations of comfort. Hugs. Being in someone’s embrace while we cry. Tears of pain. Of exhaustion. Of relief. Warmth. From that same embrace. Or from snuggling up in bed. Or on the couch under a blanket with a hot cup of tea.
Another way to feel comforted is through our own thought processes. Through good memories. Pleasant thoughts. Mindful feelings. One of the requirements that I have for the confirmation class is that they learn at least one scripture passage by heart. It doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to mean something to them. I do this so that when they are going through something rough, they don't have to think about it, it’s there.
I recommend the same thing for you. So that when you are going through a rough time, it automatically comes to you: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear. The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.” Psalm 27:1 or “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:9 or “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5 or “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 12:38-39. Do you see the power that you have within you when those words come into your mind unbidden? Do you feel the comfort and the love that washes over you like a wave coming onto the shore?
I think knowledge of scripture is one of the most powerful ways that we have of being comforted by our God. Especially in times like these. Times that are so filled with hustle and bustle and busy-ness and responsibility that there’s absolutely no way we can possibly live up to the expectations that everyone has for us. It’s just impossible. Because we’re so busy running toward the future that we can’t even be where we are.
Did you know that the book of Mark is written almost entirely in the present tense? So when you read Mark in the original Greek rather than reading about everything happening in the past, everything is happening right now. The verses we heard today, once you get past the repetition of the prophecy from Isaiah, actually read: “John is baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” and so on and so forth. It is important to remember at this time of year, as we very anxiously, exhaustedly consider the coming of Jesus in the past tense that Jesus is coming, is coming now, in the present tense.
Furthermore, Mark uses the very language that Isaiah uses in the prophecy we talked about earlier. He’s talking about that Wilderness Highway that the Jews were going to travel home on, only he is saying that Jesus is coming on it and rather than God making the pathways straight for the Israelites traveling upon it to Jerusalem, it is our responsibility to prepare, to make ready, to make the pathways straight for the Lord. John the Baptist is coming and he is proclaiming, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…”
This is big stuff. We are to move mountains, to do vast deeds, to encounter our demons and defeat them, make rough places plain. Jesus is coming and we are not simply to stand by and watch. We are not to bake fruitcakes and send out Christmas cards. We are not to get caught up in the culture and what is the latest video game that our kids want or our nephews and nieces or grandchildren. We are to listen to the words of John the Baptist. John comes and warns that we are to prepare the way of the Lord, we are to repent, to change, to turn back from our evil ways.
Now we probably don’t think of who we are and what we do as evil. We try to live lives as good and decent people. We do our best to be kind and giving to all those we meet. We are not intentionally bad or mean or angry or rude. Oh, sometimes we slip and say something ugly to our child or our parent. Sometimes we wait on line while Christmas shopping and get a little anxious and touchy with the clerk who is slower than molasses. Sometimes we snap when we think someone has done something to us: cutting us off in the fast line on the parkway or treating another friend with more consideration than they do us or any number of things. But for the most part we try to be good and decent people.
John is saying that that isn’t good enough. It’s not good enough to go about our business not bothering anybody or being any trouble. Our lives are to be focused on God and the people that God intends us to be. Our lives are to be centered in, grounded in, based in God’s love and forgiveness.
How many of you have been reading the gospel of Matthew this Advent season as I challenged you to do? I don’t know how it is affecting you, but it has already been an enlightening experience for me. This last week I had someone be not very nice to me. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with this person rebuking me for how I had handled a situation and it was difficult to hear. Afterwards, I was in a great deal of pain trying to decide how to respond, going over previous conversations in my head with them, remembering my actions and my responsibility in the situation. My first reaction, of course, was hurt and anger, but I knew to look beyond that into my own part in the situation. Then that night, Grace and I read Matthew 5 and when we came to verses 38-42: “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, “Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
All I could think was that God was telling me to let go of my anger and to give kindness in return. So that is what I have done and will continue to try to do.
This is John’s primary message. He preaches the gospel of repentance. We must understand that to repent is not to say “sorry”. The Greek word for “repent” is metanoia and it means literally “to change one’s mind.” Think about this “to change your mind.” This is not just to go “oops! My bad” as they say in current high school circles. To repent is to completely change the way we think about things. To see things in another light. And once we see something differently, we cannot stay in the same behavior. We must change our ways our doing things as well. We must turn back from what we’ve done previously and do things differently to make it right.
Now this can be very hard. Especially if whatever we’ve been doing is deeply ingrained. We’ve all got our ideas of what is right and what is wrong and even what is simply what we’ve always done. To honestly take a look at who we are and how we respond, to examine our behaviors in a time when we’re already on overdrive may seem like a lot to ask, but it what John the Baptist tells us to do in preparation for the coming of the Christ, and it is what I am asking of you this holiday season.
It’s a tall order, but I also want you to know that we don’t have to do it alone. We don’t have to be the perfect people of God without God’s help. God loved us so much that he came to earth to prove it. God wants to be with us so much that he lived as we do, felt our anxiety, our pain, our anger, our fear. God wants to understand and hold and comfort and love us in everything we do and everything we go through. God is Scrubbie. God is macaroni and cheese. God is hugs and love and warm embraces. No! God is more than all of that! God, our God, is the ultimate Comforter. With us and in us and flowing through us.
John proclaims in the end of our scripture lesson today that while he is baptizing with water, the one who is coming will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus does as he promises. Jesus comes to earth and live and dies and is resurrected and then upon leaving us sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to be with us always and forever. Jesus tells us that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. This is so in the Holy Spirit, the grand Comforter, the one that holds us all in Its Loving Embrace.
This is the amazing thing, people! That because we have a God such as ours, because our God is one who is with us always, comforting and guiding, we are able then to tackle the big stuff. We are able to become the people that God intends us to be. We are able to be transformed – another meta word in Greek, metamorpho’omai – and can do the big things that God desires, no, God requires of us! When we see who truly we are – with all our warts and bumps and hard places – then we can metanoia, “repent, change our minds”, and metamorpho’omai¸ “transform, change our lives”.
I ask you this Advent season, where is it in your life that you need to make a change? From what do you need to repent? Do you need to let go of anxiety about getting everything done that causes you to be short-tempered? Do you need to stop taking on new tasks that you are unable to complete? Do you need to lighten the load of expectations? Do you need to do less for those who already have so much and do more for those who do not? What place, what space in your life needs to be turned around, turned on its ear, turned upside down so that you are truly on the path that God intends you to be? Search your mind, search your heart and then give it to God.
Ask for God’s help, surrender to God’s love, open yourself to God’s wisdom in how to proceed. For God is our “rock, (our) fortress, and (our) deliverer… in whom we take refuge.” Our God is a blanket in which we wrap ourselves, a God of comfort and of hope, a God who can bring us through the rough places and make them plain. Our God is a macaroni and cheese Maker, who gives us comfort even while providing us sustenance to do the next right thing. As we travel these next few weeks toward Jesus’ birth, I encourage you to take on the mantle of God’s love and forgiveness, looking for the places in your own lives that need to be made plain. What are your rough spots that need to be smoothed? Where can you use God’s comfort and love, encouraging you to step out in faith and repentance during this Holy season? Wrap yourself up in God’s blanket of love, fill yourself up with God’s comfort food and then show forth to the world God’s light and God’s love to all you meet. May it be so. Amen.