Toot N Tell

Proclaiming God’s merciful love

Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

                  Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: 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.

                One day an elderly priest said to his new, young associate priest: “You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush buc

ket theater seats.  It worked like a charm.  The front of the church always fills up first.”  The young priest nodded, the old priest continued: “And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, and now our services are consistently packed to the balcony.”  The young priest smiled, the old priest continued: “But I’m afraid you’ve gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.”  “But Father,” the young priest protested, “my confessions and the donations have doubled since I began that!”  “Yes,” replied the old priest, “I appreciate that.  But the flashing neon sign that blinks, ‘Toot n Tell or Go to Hell’ cannot stay on top of the church roof.”  You have to use the right bait when you go fishing.

            In the first reading today, Isaiah also believes confession and reconciliation are things to proclaim loud and proud; indeed, he recommends shouting it from the mountain tops, not just with a neon sign on a church roof.  Isaiah writes: “Go up on a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news!”  And what should they shout?  Isaiah continues: “Like a shepherd God leads his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”  In other words, there’s nothing more glorious than God’s merciful love, and we should want to “Toot n Tell” that from roof tops and mountain peaks.

            Let me ask you something.  Is there anything you get so excited about that you can’t keep it inside?  Were you sitting quietly and calmly as the Razorbacks beat LSU and snapped a 17-game losing streak?  I doubt it.  People get so excited at football games they hug and kiss perfect strangers and buy beers for everyone at the bar!  When your baby is born, you don’t sit quietly contemplating that moment like a Buddhist monk.  You run around the delivery room like a lunatic crying and babbling for joy.  Do I even need to ask what would happen if you won the lottery?

            Well, I don’t know about you, but every time I walk out of confession, I feel like a new man, like the king of the world!  I feel a profound peace that comes from knowing God has forgiven me and given me yet another chance.  I want to shout from the mountain top – not my sins! – but how good God is, his enduring love, called “hesed” in Hebrew.  Feeling God’s hesed should make us want to sing and shout more than football, more than birthdays, more than anything.  As you go to confession today, I hope you, too, will feel that profound peace that comes from God’s hesed.  And who knows, as you drive out of the parking lot tonight, you too may want to “Toot N Tell” how good God is.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!