Isaiah 40:1-8 * December 7, 2008 * Advent 2 * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Jesus Christ, our coming Lord:

In 1997 the term “comfort food” was added to the tenth edition of Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Comfort food is defined as “food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal.” According to Fine Living magazine popular comfort foods include macaroni and cheese, ice cream, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and lasagna.

Comfort foods are comforting because they take us back to a time when life was less complicated. They evoke positive emotions. They are often associated with significant social relationships. And people consume these comfort foods in great quantities as a remedy for stress.

Do you have a favorite comfort food? And if you do, does it work? Does it give you comfort, or does it just make you feel uncomfortable when you are finished? If stress is a problem in your life (and who doesn’t feel at least a little stressed this time of year?), the Lord has a different remedy. It doesn’t have any calories. It doesn’t come from any special food. It can be found only in God’s Word.

This divine recipe hasn’t changed for thousands of years. In fact, it’s the exact same message the prophet Isaiah shared with the Israelites in exile. Talk about stress. Talk about people who needed to be comforted. Their armies had been defeated. Their homes had been destroyed, and as the years went by in Babylon it probably looked like they would never see their homeland again.

It was to these defeated people living in these difficult times that the Lord brought a message of hope, the same message Isaiah shares with you and me today. Children of God, be assured that…

COMFORT IS COMING

I. It comes through an everlasting message

II. It comes through living messengers

I’d like to start this morning by talking about grass. That might sound a little strange, especially at this time of the year. Most Wisconsinites have traded in their lawn mowers for snow blowers. If you want to see any grass these days, you have to dig down about six inches.

In spite of the weather, I still want to talk about grass because that’s what Isaiah wrote about in today’s text. The Lord declared: “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass” (6,7).

Did you catch the first word of that quote? All. What the Lord has to say applies to everyone. Believers and Unbelievers. Male and female. Young and old. All people are just like grass. We are here today and gone tomorrow. Even our greatest accomplishments, even the best we have to offer is like a flower that blossoms and then fades. Dust we are and (unless the Lord returns first) to dust we will return. In other words, every one of us is going to die and when we do there is very good chance that everything we’ve accomplished will be forgotten.

Maybe you’re glancing at your service folder right about now. Maybe you’re wondering if you heard the sermon theme wrong. You didn’t. Comfort is coming. In fact it comes in the very next verse: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (8).

Seasons change, but God’s Word will never change. People die, but the Word of God endures. Why is that so comforting? Why is it such a comfort to know that the word of God stands forever? Perhaps Peter can help us answer those questions.

In the second lesson for today (II Peter 3:8-14) Peter wrote: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (10).

On the day of the Lord, when Jesus comes back on Judgment Day to judge the living and the dead, life as we know it will come to an end. The heavens will disappear. The earth will be destroyed. Everything will be laid bare. Nothing will be left…except God’s Word. Even if every Bible ever printed is burned up, the Word of God will endure, and so will every promise it contains.

When the Lord commanded Isaiah to comfort his people (1), he wasn’t speaking in general terms. He had three specific promises in mind, promises that were meant to give hope to his people in captivity. First, God wanted his people to know that their “hard service has been completed” (2a).

When Isaiah wrote those words, the hard service of living in exile in Babylon hadn’t even begun. In fact, it wouldn’t happen for over a hundred years. But God knows all things. God knows the future. And he wanted to assure his people that no matter what happened and no matter when it happened, their suffering would come to an end.

Next the Lord wanted Jerusalem (a name he used for his people) to know that “her sin has been paid for” (2b). Again, God was speaking about something in the future as if it had already happened in the past. And it was Isaiah who painted an amazingly detailed picture of how that promise would be fulfilled.

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, seven hundred years before Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, Isaiah prophesied: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5, 6).

Finally, the Lord told Isaiah to proclaim to Israel that “she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (2c). God’s people deserved punishment, but God gave them promises. The people deserved to die for their sins, but the Lord gave them the hope of salvation. To paraphrase something Paul said to the Romans (5:20), the Lord was telling his people: “Even though your sins have increased, my grace has increased all the more.”

It was Isaiah’s privilege to share this message of comfort with God’s people, but the comfort he gave wasn’t restricted to these people. Because God’s Word and God’s promises stand forever, because the message is an everlasting message, it’s as if Isaiah is speaking to us today.

Is your life hard? Is it getting harder by the day? You have God’s promise that things will get better. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not in your lifetime. But no matter how hard it gets, know this. Your present sufferings are nothing compared to the eternal glory that awaits you in heaven (Romans 8:18).

Are you bothered by guilt? Do you ever get the feeling that no matter how much you do you can never do enough? You can’t. You can’t make up for your sins. You can’t pay for a single sin, but you don’t have to. Your sin has been atoned for. Jesus took your place. Jesus paid your debt. You are forgiven.

Because of our sin we deserve to be smashed with the fist of the Lord’s anger, but what does God do instead? He opens his hand in blessing. From the Lord’s hand we receive double for all our sins. Don’t try to understand it. Just believe it. Don’t try to comprehend the gospel. Be comforted by it.

And be thankful for the people who proclaim it. Be thankful because a message, even an everlasting message has no value unless there is someone to share it. As the conversation between God and Isaiah continues, we are reminded that comfort comes through living messengers.

One of those messengers was Isaiah. It was Isaiah who wrote: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (1:18). It was Isaiah who prophesied: “To us a child is born, to us a Son is given” (9:7).

The book of Isaiah has been called the gospel of the Old Testament, but if the author were here today I think he would be quick to deflect the attention away from himself. Even in his message, he pointed people to the coming of another messenger: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God’” (3).

The gospel lesson for today (Mark 1:1-8) identifies who that voice is. John the Baptist did his work in the wilderness, and his message can be summarized in a single word: Repent! John didn’t tell people what they wanted to hear. He told them what they needed to hear. By pointing out people’s sins and pointing them to the coming Savior John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord.

The word translated “prepare” literally means “to remove obstacles.” Moving obstacles out of the way is a good way to describe what God’s messengers did, and what they still do. Are there any obstacles in your heart? Is something keeping you from preparing for the Lord’s coming? Are you hiding a secret sin? Are you holding on to grudge? Are you much better at making excuses than making confession?

Don’t underestimate the seriousness of your sin. Don’t let guilt get the best of you. Don’t let anything come between you and your Lord. Take to heart the words of John: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” And then take your sins to the foot of the cross.

When John the Baptist preached he made a lot of people uncomfortable, but at the same time he was a messenger of comfort. He denounced sin, but he also announced the arrival of the promised Messiah. That was a huge comfort to God’s people. That is still a great comfort to God’s people. That’s what our worship is all about during the Advent season. We watch and wait for Jesus to come, as the babe of Bethlehem, as the King of kings, as the Savior of the world.

You’ve probably heard of a little book called “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” Fifteen years after it was first published in 1993, there are now over 100 million copies in print in 54 languages world-wide. Those numbers say something. They tell us that people are searching. They want to be comforted. They want to be inspired. They are looking for something that we have.

God’s Word is much more than a collection of inspiring stories. In the Bible God unfolds his plan of salvation. In the pages of Scripture the Lord gives us comfort food for the soul. In Isaiah we have the enduring testimony of an everlasting message. And so we can be sure that comfort is coming. Comfort is coming because Jesus is coming. Amen.