An Uncomfortable Comforter

December 7 (Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8)I was confronted with a simple question in preparing for this message. Iwondered if being comforted the same as being comfortable? When asked to think aboutcomfort our minds drift quickly and with longing to recliners and sofas with warmth inwinter and cool in summer. Even if we could not picture all the expressions of beingcomfortable we can sure tell when things become uncomfortable. It is a strange thingthen that John the Baptist is our image of the one preparing the way for the comforter.And so in fact we must sit up from our recliners for a moment and acknowledge that Johnis the messenger of our comfort.John emerges from the desert dripping with Old Testament imagery. He iswearing a coat of hair as the prophet Elijah did. He eats locusts and wild honey whichspeaks to his ritual holiness and ability to remain pure even apart from the Temple asthough foods could be eaten without ritual preparation. And he is given the task spokenof by Isaiah of one who will prepare the way of the Lord; one who will prepare a way for the comforter to come. John comes as wild man unkempt and driven by his message.His message is that the way is made by repentance. This message seems other neither him nor anyone around him much comfort at all. John tells us that the comforter comesthrough the way that is made by the act and discipline of repentance. What does this tellus of the comforting face of God? Can we assume that John himself has received andlives in the comforting presence of God? Perhaps it is John that shows us the difference between being comfortable and being comforted.It is possible for most of us on most occasions to make ourselves comfortable. If we have sufficient means we are able to create an environment around us that caneliminate most of the irritants, annoyances, and aggravations. Comfort for us is reallyabout being pampered, indulged, or perhaps even spoiled. We learn from parents that itcan be a fine line between knowing what is spoiling a child and what is comforting andsupporting them. The term

spoiled

is actually quite instructive in this case. If somethingis spoiled that means it has lost its value. It has lost its ability to provide or offer thevalue inherent to it. Not only does it lose its value but even being close to spoiled foodcan be disgusting and even harmful to the people around it. All that was good about particular foods is lost when it then are spoiled. It almost seems like there is a similar analogy in the Bible where God’s comfort is often linked to our cleanliness. To be clear being clean theologically is not about behaving perfectly or always doing what is right infront of the right people. To be clean theologically is to be in open and activerelationship with the one who cleans and nourishes. Therefore to be spoiled theologicallyis to cut yourself off from the nourishment of God by creating an environment thatinsolates from God’s presence. It is too keep life on the sofa insulating our butts from thekick that God needs to give them at times.Listen though to the type of imagery that surrounds God’s comfort in the passageswe heard this morning. In Psalm 85 we are given the comfort of knowing that Godforgives our sins. God will not abandon us, even if at points in our journey we abandonGod. Then as the passage progresses the psalmist does not forget to turn towards Godsaying that indeed God promises peace to the saints but quickly adds “but let them notreturn to folly / Surely salvation is near to those who fear him.”

2And then the Psalm ends with some similarity to Isaiah and Mark. The Psalmist says thatthe “The Lord will indeed give what is good.” And then says that “righteousness goes before him / and prepares the way for his steps.” The comforting presence of God comes but it comes along the path of righteousness. Comfort flows along the channels forgedtowards God’s nourishment not those who have become spoiled on the promises of another source.Then in Isaiah the message of comfort is coming to a wearied people and we hear the call to prepare a way for it to arrive. The voice says, “Cry out.” and Isaiah asks,“What shall I cry?” And then it follows with the message that will prepare the way for the comforter. It says,

"All people are like grass,and all human faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.The grass withers and the flowers fall,because the breath of the LORD blows on them.Surely the people are grass.The grass withers and the flowers fall,but the word of our God endures forever.”

What does it mean to say that the people are like grass? We are temporal and we arenourished by and at the whim of something larger than ourselves. This is the space inwhich God our comforter comes. Then Isaiah says that those who bring this message,this good news, should climb to the highest mountaintop and lift their voice without fear shouting to the towns below, “Here is your God!” Comfort seems to come in knowingwho God is and this means knowing who you are in relationship with God. It is to knowthat you are not God. It is to know that your job, your status, your house and possessions,your strength or beauty, to know that all these things are not God.To know that you are a flower that is beautiful, precious, and useful but temporal andfully dependent on something other than yourself. It seems that John the Baptist removedhimself from many comforts with which we try and nourish ourselves so that he mightenter and make way for the comfort of God.The church is given this call for Advent.

Prepare the way for the Comforter

Goand tell the good news on the mountain that the Comforter has come.

How can the practices of the church prepare the way for the righteousness of God? I recently read a book by Tripp York called

The Purple Crown

. It is a book that explores the significanceof martyrdom for the early church and for the early Anabaptists. A martyr is someonekilled because of their beliefs. The stories of the martyrs are profound statements aboutthe comfort of God. Stories are passed down to us of people burned at the stake or tornapart by wild animals. In many of these stories we hear that those about die displayedgreat peace and even joy when they were experiencing what we would characterize as theepitome of discomfort. Their comfort takes us far from the sofa or recliner.Stephen in the book of Acts was recorded as seeing a vision of heaven and of Jesus before he was stoned to death. He was already being greeted by the direct presenceof God before he died. Ignatius was one of the first bishops of the early church and hewas brought to the coliseum in Rome where hungry lions were to be released on him.Right before his death he is recorded as saying to the crowds, “May I come to God, for whom I long, and whom to enjoy is my insatiable desire. For, I am the grain of God. Iam ground by the teeth of the beast, that I may be found a pure bread of Christ, who is to

3me the pure bread of life.” Another earlier Christian Justin Martyr is quoted as saying,“You can kill us, but you cannot hurt us.” These testimonies do not allow us to conceiveof comfort in our typical manner.When I first heard about the stories of the martyrs I was moved by their greatcommitment and heroism. I thought that they must have been given some specialmeasure of grace and strength in that time of suffering. My hope, of course, is thatindeed they were given special grace in that time but in his book York wants to makesure that we do not separate a martyr’s death from their life. York argues that the martyrsdemonstrated faithfulness in death because they trained for faithfulness during their life.York says that, “Obedience is a skill that develops after being initiated into a communallife of holiness.” The early church recognized this need for training and so they wouldoften caution people from joining the church too quickly because they may not be readyfor the implications of their commitment. Because of course there were others whodenied their commitment to Jesus in the face of the persecution. The earlier church was atangible community where they trained to make way for the righteousness of Godthrough their lives in life or death. I don’t wish to glamorize the early church but I do seethem as having a greater sense of calling and presence

and practice

in the world aroundthem. York is not so much concerned that we start producing martyrs as he is that westart following the life and examples of the martyrs.Has our church taken time to hear the voice of the one crying in the wilderness?If some of us have heard it have we prepared ourselves and others to carry this message?Have we allowed ourselves to be taken out of our own comfort zone so that we mightreceive the comfort of God? Do our songs stir within us a new vision of God’s comfortthat is for us and the world? Does our time in prayer form new patterns of thinking thatallow our daily lives more conversation with God? Does our fellowship encourage us tolive more faithfully at home and work? What are the disciplines of the morning thatallow you to begin your day turned towards God? What are the practices of the day thatkeep you in step with the rhythm of the Spirit? How do you end your day so that you can be at peace with God and your neighbour? These acts are not about legalism or winningthe love or approval of God. This is moment-by-moment turning towards God so that wemight be open to the channels of God’s comfort and that we might become thosechannels for others.We have a rich testimony of those who proclaimed that the comfort of this worldis not necessarily the comfort of God. They remind us of the strange logic of gospel thatflows from Jesus who says that those who will lose their life will end up gaining it. Theyremind us that those who leave their comfort, to those who become

uncomfortable

for thesake of the Gospel God will grant comfort. Evagrius of Pontus in the fourth centurymakes the strange claim saying that “abstinence is the origin of fruitfulness.” He is basically saying that the secret to producing much, the secret to an abundant life is beingable to do with little. Evagrius goes on to write volumes on the value of spiritualdisciplines to create straight paths for God. Richard Rohr is Franciscan priest who also believes that many of our churches no longer open pathways and make way for ameaningful encounter with God. He says that a big part of this is that the church does notinitiate its members into five basic truths of life. The reason we don’t do this is becausethey run counter to much of our culture’s teaching and as a result will typically make usuncomfortable.