Light on the Lessons s1

Light on the Lessons

Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 Second Sunday in Advent; Cycle B; December 10, 2017

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed + Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful) + Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship) + Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts + Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary + If possible, have a recording of Handel’s “Messiah,” Part One, to play for the group. In advance, read about biblical shepherd imagery in a Bible dictionary. (In Harper’s, it is part of article on “shepherd.”)

I Getting Started

Discuss experiences with “Through the Week.” Read the lessons now, or later, as you study each one. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Briefly discuss the questions in “Getting Started.” 1. Responses will vary. List the various responses. Together they indicate the many ways God’s grace comes to your participants. 2. Responses will vary. Some prefer to struggle against their situation or aspects of themselves. Talk about when it is good to struggle (against an unjust situation or a bad addiction, for example) and when we do better seeking peace (as peace with God and with who we are, in the sense of self-acceptance). 3. Responses will vary. Tolerant as we may think we are, most of us have a limit beyond which appearance does get in the way of our appreciating another as worth hearing. If your group agrees, talk about whether or not it is good to feel that way. (After all, folks who were turned off by people who hung out with the worst of society were the ones who didn’t listen to Jesus.)

II Check the Texts

1. Isaiah 40:1-11

Consider playing Handel’s “Messiah,” Part I, the tenor recitative “Comfort ye…” (verses 1-2), “The voice…” (verse 3)the following air, “Every valley…” (verse 4), and the chorus “And the glory…” (verse 5). As time permits, you could play each segment before discussing the appropriate verses. Isaiah is speaking to the Exiles who can now return to rebuild Judah and Jerusalem, thanks to Cyrus who defeated their captors, the Babylonians. In Hebrew, the words “Comfort, O comfort my people” have the soft, resonant sound of a lullaby: “Na- ha-mu, na-ha-mu, ami…” A. The “voices” are heavenly beings in the company of the LORD; the prophet is listening in on the heavenly council.. The concept of the heavenly council appears frequently in the Old Testament. Job 1:6 is an famous example. Verse 6 appears to be a call to become a prophet. The call in chapter 6 also has the prophet privy to the heavenly council and the heavenly council sends the prophet forth. (Scholars credit chapters 40-55 to “Second Isaiah,” someone other than Isaiah of Jerusalem but a close follower). B. Verses 1-2 tell the exiles that their suffering is over. God declares they have served their sentence. They may return to Judah with God’s blessings. These verses lift the political reality (Cyrus allowing them to return) into a religious one (God has ended their punishment.) C. Verse 3-4 are interesting to interpret. They could say that the journey back would not be as full of hardship as the journey out into exile; God would pave the way for the return. The ruins they left would welcome them; rebuilding would not be arduous. Or it could mean that God would go with them; the highway is literally for Yahweh. Yahweh’s return with his people would signal to the world that Yahweh can redeem and deliver. Other people may have thought Yahweh to be important, letting his people be carted into exile. Now “all people” will know Yahweh’s power! D. The “I” is the prophet who speaks to a member of the heavenly council. Who speaks in verses 6b-8? Quotation marks in the TEV, NIV, and NEB make them words of the “voice.” RSV and NRSV leave out the quotation marks. The words, conceivably, could come from the prophet, as a summary of his fundamental message about the importance of the word of God. E. The contrast is between human helplessness and the firm strength of the word of God. The word of God outlasts everything humans can imagine. These verses can be read as an expansion on the thought in verse 5. 1 Peter connects this verse with our rebirth in Christ, the word being the Good News. 1 Peter and Isaiah share the same thought: confidence in God’s word, but 1 Peter has a Christ-centered focus. F. Translations leave out quotation marks here. The speaker could be a “voice” or the prophet. Whoever speaks, verses 6a-11 neatly summarize the theology of Second Isaiah. The ‘good news’ here is the restoration of Judah as God’s kingdom over which God (no mention of a Davidic king) will reign. Unlike the bad old pre-exile days, the people will have a true shepherd. In John 10, we see the Christian understanding of Christ as the Shepherd-King. (Much of our interpretation of Jesus derives from the book of Isaiah.) G. The message should be “Proclaim the Good News to our community with joy and vigor.”

2. 2 Peter 3:8-15a

A. They supply the imagery: Amos=day of the Lord; Psalm=like a 1,000; Luke=thief in night. The delay is to give more time for more people to repent and come to faith. B. The imagery reminds us of the effects of thermonuclear bombs, although such was never in the writer’s mind. At the end of these tribulations God brings about a new heaven and earth where righteousness reigns. Mark 13:8 uses “birth pangs” (NRSV, NIV) to describe this process. C. Joel combines the outpouring of God’s Spirit with the tribulations of the day of the LORD. Peter quoted Joel in his Pentecost speech. Peter probably thought the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that day was the first sign that the day of the LORD was about to come. The expectation of Jesus’ immanent return (the Christian “day of the Lord”) runs throughout the New Testament. D. Joel 2:32 like verse 9 envisions all people coming to faith. For Paul, “all people” meant Gentiles were as welcome as Jews. These words urge us to spread the Good News to all people. You might discuss: Do these verses suggest that in the end those who have never heard the Gospel from humans might yet be saved? E. While waiting patiently, Christians live in righteousness and peace.

3. Mark 1:1-8

A. The Gospel quotes Isaiah to explain the role of John the Baptist. B. The Baptist is a forerunner. His baptism was for repentance. Jesus brought the Holy Spirit, a point made in verse 8. C. John seems to have been an Essene of the ascetic type who gave up worldly comforts. He was, it seems, very charismatic. His message of repentance appealed to those sensing how troubled were the times. People saw signs of the day of the LORD. If God were about to judge us, let’s get ready! Those were fearful, insecure times. Some evangelists and others today attract large followings with a similar message.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary. 2. Post the figures for the comfort/challenge ratio. When we are in deep distress, we may go 9-1 for comfort. At other times, we are seeking more challenge. The proportions will vary over time and with different experiences. The point is, our relationship with God brings both comfort and challenge. 3. The Baptist is a good picture of our role. We too are forerunners for Christ. We announce his coming, but we are not Christ (a point we need to remember). We point the way to Christ, by words and deeds. However, most of us have better taste in our dress. 4. If Spirit-oriented African Christians conducted our service, many of us would shake our heads. Yes, we are culturally conditioned in our faith. No, it’s not good because it limits our vision of where and how God’s Spirit works. At the same time, we have preferences and it’s O.K. to find a style of worship congenial to us. We just don’t want to assume that what I like is the sum total of what God likes. 5. The statement is true but it sounds arrogant to us, as if so long as I am safe, who cares about the rest. You group may differ, however. We do well to follow Luther: Work diligently for the Kingdom in the present and leave the future in God’s good hands. 6. Encourage sharing of these faith issues. 7. Family devotions to encourage spiritual conversation is one possibility. You group may have others.

IV Into the Week

As time permits, talk over ideas for putting #2 into practice.