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THERE’S ALWAYS MORE MESSIAH #1
EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED
If any of you have been raised, as I certainly was,
watching missionary reports in church, I’m sure you recall many times
seeing the classic scene: the jungle landing of the missionary airplane.
That tiny, one-propeller, two-seater would come gliding in over the tops
of the Amazon trees. And then, with a final tremor of the wings, it would
bounce down onto a dirt runway.
You know, maybe we’ve been tempted in recent years, with all the advances
around the globe, to think that the missionary pilot is a relic from the
past. But we just happened to notice, in the November 16, 1998 issue of
Christianity Today, a story from the wonderful organization, World Gospel
Mission. John and Masako Trosen, young missionaries with their two young
children, Isaiah, age 3, and Sophia, just eight months old, were lost
when their Cessna went down in the jungles around the Yapacani River in
Bolivia. Brand new missionaries, now presumed dead. In the same issue
— ironic timing — is a full-page advertisement for another tremendous
organization, Moody Aviation, part of the Moody Bible Institute. And right
there is a picture of a little airplane coming in for a landing on a dirt-strip
runway.
Well, what in the world is the connection between these primitive airstrips
and the music of Handel’s Messiah? As we begin a fourth year of exploring
this wonderful Christmas work, a very special song leads the way for the
week. “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted.”
It’s interesting that Isaiah chapter 40 is the source material for five
of Handel’s songs in the Messiah. But let’s lead in right from verse one,
and I’ll stay with the familiar King James, just as Handel did, of course.
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. . . . The voice of him
that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and
every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the
Lord hath spoken it.”
Well, that’s three songs right there. But we’ve mentioned
before, that after 39 chapters of chastisement and condemnation, Isaiah
suddenly brings hope and encouragement. He comforts the nation with the
promise that warfare is over. Israel had endured endless conflict with
the Assyrians; and looking to the future, their problems with Babylon
were about a hundred years off. Really, all of us in the Christian church
today can embrace this Bible prophecy as referring to the warfare, the
battles, against Satan that have been and are and will be. But here we’re
all promised comfort. We’re promised pardon for our iniquities too.
And then these words: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness.”
That makes us think of John the Baptist, doesn’t it? And he cries out:
“Prepare the way! The Lord is coming!” Which leads us to this beautiful
metaphor where a great road is prepared to welcome the King. The hills
are leveled for Him; the valleys and dips in the road are filled in. Crooked
places in the path are made straight, the rough spots are repaved and
smoothed out . . . because this wonderful King is arriving and He deserves
a wonderful welcome. He deserves the best.
So that brings to my mind the image of that dirt runway. You see, the
missionary plane couldn’t get in there unless people who WANTED the missionary
there would prepare the way, and level the road. This kind visitor is
bringing medicine to heal the wounds. Schoolbooks to teach the unschooled.
Music to cheer their hearts. Stories and Bible teachings to point them
to a new life. Of course, they wanted these blessings, these gifts, but
they couldn’t receive them unless they made a way — an airplane runway.
And I’ve actually seen footage of eager men and women out there with their
crude tools, hacking away at the trees and the shrubs, and then carefully
smoothing out the nicest landing strip they could fashion.
I can’t help but wonder if George Frederick Handel himself, as he envisioned
the winding, crooked cobblestone streets of Dublin, Ireland — where the
Messiah debuted on April 13, 1742 — had that same image in his mind? “Straighten
out that twisting, turning road! The Messiah is about to arrive!”
Musicologists have noted that Handel almost subliminally illustrates the
Bible lyrics as he composes. When the tenor sings, “Every valley shall
be exalted,” the notes soar from low to high. When he gets to the part:
“The crooked plain,” the melody line wobbles, then holds on a long, smooth
note . . . making us think of a broad, beautiful eight-lane interstate
freeway. Notice:
FIVE-SECOND SNIPPET.
Well, friend, before we play the entire piece, what can this mean for
us just nine days before Christmas? Does Jesus want a smooth highway made
of asphalt? Of course not. When He first came to our world 2000 Christmases
ago, there was no parade down Main Street; He came to where there were
bumpy dirt roads and barns and mangers. No, the prophet Isaiah and John
the Baptist are talking about people who prepare a way for Christ in their
HEARTS. They smooth out a path for Him to enter into their lives. If there
are mountains in the way — pride, revenge, a love of the world — they
get out a shovel and level those mountains. If there are valleys of discouragement
or sin, they fill them in. Crooked places in the road where they lurch
off to this or that new fad or distraction, they straighten out the highway.
If there are deserts of spiritual dryness, the sterility of an uncaring
heart, they turn on the sprinklers. They’re preparing the way for the
King!
And we help each other with this! Don’t you agree? For years here on this
broadcast, it’s been our motto: “A voice in the wilderness OF THESE MODERN
TIMES, saying, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’” That’s why WE’RE here.
One Bible commentary noted this:
“It was the work of John the Baptist to call upon men
to prepare their own hearts and lives for the coming of Christ. God’s
messengers in the last days are to proclaim a similar message.”
And friend, the even better news is this. Jesus our
soon-arriving King is so kind that He actually steps in and helps us prepare
that runway FOR HIM! He enters in and helps us smooth out the way. Here’s
Proverbs 3:5, 6:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not
on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and HE will
make your paths straight.”
Isaiah 26:7:
“The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, YOU make the way of
the righteous smooth.”
START MUSIC: “EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED.” :20
You know, I think I hear my Savior knocking on MY door
right now. And it looks like He’s got two shovels.
Here’s John Aler, first tenor, and the Musica Sacra orchestra and chorus:
“Every Valley Shall Be Exalted.”
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