Voice of Comfort :: Isaiah 40:1-11
Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort, ye My people, Speak ye peace, thus saith our God (LSB 347:1).
I love this hymn! The more I listen to it, the more I love it.
Some people think it’s a little slow. But I think we all need to slow down. And I think the tune perfectly resets my mood ... Comfort, comfort, ye My people ... It’s peaceful ... calming. It’s like the voice of my wife lulling away anxiety in our children ... Comfort, comfort, ye My people.
So you see, I think this hymn gives me all the more reason to love the text for our meditation. It’s not just comfort, it is double comfort.
Funny, though, as I was working on this text, something invariably stole my comfort.
Grrrr ... I groan! How am I ever gonna get all this done? There are so many distractions ... the spam phone calls ... the text messages ... the bills to pay ... the aches, the pains. The sweet sounds of Advent keep getting interrupted by darkness and worry and anxiety of life.
Who should I call? Maybe I should do this instead. No, I’ll wait a minute so I can interrupt my next thought. ...
Mood blown.
So brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to quiet ourselves for just 15 minutes and
HEARKEN THE SWEET SOUND OF THE ADVENT OF THE GOSPEL
Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak upon the heart of Jerusalem
In our reading today, the prophet Isaiah delivers a double comfort that opens our ears, changes our hearts, and calms our minds.
But wouldn’t you know it ... there’s the prophet’s voice crashing the party.
1. Beep ... beep ... beep ...
A voice calling out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of YHWH; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the uneven ground will become level and the rough places a plain (vv 3–5).
In other words, Get those earthmovers in here! Hurry up with those dozers! It’s time to level the place.
Wait, pastor, did you say something about comfort?
Yes, as a matter of fact I did.
Vast tracts of land are about to be leveled in your lives for your comfort.
A highway’s going through. It’s not going around the Ozarks. The rollercoaster of Highway C between Clinton and Lincoln ... gone. The snaking bends of Highway Z .... gone. The Oaks and Hickory forests east of town ... won’t stand in the way. All the gravel roads that take you home ... paved.
See, the highway breaking forth in your life is literally the Messiah bursting in, God in the flesh is on his way. He won’t reroute for anybody. If you’re in the way, you’re getting bulldozed ... razed, leveled, made plain.
All so that you can sing ... Comfort, comfort, ye My people
2. We need to hear the Advent of this voice in our lives.
This, of course, is why John the Baptist came too, some 700 years after Isaiah.
The Lord is coming! Prepare!
He cried out to everyone who would listen ... even the broods who wouldn’t listen. Repent! And bear the fruit in keeping with repentance.
John was even willing to lose his head to bring comfort to God’s people. He spent his whole life dedicated to be God’s messenger ... even behind bars as he sent his disciples forth to make sure they would bear witness to Christ, too.
Are you listening?
Most of us get all excited about Christmas coming, about the Messiah being born! This is good news. But we need to hear the prophets, too. Often their voices warn about the advent of the Messiah: Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire (Mal 3:2).
Yes, who can stand?
Someone whose words are thoughtless gossip?
Someone whose thoughts are selfish, greedy, lustful?
Someone who’s indifferent to the King of the universe?
Someone who thinks the forgiveness of sins is only for special days?
No obstacle will be allowed to stand in his way ... least of all sin.
So Paul cries out ... John cries out ... Isaiah cries out ... The Lord will shine a light on the darkness of your hearts. ... Repent! ... Prepare!
Don’t ignore God’s Word and sacraments.
Advent is a time of repentance. It is a time of preparation. It is a call to action. And we need to hear its message, even when we don’t want to listen ... We need to hear the comforting words that in the Lord’s Advent, anyone standing in sin will be bulldozed.
And that is comfort, ye my people.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, it means God is making something new of you.
Apart from the comfort of this Gospel ...
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass; the grass withers, the flower fades (vv 6b–8a).
We’re all like grass clippings that are mulched and thrown out. We’re all like those big bales of hay that are composting, rotting in the corners of some pastures.
Apart from the comfort of God’s call to repentance, we are left with nothing but hopelessness ... helplessness ... desperation!
You know the feeling, don’t you?
Sin does this in your life. It creates valleys of sorrow, and makes mountains out of molehills. It brings us fatigue and pain ... it wears down our hearts, our backs, our knees. It leaves us with shortness of breath ... and then we die.
Too often things we try to accomplish seem so futile. You spend years saving for retirement, then you lose the loved one you wanted to spend it all with. You’ve done everything you’re supposed to to raise your children in the faith, but they ain’t coming any more. You’ve done all the right things to save yourself for your future spouse, to preserve your marriage, and then you start to wonder if anybody’s going to love you.
Yes, the grass withers, the flower fades.
4. But because we are so helpless, it is indeed comforting to hear the Advent of the voice of our God in clear, strong words!
The grass withers, the flower fades ... But the word of our God stands forever (v8). ... And the glory of YHWH will be revealed, and all flesh will see together, for the mouth of YHWH has spoken
God’s voice rings out in no uncertain terms ... strong and clear, irresistible and comforting. When the herald announces that the Lord is coming, he comes! He is about to reveal himself. When the voice cries that every hill and valley will be leveled, it happens. And it is doubly comforting to hear ...
We need this Advent to be reminded His Promises will be accomplished, that his voice gives us the strength and certainty we lack.
So hear that voice of the Lord. ...
Upon a high mountain, get up, O herald of good tidings ...
Lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Fear not!
Say ... ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord, YHWH, will come with strength ...
Behold, His reward is with Him ...
Like a shepherd, his flock will feed. In his arms, he will gather the lambs. In his bosom, he will carry them. Those that are young, he will gently lead.
Yes ...
Comfort, comfort My people! Says your God. Speak comfort ... and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (vv 9–11, 1–2).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not just pure comfort, it is double comfort! It’s not a wish or a nice idea. The Lord God has come comforting ... healing ... forgiving ... making whole. The mouth of the Lord has spoken ... the word of our God stands.
Jesus has come to us ... for us ... living righteously for us, dying for us, overcoming death for us. Our iniquity has been forgiven on account of Jesus. God has declared your sins forgiven. Forever. Yesterday’s. Today’s. Tomorrow’s. On account of Jesus. He paid the price for all your sins ... and then gave you his innocence.
He who knew no sin became sin for you ... so that he could bear the punishment you deserve. Your sin has been forgiven. Your sins no longer exist.
But as if all that isn’t comforting enough, he also has clothed you in his righteous robes through baptism. He has washed you clean, and has raised you to new life in Christ ... his resurrection gives you double comfort. More than that he feeds you his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, too. It is comfort, comfort, ye my people
That was John’s message too for those who wanted to listen to the rest of it.
We may be aging, fading, but in Christ we have eternal youth. We may feel withered and weak, weary and worn, but Christ always refreshes and renews us. We may think our dreams, plans, families are coming to nothing, but Christ has plans for us beyond our wildest dreams.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken ... the word of our God stands.
When the voice of the Lord speaks these promises, nothing can resist him. No obstacle will prevent his doing all this for us. There’s confidence in that strong, clear voice, isn’t there! There’s comfort for withered, faded souls.
It is a voice of good tidings whose words will stand forever.
A voice of comfort, comfort for my people.