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December 2, 2007
Scripture: Isaiah 2: 1-5
Title: “In days to come”

We enter into a new church year. We enter into a new season. We enter into Advent: a time of waiting, a time of promises, a time of expectations, a time of awaiting the coming of a child, born for all nations. We enter into Advent when we hold dear to our hearts the promise of a child who will bring hope and new life.

Two very difficult things to find in our world: Hope and new life. Our TV screens show death and destruction. We read about families tore apart by war as we enter into a time of hope and expectation. Where is the word of hope for us as people of faith who are tired of waiting, who are tired of holding on to a promise that never seems to be fulfilled.
Death and destruction touches our lives and we wonder where is our hope.

Hope comes in the form of a child. Their African village has been touched and almost destroyed by death. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters : all lost. Touched by the hand of death that is AIDS.

Hope is gone. They are tired of waiting for promises to be fulfilled. They are tired of watching death and destruction destroy the lives of so many loved ones. Hope is gone.

All that is left is young children: orphaned and hopeless.

There is a piece of paper in their school that keeps track of how many orphans attend. The count is up to 107 children.

Word comes to the community! In days to come, there will be hope. In days to come, there will be new life. In days to come, this area of destroyed will experience new growth. In days to come, this battlefield of death and AIDS will become fertile gardens of hope, of smiles, of dreams, of promises fulfilled. In days to come…

Hope comes in the form of a small youth. A young boy from Arizona who has been writing to his pen pal in Africa. And this young boy learns how the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left 15 million children orphaned.

So he decides to raise money for his brothers and sisters in Africa by shooting foul shots for one day, sort of like a walk-a-thon.

In days to come, there will be hope. In days to come, there will be new life.

Hope comes in the form of a child. This young boy in Arizona does not stop at one day of shooting. He begins to collaborate with a non-profit organization and begins to dream of building a new school, an opportunity for new life, for fertile gardens of hope.

In days to come, there will be new life.

Finally this young boy is able to travel to Africa, to meet his brothers and sisters whose lives have been touched by the hand of AIDS, who have lost their parents and have been left hopeless.
Finally a school is built so that these young orphans can dream big dreams, can vision a better life, can hope once more.

The trip comes to an end and the village is left with a promise from a young boy: In days to come, there will be a hospital. In days to come, there will be new life. Hold onto to this faithful promise and find hope once more.

Hold onto this promise of new life. Hold onto this promise of Hope.

In days to come, Hope will come. In days to come, areas that are touched by death will become areas of new life. In days to come, battlefields of death will become fertile gardens of hope and promises fulfilled.

In days to come, there will be hope.

And that is what the prophet Isaiah is sharing with us today. Isaiah has seen a vision of destruction for the people of Israel but he knows that this will not be the last word. He knows that God will remember, that God will give God’s people a word of hope.

Isaiah’s community has been touched by the hand of death. Their community has been attacked by invaders. Their community has been touched by death: parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters: all lost.

Hope is lost. They are tired of waiting for promises that will never seem to be fulfilled. They are tired of seeing death as a part of their lives. Hope is gone.

Word comes to the community! Isaiah has received a vision from God. And in this vision, Isaiah sees the Mountain of God raising above all other mountains. He sees the nations of the world flowing up the mountain to hear the word of God. He sees God settling the disputes of a world that is torn apart by war and hate. Isaiah sees all people of the world, living out God’s word, loving their brothers and their sisters of all nations, realizing that they can live in peace with one another. Isaiah sees instruments of war, of death, of destruction being shaped into instruments of growth, of new life, of hope.

Isaiah sees a vision of days to come. Isaiah sees a promise. Isaiah sees a word of hope for a world that is torn apart by destruction, by death, by hate.

In days to come, there will be hope. In days to come, there will be new life. In days to come, battlefields will be turned into fertile gardens. In days to come…

And that is the word of hope that I bring to you this morning. That is word that I bring to you as we prepare and await the coming of the Christ child. That is the word that I bring that sets the tone of our Advent season. A word of hope. A word of newness. A word of promise.

Isaiah reminds us that we know that God has promised in the days to come that God will fulfill God’s promise of hope, that all nations will walk in the light of God, that all nations will come together and beat their spears into pruning hooks and their swords into plowshares. God has promised us a time when there will be peace.

Hold onto that promise of hope. Hold onto the promise of new life.

And that is what Advent is all about. We wait. We listen. We anticipate. We look beyond the present dismay and through the eyes of God! We hold to God’s promise of hope. And under that promise, in Advent, we live out a faith that sees what will be that is not yet. We find hope.

We wait for the incoming of God to come and be with us once again, but we just don’t know when or where. We wait in anticipation and surprise as God continues to work and reshape and give us hope. We walk in the light of God, sharing the promise of hope and new life with a world that is crying out, that is hurting, that is tired of waiting.

We have been given a call as people of God to help bring about the kingdom of God in our world today. We have been given a call to walk in the Light of God, to share this light of hope for all of God’s people, to shine God’s light and drive away the darkness that threatens to overtake our world.

We as people of faith are called to walk in the light of God. We hold to the promises of new life. We hold to the promises of new life. We see through the eyes of God a world that is at peace.

During the season of Advent we are reminded that we have hope in the promises of God, and are called to share that hope of God with the world. Advent is about remembering where God has worked in our past, embracing our commitment to our call in the present, and visioning a future where there is justice, where there is grace, where there are no more wars, where there no more children whose innocence is lost to violence, where there is peace and hope.

In days to come, there will be peace. In days to come, there will be hope. In days to come, there will be hope. In days to come, spears will be turned into pruning hooks and swords will be turned into plowshares.

Hold onto the promise of new life. Hold onto the promise of hope.

Hope comes in the form of a small child.

May we hold onto this daring act of hope. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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