The Second Sunday in Advent Rev. Darrell Debowey Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL December 7, 2014 Isaiah 40:1-11: 1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD S hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. 6 A voice says, Cry! And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Comfort My People THE TEXT Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for today s meditation is the Old Testament reading from the 40th chapter of Isaiah. INTRODUCTION Comfort, Comfort my people, God commands Isaiah and all of His prophets on this second Sunday in Advent. The Scottish preacher, Ian MacLaren, was once asked what he would do differently if he had his preaching ministry to live all over again. He replied, I would comfort people more. Page 1
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. But how do you comfort people in this post-christian era in a way that pleases God? Let s think about that for a few minutes today. 1) Should we comfort people by telling them what they want to hear? That s what we do a lot at funerals, isn t it? We hear a lot about the deceased that he was a good person even if he wasn t and how he s now with the angels; how she s looking down on her loved ones from heaven we might even hear that she is now one of the angels. Those words are supposed to be comforting but are they true, are they God-pleasing? Is it truly comforting when nothing is said about Jesus or faith or forgiveness. Is it truly comforting to leave people thinking that everyone goes to heaven no matter how they lived their lives before God? Think about the Old Testament prophets. There were basically two kinds of Old Testament prophets those that spoke the truth and those that didn t. Which of the two do you admire? Do you admire the ones who told the people what they wanted to hear that nothing was wrong? No need to repent God would never be wrathful against you. Do you admire the prophets who told the people that they could live however they wanted God didn t care? Do you admire the prophets that would even tell the people that God approved of their sinful lifestyles? Do you admire that kind of prophet? Or, do you admire the prophets who were faithful to God s Word, who tried to warn the people about the coming wrath of God against their sins the ones who called them to repent and turn to God before it was too late? Paul writes in Second Timothy these words of warning: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for Page 2
themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Telling people what they want to hear is, in essence, insulating them from their sins and the consequences of sin. This isn t God-pleasing nor is does it prepare people for the return of Christ. What God calls you to do is to speak the truth in love. 2) Should we comfort people by telling them how wonderful they are? Today s Hollywood starlets are surrounded by people who affirm them who tell them how wonderful they are no matter what kind of mess they ve made with their lives. We see that in our education system, too this constant affirmation of children stroking their self-esteem by telling them how wonderful they are no matter how may mistakes they make or how bad of a job they do. There are little league baseball programs that don t keep score so there are no winners or losers. And no one ever strikes out kids swing and swing until they hit the ball. Employers are now dealing with an entire generation of young people who don t want to work hard yet believe they are entitled to raises and promotions every six months. Remember the tale by Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Emperor s New Clothes? It s about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes. But there s a catch the clothes are invisible to those unfit for their positions, or stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, his subjects tell him how wonderful he looks. He processes through town until a child too naïve to understand what s going on cries out, But he isn't wearing anything at all! Everyone knew there was a problem, but no one had the courage to speak the truth. Page 3
There s nothing more comforting to our egos than flattery being told how wonderful we are. But who actually benefits from flattery? The emperor s followers benefited from flattery, not the emperor. God is no respecter of persons Jesus spoke the truth in love to all people especially those in authority. Jesus didn t affirm the sinfully hard-hearted, but He called such hearts to repent. But what of the person who knows he isn t wonderful who s conscience is burdened by sin whose heart is crushed by the Law? That person knows he isn t wonderful in God s eyes. That person needs more than a message of affirmation he needs a message of forgiveness in Christ Jesus. 3) Should we comfort people by telling them that everything will be okay everything will work out just fine. But is that always true? People do bad things. There s sickness and death in the world. Things don t always work out the way we want them to. Candace and I were given free tickets to Friday s Garth Brooks concert at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. There we heard Garth tell his fans that the world would be a better place if people would just love people that s all that it would take to make everything better people loving people. But this is a broken world and we broke it. People aren t the answer to the brokenness of this world we re the problem! All these messages that we hear may sound comforting on the surface but as the old saying goes, Reality bites. reality is a different story. The more we try to live apart from God and His Word, the worse things get! Page 4
4) The message of comfort that is truly God-pleasing that message of comfort that God s prophets are commanded to announce to God s people is this one: 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD S hand double for all her sins. The message of comfort that God s prophets were to announce to God s people was that God forgives their sins. Is there a more comforting message than that? Certainly not to sinners who know and feel their sins. But this message of forgiveness is only possible because God had promised to send His answer the only answer to our broken world the promised Messiah. It s not people loving people that s the answer to our problems, our sin, our suffering, our death it s God loving people in Christ. God s message of comfort in our Old Testament text begins with His promise to send a forerunner to prepare the way for Jesus that forerunner was John the Baptist: 3 A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The message of comfort continues by reminding the people that God keeps His promises: 6 A voice says, Cry! And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. What a comforting message that is, knowing that as this world changes, as people come and go, as cultures change and die, in this fallen world, there is one thing you can always count on the truth of God s Word, now and forever the person who stands of the Word of God, stands! Page 5
The message of comfort that is to be proclaimed to all the world is the message of Jesus that God has given the world His Son in the frailness of human flesh to be our Savior from sin: Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. The God-pleasing message of comfort you are to hear is that in this world of sin and trouble, there is also much joy and celebration because in Jesus your sins are forgiven and in Jesus, you are shepherded by God Himself: He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. CONCLUSION The Church her pastors and her people are called to comfort people with the eternal promises of God s Word. We comfort people with the same message that gives us comfort, the message of God s love and grace in Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior. In the weakness of your flesh in your mistakes, in your frailty, in your sufferings, in your your sickness and death, you have this message of comfort God s Word endures. He doesn t change His mind about sin that s not comforting news to the sinfully hard-hearted but it s news they need to hear, for Jesus will return and He will brings His judgment with Him. But God also doesn t change His mind about forgiveness what Jesus won of the cross for sinners is forever and forever comforting! In Jesus Name. Amen. Page 6