Sermons for the Month
Ain't No Mountain High Enough To Stop Our Determined Savior
DATE: December 7th, 2003
THEME: Peace
SERVICE: Second Sunday in Advent
TEXT: Luke 3:1-6
“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace
and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His
Holy Spirit. AMEN
I was driving on a snow-packed highway on Christmas Day last year, trying not to focus too much on the road conditions, when today's Gospel lesson came to my mind. In fact, this sermon was, to a large degree, born as I dodged icy patches that Christmas morning, tired from getting home after midnight following the Christmas Eve services, with "Joy to the World" still ringing in my ears.
But it was not a Christmas hymn that inspired this Advent sermon. It was Diana Ross whose breathy voice crooned from my tape player, "If you need me, call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far"… and then the tempo built and she filled her lungs and belted out, "Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep me from you." The image of a baby in a manger flashed before my eyes with these words in the background, "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
Indeed, no mountain, no river, no valley could keep God from coming to us, in person, to bring profound peace into our lives. God is determined to reach us. That's what came to my mind as Diana Ross proclaimed that no wind, no rain, no winter storm would stop her from reaching her beloved. God is determined.
One of the first times I experienced true determination was when I was six and one-half years old and five babies were born into my family, one day apart. No, it was not an amazing multiple birth. The fact was that our cat, Peppe, had four kittens on March 19 and my baby brother was born on March 20.
Those were the days when mothers and babies stayed in the hospital for at least a week, so my Dad was in charge of my older brother, who was nine, me, and the new cat family. Actually, Peppe was in charge of her family, my Dad only thought he had the final say.
On the first night Peppe decided to bring her kittens up from the basement to my brother's bed. She was a Seal Point Siamese, and had chosen him as her person. In fact, when the kittens were born she found my brother practicing the piano and kept patting him with her paw until he followed her and was introduced to her new brood.
So, she had three of the four kittens in bed with him, and was bringing the last one up, when he awakened and realized an invasion had occurred. He called for my Dad, who promptly scooped up the kittens and carried them back to their blanket lined box in the basement.
Peppe, however, was determined to accomplish her goal. So, she began to bring her babies back up the stairs. After my father had taken a couple trips down with the meowing little creatures in his hands, he closed the basement door. Guess what? She brought all four of them to the top step, and then sat there and cried.
If you know anything about Siamese cats, you'll know that no one was getting any sleep as long as she cried and the kittens mimicked her with their tiny voices. I wish I could tell you the end of the story, but I can't. I don't remember what happened, and unfortunately not one of my family members who would know is still living.
The thing that sticks in my mind, though, is the determination of that little six-pound cat who pitted herself against a 200-pound man in order to accomplish what she thought was best for her family. I have the feeling that she would have tackled any obstacles to get those kittens where she wanted them to be.
God is like my childhood cat. God is even more determined to reach us than Peppe was to have her babies snuggled in a warm bed with the person she loved the most. So, God sent his Son Jesus, as a human being, so that we could relate to him. He came to teach us how to live, to illustrate God's uncompromising love, and to forgive the biggest obstacle between God and us - sin. Jesus came to bring us PEACE with our Creator.
There's nothing more important to God than to reach us. We are God's destination.
Throughout the centuries God reached out to his children through the Prophets, including the one that immediately preceded Jesus, John the Baptist whose job in was to prepare the way. His job was to clear the path for the Messiah. John called for all people to repent and be baptized, including those who were Jews and had been worshipping God their entire lives. Everyone must clear the rubbish out of their lives, turn around, take a new path, John says, and be waiting with an open heart and an open mind. God is coming, John the Baptist proclaimed, and nothing will get in his way.
"Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep me from you."
The image that is used is of constructing a highway. Imagine that this highway is the road that Jesus will take to reach us. If it's crooked, it will be straightened out. If there are mountains in the way, they will be leveled, and what comes off the mountain top will be used to build up the valley. If there are rocks in the road, and it's rough, ever effort will be made to smooth in out so that nothing gets in the way. No obstacle will keep our Lord from reaching us, including the human tendency to grasp control of our own lives, and the constant battle people have with worshipping things other than God and even the loss and pain of life that often breeds bitterness. Even these things will not get in the way. There will be a clean shot between Jesus and us.
Let's pause here for a moment. Can you imagine what I'm describing? Can you see in your mind's eye a road being straightened, mountains being leveled, a valley rising and rocks rolling out of the way as Jesus walks toward you? Can see him opening his arms to you as he says, "Peace be with you,"? Can you sense the deep, inner peace he offers?
This peace is based in grace and in forgiveness, not circumstances. It is unaffected by stress, by conflict, by loss. It cannot be shaken even when the computer has a mind of its own, as was the case while I was writing this sermon and I lost most of what I just said to you. I was frustrated, I felt frantic and I cursed my own stupidity, but did all of that keep the peace of Christ from coming to me or remaining with me? No.
So it is in your lives. We all will face challenges much greater than the fickle computer, but even those things cannot get in the way of our God. We are God's destination. We are the recipients of HOPE and of PEACE that cannot be kept from reaching us, and cannot they be taken away from us.
Indeed, there ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep God from us. Our God is determined to love us.
AMEN