A Voice of Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-11

Second Sunday in Advent

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen.  The sermon text for the second Sunday in Advent is the Old Testament reading Isaiah 40. Isaiah begins our text by saying the words, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”.  The word comfort brings out warm and pleasant thoughts.  The word comfort takes away anxiety especially in such a busy time of the year.  “Comfort, comfort my people says your God”.  It is those opening words that make this reading so wonderful.  

But when we continue to read the passage that mood of peace and comfort is disrupted.  As we continue to read the passage, we hear a voice that cries out and tells us that anything in the Lord’s way will be bulldozed over.  This is what Isaiah says starting with verse three.  “A voice cries in the wilderness prepare the way for 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.  And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken”.

Isaiah tells us that every mountain shall be leveled and every valley lifted. A highway needs to be made because the Lord is on His way.  He does not reroute for anybody.  Nothing can stand in His way not even solid granite peaks or steep ravines.  That is the message we hear from Isaiah.  He talks about things being leveled.  If you are in the way, you are getting bulldozed over. The part about a voice crying out into the wilderness making a straight highway and leveling mountains is referring to John the Baptist. 

John came into the world about seven hundred years after Isaiah.  John came into the world to prepare the way for the Lord.  John preached a message of repentance.  John the Baptist was not concerned about mountains being run over.  John was concerned about the condition of the human heart.  He came to see that people didn’t get flattened.  Lives that are not level, that are crooked, that aren’t perfectly in line with God’s Law will be blasted away.  Many things come from the sinful heart like pride, selfishness, greed, and lust. The sinful heart loves the world and is indifference to God and His Word.  The sinful heart seeks out the idols of this world and places them above the one true God.   The voice crying out in the wilderness is John the Baptist.  He is saying, “Prepare and repent”.  When the Lord comes anyone standing in sin will be bulldozed.  So we have to ask ourselves.  Where is the comfort in that? 

Perhaps we need to read more of the text and try to hear what else the voice has to say.  Our passage continues in verse six.  “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. The grass withers the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surly the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades”.  In this portion of our text Isaiah tells us that we will wither away and die like grass.  It does not sound very comforting.  It is pretty pessimistic, isn’t it?  But we know it’s true.  We all know what it feels like to be withered.  We all know what it is like to be tired and worn down. We sometimes feel withered and warn out because of our work.  We sometimes feel withered and worn out raising kids.  We feel withered and worn out being a caretaker of our aging parents or sick spouse.   We all get older and grayer.  Our waistlines get bigger, and our health eventually falters.  A heart attack or stroke can happen at any time.  We begin to realize that our time on this earth is not very long.  The wages of sin is death.  A voice cries out, “The grass withers, the flowers fades”.  Where is the comfort in that? 

Isaiah wants us to know our true condition.  He wants us to acknowledge our sinfulness and to know that sin eventually leads to death.  When we are aware of our own condition then we are able to understand that true comfort can only come from God.  Let us once again go back to our text.  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God will stand forever”.  Did you hear what was said?  The word of our God will stand forever.  The Lord has spoken.  God’s voice rings out and it is strong and clear.  When the herald announced that the Lord is coming, He comes. Here is a question that we must now ask.   How does the Word of the Lord sound to you? 

If we want to stand before God as we are, sin and all, and if we are going to set ourselves up as mountains in God’s way, then the last thing we want is the voice of God that moves mountains.  There is no comfort to those who refuse to repent of their sins. God’s judgment will come.  But if we acknowledge our sin and realize that we really are grass, a flower that fades, then we will be comforted by the coming of the Lord.  For the Lord comes and gives us the good news of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  So when the Lord says, “I love you” we know it is true.  When the Lord says, “I forgive you”, we know that He does.  When the Lord says, “I have restored you”, we know that His promise can never be broken.  When the Lord says, “I am with you always”, we know that He is.  When the Lord says, “I will come again and bring you into my full presence”, we can be certain that He will.  The Word of the Lord is strong and clear.  The Word of the Lord lifts us up and gives us strength and certainty. Comfort is given to all who believe in Christ.          

Isaiah in our Old Testament reading, and John the Baptist in our Gospel reading are warning us about sin and the effects of sin in order to direct our attention to the Savior.  Isaiah foretold that John the Baptist would come to prepare the way for the Lord. John is the prophet of Advent, the voice crying out in the wilderness, the one who points us to Jesus. “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”. These words were fulfilled in Christ Jesus. 

Here is true comfort.  Not just a wish or a nice idea.  True comfort is only found in Christ.  The Lord has indeed come just as Isaiah knew, just as John the Baptist proclaimed. Jesus has come into the world.  He lived a perfect life.  He died on a cross.  He rose from the dead.  Our sins have been pardoned.  We have been forgiven.  We have received God’s gifts and proclaim His goodness.  “Get 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 that comes with might, and His arm rules for Him and His recompense before Him.”  We are all comforted by the good news that God is gracious to us and that belong to Him. “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”.

That is the message of Isaiah.  Christ has gathered all of us up like a shepherd gathers his flock.  We may feel withered and tired at the end of the day but Christ always refreshes us and renews us for another day.  We may get disappointed when our plans do not go the way we want them to go but Christ has plans for us beyond our wildest dreams. We may be aging and fading in this life but in Christ we have been given eternal life.  When the voice of the Lord speaks these promises nothing can stop them. No obstacle will prevent Him from giving His grace.  “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”.  Amen.