GOD SENDS A VOICE TO COMFORT HIS PEOPLE.
In
the name + of Jesus.
Three times a voice cries out in our reading from Isaiah. The overriding emphasis of this reading is found in the first verses. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:1-2). But what Isaiah cries out the first two times does not really bring any comfort. Our Gospel reading reminds us that these verses find their fulfillment in John the Baptist. He is the voice crying in the wilderness. But it does not sound like John is comforting people with cries of “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Those sound like ominous words, not comforting words.
The voice in the wilderness prepares for
the Word made flesh. The first time the voice
cries out is to prepare the way. If you
know a dignitary is coming to your home, you will make sure that you don’t have
dirty dishes piled up in the sink, toys or magazines scattered on the floor, and
unfolded laundry sitting out. You will make
sure your home clean and orderly.
The voice cries out to proclaim that the
Lord is coming. At first, the voice does
not say why the Lord would come. Is it
an inspection? Are we to expect
punishment? A blessing? We don’t know. What we do know is that the Lord is coming,
and we want to be sure that nothing would offend him. Nothing should stand in the way. So, the voice urges, “Prepare the way”
(Isaiah 40:3). Let the hills be
shaved down and the valleys filled in so that the road is easy to traverse.
What would make the Lord’s coming to us unpleasant? It would be unpleasant if it looks like he is
not welcome. This is why John the Baptist
cries out for us to repent. Repentance
is not merely saying you are sorry. It
is also putting off your sins and amending your life accordingly. St. Paul wrote, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing
honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share
with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). So, repentance is more than just stopping the
evil, that is, the thievery. It is also pursuing
what is good, that is, being productive and contributing as one can.
That is why we
confess both sins of commission and sins of omission. We admit that we have done the evil God forbids. We have actively committed sins. We also have not done the good God
demands. We have omitted good deeds
which benefit our neighbor. When our Lord
comes, this is what he expects to see.
Therefore, to prepare the way for the Lord, we clear out what is opposed
to God’s word. Just like we keep taking the
trash to the curb so that it does not make our house stink, so also we cast off
every day our sins so that they do not fester in our hearts.
Again, the voice cries out: “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the
field. The grass withers, the flower
fades when the breath of the Lord blows
on it…” (Isaiah 40:6-7). All flesh is grass. All men are mortal. Nothing lasts forever. As Moses had observed, “The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength
eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly
away” (Psalm 90:10). When you are young, those seventy
to eighty years seem like forever. The
older you get, 80 years does not seem that long. Life is, indeed, short.
We try to make our mark on the world, hoping to leave behind some kind
of legacy, some kind of achievement which will remind people we were here. For most people, the grave marker is as
permanent as you will get. After only a
few generations, even your family will forget you. You will be a name in a family history, but
that will be it. All our glory, whatever
we accumulate or achieve, is like the flowers of the field. Their brilliance and beauty last only for a
season, and then they are gone—faded, withered, and reduced to compost.
Perhaps this makes life seem useless.
Many have wondered, “What’s the point?
You live. You die. What’s the point?” The point is what Isaiah preaches. He is a voice sent by God to comfort. “Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). God says to you, “You
are my people.” Your life matters
because God has created you. Your life
has meaning because God factored you in his plans. He brought you into his world and blessed you
with particular interests, skills, and abilities. He has placed you in the family, the city,
and the era he wanted you to live in.
All the people you encounter may seem like chance meetings. In reality, it is by God’s design. He gives you the opportunity to love and to benefit
the people you meet. Your glory in this
world may not last, but that does not make it useless. No one despises the beauty of the flowers
when they are in bloom. Do not despise
your life on earth even if it is short.
But the voice
goes on to proclaim greater comfort to God’s people. In fact, it is boundless comfort. The third time the voice cries out: “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!” Behold,
the Lord God comes with might, and his arm
rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him”
(Isaiah 40:9-10). Here we learn the reason why the Lord comes. It is to bless and to save.
Isaiah foretold that
the Lord will come with reward and with recompense. The reason this is good news is because the Lord
is not coming to give us what we deserve.
He is coming with his reward and his recompense. In other words, he is coming to give us what
he has earned.
God sends a voice to comfort his people. The voice cries out the first time to prepare
the way so that we are eager to receive our God. The voice cries out the second time to remind
us that no earthly gain or glory will last.
The voice cries out the third time to proclaim the good news: God comes
to bring his people great reward—a reward and a glory that last forever. God sends a voice to comfort his people.
“Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God. 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”
(Isaiah 40:1-2). The voice decrees God’s peace. The hostilities have come to an end. Although, it is not that God had declared war
on mankind. God never stopped loving
what he had created. It is people who have
turned away from God. Many today presume
to speak for God, saying what God thinks or wants from us based on their own
opinions. They declare, “My God
would never do this or that.” This is
idolatry. No one gets to craft his own
god. Besides, hasn’t God spoken for
himself in the Bible? Even if people
admit he has, they claim that we have progressed beyond it. A new day calls for a new understanding of
what God really meant, they say. This is
a war on God and his clear word. None of
us has become immune to these hostilities, though. Even we bristle when God’s word calls for generosity,
forgiveness, and loving our enemies. So,
it is not that God has been hostile to us; it is that we have been hostile to
him.
But now Jesus comes to reconcile us to God
the Father. He delivers God’s peace to us. The Lord declares, “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 sin” (Isaiah
40:2).
Jesus delivers to you the double blessing. First, he bestows his mercy. Mercy is that you do not get what you deserve. A spy who is captured may beg to be spared. Captured spies know they should be
killed. But his captors may show him
mercy and refrain from taking his life.
It’s not that the spy deserved it.
He was shown mercy.
The Lord Jesus has shown us mercy by not
condemning us for our sins. But sins
must be punished, or God would not be serious about his Law. Therefore, Jesus stands in our place. He takes up our sin and its punishment. He is executed so that justice can be
done. But you and I receive mercy. We do not get the hell our sins have earned
us. We are not treated as our sins
deserve.
And he gives us double blessing. Besides being merciful, he is also
gracious. This means that we get what we
do not deserve. It would be like the spy,
instead of being executed, gets escorted to a plane where he is flown home to
be with his family again. That kind of
favor is inexplicable. And that is what
Jesus has done for us. He does not banish
us to hell. He does not exterminate us
so that we go out of existence. Instead,
he delivers us out of death and opens to us the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ has pardoned our iniquities
because he paid for them. He has secured
our resurrection to glory and life everlasting.
So, we receive double blessing—mercy and grace.
The voice of God still comforts his people. You have been reconciled to God the Father—which
not only means that God the Father delights in you, it also means that you delight
in him. He is the source of love and the
giver of every good and perfect gift. He
pours out boundless mercy and endless grace.
Nevertheless, we still struggle.
We are weak. We falter, and it
makes us fear that God will grow impatient with us or be ashamed of us.
Therefore, our Lord continues to speak tenderly
to us. The voice of God still comforts
his people. He knows that we are dust and
breath. So the Lord guides us and cares
for us accordingly. Isaiah said, “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”
(Isaiah 40:11). Even if the Lord
leads us through difficulties and we are painfully limping along, he does not
drive us into the ground or tell us that a true disciple would not have such
problems. Rather, he reassures us that
his love endures, that he is faithful to his promises, and that our strength and
hope always depend upon him.
As if once wasn’t enough, he says it twice, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). You are his people, bought with the blood of Jesus. He is your God, bestowing the double-blessing of mercy and grace, of pardon and peace, of a place in his kingdom now and forever. All our glory here may be like the grass of the field which lives for a moment and then withers away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. So will those who trust in it.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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