In His Arms

December 9, 2008

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

A voice says, "Cry out!" I answer, "What shall I cry out?" Isaiah 40:6a

What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. Matthew 18:12-13

Piety

God, comforter-in-chief, as await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, help us to work and pray to bring about your new social order. Lord Jesus, finder-of-the stray, give us the means to bear God’s comfort to those around us who are lost or abandoned by society. Holy Spirit, set us free from our comfort zone to go out with you and to put the lost on our shoulders and bring them into your arms. Amen.

Study

“Comfort, give comfort to my people.”

As Jerusalem is freed from exile and slavery, who will deliver comfort? Maybe the prophet has a strong man in mind…a soldier, perhaps. Or maybe a powerful politician. Certainly a strong member of the community can offer protection from terror.

“Fear not! Here comes the power!”

We await the king who will come to protect the weak and the powerless, the widow, the orphan, the stranger.

“Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm.”

Now you are talking. After all those years under the thumb of Egypt, finally we are getting protection. I can not wait to see our new leader crowned. Who will it be? Who will walk in that door to lead us out of our fear? He is coming. Our protector is revealed. He is…

A shepherd. A shepherd? A shepherd! Is this a joke? No. That can not be. What strength does a mere shepherd offer? Who sits in fear of a shepherd? He sits out in the hills all day with his animals. What will he use to protect us? He has no sword…it has been beaten into a plowshare. He has no political might. He has no rank in the army. He has no position in the temple. He has no money in the marketplace. After all this waiting for a king, God sends us exactly what we do not expect.

We have a tendency to focus on our wait for God throughout Advent. Five weeks we wait every year for the rebirth of our strongman. Yet how long has God waited for us. God gives us what we do not expect. “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” (Isaiah 40:11) Do we give God what he expects?

Action

How do we react to the people who disappoint us? To the people who bother us? To the people who waste our time? Probably not the way the Good Shepherd does. Instead, we have a tendency to dismiss those who do not meet our expectations. “Get lost!” We tell them to go away so we can get back to our priorities.

Can you remember a time when you were truly lost? Not just taking a wrong turn on the highway. Not just some television show, desert island, Tom-Hanks-movie kind of lost. But have you ever been totally unable to get any bearings about where you are and how to get back to someplace and some people who are familiar? Maybe as a child, you wandered away from your parents in a shopping center or museum? Or maybe as a parent, you got temporarily separated from one of your own children?

If you have experienced this, then you know the absolute panic that sets in. The fear. The tears. The worst-case scenario rolling through your brain. Getting lost or being lost is no fun. It is certainly no joke. What saves us? Maybe a store clerk (acting as an angel) brings you to the office and they page your parents and they come to get you.

God probably has a right to be angry with us for straying from the path he laid out and for telling his other lambs to “Get lost.” Despite that human emotion, God has a funny way of showing his anger. Instead of letting the stray lamb get lost, he puts everything else he has at risk to find us. God doesn’t make a very calculated decision based upon risk management. He allows all of his “assets” to be abandoned and he sets out to protect the one at the expense of the many.

God does not want us to be lost. He wants us to trust in his ways. Let God find you today and bring you back so you can help him find others who are lost.