December 13, 2023

As we learned, Isaiah prophesied about 800 years before the birth of Jesus.  (Isaiah 40:1 - 11)  The people in Jesus' time knew these prophesies.  They had been hearing them their whole lives.  Not much else is known about that time period, 800 years before Christ.  But Isaiah's prophesies were important to the people, so they were remembered and handed down from generation to generation.  They set the stage for the coming of Jesus.  Because of those prophesies, the people would know Jesus when they saw him.

The Gospel lesson in Mark 1:1-8 tells us that all of the people of Jerusalem went out to see John the Baptist.  Jerusalem was a major city, so how amazing that so many people set aside their daily activities, even in the face of potential persecution by the religious leaders and Roman occupiers, to go and listen.   Clearly the people believed in what John was saying.   He was talking about the power of the Holy Spirit.   For how many generations have we been hearing about the power of the Holy Spirit?  

The people had been struggling before Jesus' coming.  Notwithstanding Isaiah's prophesies, they might have felt that God had forgotten them.  Yet God is with us, even when we face wars, climate change and so many other struggles.  

We have spoken this year about the need to Expect a Miracle.  The people in Jesus' time kept their hope in Isaiah's prophesies alive for 800 years.   We need to continue to believe that God is working here at St. Timothy's today, and that God is using all of us to do that work.

If we are doing what God intends us to do, we can be assured that He is with us.  He will send his Holy Spirit to us.  

We are not the only generation to have gone through difficulties.  But we are ready for what comes, because God is with us.  We are expecting, and seeing, miracles.