Loving God, in the midst of this changeable world, your love for us does not falter.  Help us to know your presence and your comfort, especially during those times when we need it the most; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God” (Isa. 40:1).  And how many people are there who could use this word of comfort today?  Some are in the midst of a long battle with illness.  Some are grieving the loss of loved ones.  Some are experiencing the loss of their home, or the loss of employment, or the loss of their independence.  Some are simply overwhelmed by all of the demands on them and long for some rest and some peace.  And others are facing the challenge of trying to make ends meet when there just never seems to be enough.  God’s comfort, it seems, is always needed, whether we are talking about today or more than 2,500 years ago.

         When these words of comfort were first given to Isaiah, the people of Judah had lost their homes, their Temple, and their freedom.  They had been taken to Babylon as captives, and had been forced to make their homes in a foreign land.  Not only that, but sometimes their captors had forced them to sing and make music, laughing while they tried to force them to sing some happy songs from Jerusalem.  But the people struggled with how they could possibly “sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land” (Ps. 137:4).  It is into this setting of loss and exile and grief that God’s message comes through Isaiah: “Comfort, O comfort my people.”  And then we start hearing about a way in the wilderness and a highway in the desert.

         It might be helpful to know that, if you’re going to travel from Jerusalem to Babylon (or the other way around) about 2,500 years ago, there are basically two routes you can take.  You can go the long way around, following the water sources like the Euphrates River, or, you can take a direct route through the desert wilderness.  The wilderness route, one might imagine, would require being pretty well equipped for desert travel.  And so, it’s not as if the Israelites could just leave and walk home.  They would need some pretty solid resources behind them in order to go home.

         And so, when we hear about a highway in the desert, and the uneven ground becoming level, it begins to sound as though God will lead them home.  Not only that, but there are echoes of the exodus out of Egypt, when the glory of the Lord traveled with them in the wilderness in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.  And, once we understand what some of the wilderness looks like and how many hills and valleys there are, the whole concept of a level road to travel seems a pretty amazing feat.  For a people who are despondent and down-trodden, these images are like the beginning of the good news.

         And then, Isaiah is given a message.  He hears a voice that says, “Preach!”  And he responds, “What shall I preach?”

All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass (Isa. 40:6-7).

Does that sound like good news to you?...  We are like grass that withers and flowers that fade, and our lovingkindness and loyalty last about as long as a wildflower.  Ah… but the good news is still coming!

         “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).  Even though our loyalty to God can be finnicky and changeable – even though our lovingkindness might not last – God’s hesed – God’s covenant loyalty and lovingkindness stands forever, just like God’s word.  Even though we might turn away from God, God never turns away from us.

         And then Isaiah leaves us with the image of the Good Shepherd – the God who feeds us and leads us and gives special care to the sheep that need it the most – the lambs and nursing mothers.  It is an image to keep in mind especially at those times when we are in need of God’s comfort.  Sometimes it helps to just close our eyes for a minute or two and imagine ourselves as one of those lambs in the arms of Jesus.

         While this is a bit of an anachronism – to read Jesus back into a passage from Isaiah – the words of the prophets are often like that.  This prophecy from Isaiah was fulfilled when the people were eventually able to return to Jerusalem – set free from bondage in Babylon just like the Exodus from Egypt so many years before.  This same prophecy was also fulfilled in John the Baptist, who saw himself as the voice in the wilderness preparing the way for the coming Messiah.  And, it is entirely likely that there are ways in which these words of Isaiah continue to be fulfilled today.

         As we noted earlier, there continue to be many people who are in need of God’s comfort today.  You might have heard the story about a child who was scared by a storm. Mommy says several times, “Don’t worry.  Jesus is with you.”  However, the child, who is still scared, says, “Sometimes I need Jesus with the skin on” (revgalblogpals.org).  Don’t we all feel like that sometimes? -- And sometimes we get to be “Jesus with the skin on” for somebody else who is scared or in need of comfort.

         We live in a world that is changeable, and sometimes scary, and full of things that simply do not last.  Yet, the good news remains: “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).  In the midst of our challenges and losses, God’s love for us does not fade, and Jesus is, indeed, with us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Advent 2 (NL 2)                                Isaiah 40:1-11

December 8, 2019                           Mark 1:1-4

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2019 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved