Advent 2
December 7, 2008

Scripture Introductions
by Stewart Clarke

[It seems to me that introducing the Scripture Readings can show respect for 
the Bible and for the congregation's interest and intelligence.   An 
introduction is not intended to inflict a personal bias, but to remind or 
inform the congregation of the context in which the passage was written, and 
to foster understanding.  (BTW, if you don't want these, please let me know, 
so I can do something about it. RSC.)
So, the following are offered with the invitation to check for and remove 
any errors or bias or anything of mine that seems inappropriate.  There is 
also the invitation to use them as spoken introductions during worship, or 
to have them available in print. And there is the hearty invitation to use 
them as a reference from which you prepare your own.]
(There are bits in brackets which contain perhaps-incidental details and you 
may want to skip them or revise them quite severely.)

Today's readings are linked by the thought of announcement or anticipation 
of good news.

The first reading comes from Isaiah, Chapter 40, and marks a major shift in 
the focus and style of that book.  Isaiah of Jerusalem[2], the "first 
Isaiah," had warned of danger and impending disaster.  You can still hear it 
in Chapter 39. Then, without a hint of transition there is a vividly new 
tone::a command from God, "Comfort, Comfort my people[3]."  The message 
comes from hard times, the Exile, when the leading families of  conquered 
Judah were moved to Babylon, a stark means of control.

(If we see possible parallels in Terrorism, Genocide, Uprooting of 
refugees, the impact of HIV/AIDS, economic chaos or even, in Canada, the 
present game of "King of the Hill" in lieu of government, the message of 
hope may be like a drink of water in a parched land!)

(At the end of Chapter 39, King Hezekiah (715-687 BC /BCE) was still 
playing games, caught between the powers of the Nile and Mesopotamian 
valleys.  In 586, the Babylonian army overran Judah and took Jerusalem. The 
leading citizens were taken into Exile in Babylon, where some eventually 
settled in, becoming, in effect, successful Babylonians, as Jeremiah had 
written[4]. But significant questions hung over the exiles: "Who were they?" 
"Had God abandoned them?" and how could they "sing the Lord's song in a 
strange land[5]."  It was a full generation later, around 540 BC/BCE, that 
the new prophet spoke.  "Comfort," which, in English, can speak of 
encouragement, and translates a Hebrew word for "compassion."  The word 
translated as "warfare" can, and perhaps should  mean, "hard service." It 
may speak of atonement, since the prophet may have accepted the assessment 
of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that their Exile was the result of their rebellion 
as a people.)

The prophet's message calls for a freeway for God's victorious march, in 
which God leads and even carries God's flock back home.  Imagine a 
disheartened people hearing this proclamation! And verse 3 was seen in the 
Church as a prediction of John the Baptist.. Its regular repetition makes us 
see this as the primary or even only meaning for us.
Let's listen, and may God speak to us in:
Isaiah 40:1-11

(You may save your thanks and praise until after the Gospel, or share some 
here, or, perhaps, say something like:  May we know the comfort of God's 
presence, even during times of challenge and difficulty, Amen.)



The Psalm echoes the theme of forgiveness and restoration, and may have been 
written after the return of some of the exiles from Babylon.

(If so, with the holy city and the Temple in ruins, and the people living 
in the land opposing their return, they are in need of divine assistance and 
encouragement!)

(The reference to "Jacob" is to the people: with their sense of a "corporate 
personality," they identified so closely and with their ancestors that their 
ancestors' stories were their own stories.  "Jacob," of course, became 
"Israel!")

Let us..

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 (VU, p. 802[6])



The Epistle that we know as Second Peter was apparently written around 150 
AD/CE, perhaps 120 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.  Anticipation 
of his return has been declining among some of the people: the new age is 
taking longer and longer.  The author writes encouragement and a new way of 
understanding the vision, but still looking forward to the new heaven and 
new earth.

Let us listen to this word of hope:

2 Peter 3:8-15a

May we realize that Jesus is present with us now! Amen.



As the second "Isaiah" announced good news without preliminaries, Mark 
plunges into his Gospel.   He roots his message in the Older Testament 
(Hebrew Scriptures, or "Tanakh"[7]) and specifically in the prophets, 
linking the Good News of Christ with its Jewish roots.  . (He is so keen to 
get going that he apparently omits the article and starts, "Beginning," 
which everyone makes more polished as "The Beginning."[8] )

 (The reference to Isaiah may reflect the high esteem in which the book was 
held.  In fact, the first quotation is from the book of Malachi [ 3:1].  The 
King James Version apparently follows an alternate reading, referring simply 
to "the prophets."  [The RSV, REB, NIV, Jerusalem Bible, J.B. Phillips, 
American Standard, Today's English, Louis Segond, and the "Five Gospels" all 
read "Isaiah," as does my Greek NT.]  The first quotation is not found in 
either Matthew [3:3] or Luke [3:4], and may be a later insertion. Since both 
Matthew and Luke relied on Mark, it is interesting or strange that they 
would not have included both quotations. )

John made a deep impression on those who waited for Messiah, and many 
apparently accepted him as Messiah.  This passage explains how the followers 
of Jesus have seen the importance of John and his vital message.

Let's rise to honour and be open to the Good News for us in:

(Or Let's listen closely for the Good News for us in:

Mark 1:1-8[9]

May our baptism fill us with the passion and energy of the Holy Spirit. 
Amen.

It is appropriate for an expression of thanks and praise to follow the 
readings.

(Comments to Stew at stewclarke@eastlink.ca.)