With Christmas soon to be upon us we remember singing the lovely hymn "Silent Night". There was a peaceful calm about that night in Bethlehem when He was born. But the night was anything but silent. There was a peaceful excitement the began to fill the hearts of all creation. There was a joyous noice as the choirs of Angels sang of the Good News of His birth. The stars in the sky aligned to announce His birth. Nothing would ever, ever be the same.
Isaiah's voice invites God's People to cry out to prepare for the coming promise, to repent of our self centeredness, to look ahead, to be expectant. The voices that spoke that Christmas night invite us to rejoice in the fulfillment of that promise, to repent, to celebrate in the here and now, to be open. And yet the world continues to need a voice that urges us to "Cry out!" But what shall we cry out?
The message is still the same. Everything is transitory, all flesh is like grass, here today and gone tomorrow. Everything that we are told will sustain us, will satisfy us, will be our security is passing. Everything EXCEPT this Good News -
"Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care."
This Good News is as vital and as fresh as in any previous moment in time, and maybe even more so in our very secular and floundering societies. If the future is to be life giving, this truth, that the Lord rules, that GOD is all, needs to be cried out full throatedly by all of us. This is what we should cry out!
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