Comfort My People

Isaiah 40:21-31 Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

I Corinthians 9:16-23 Mark 1:29-39

Fifth Sunday after EpiphanyB

COMFORT MY PEOPLE

Isaiah 40:21-31

Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?

He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name,

by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power

not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

"My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:9 The Greatness of God

Get you 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.

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.

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Amid all the bad news in the world, what are we to say? Shake our heads in dismay and despair and pronounce woes?

WHAT TO SAY Isaiah 40:1-40:8

What is a prophet, a teacher with divine insight, to say?

In essence, the first 39 chapters of Isaiah is a message saying Judgment is coming, repent.

I. JUDGMENT – LEADS TO REPENTANCE

Poets of this post modern age have been aware of judgment, and just as the prophets in the Old Testament were not popular with their kings, Presidents of the post-modern era-post WWII era such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon weren’t happy with words such as these from the prophets and poets of their time.

Hear again, after a 35 years John Fogerty’s lyrics. And by the way, I think he still performs, now back with his old record label that produced Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Bad Moon Rising

I see a bad moon rising I see trouble on the way I see earthquakes and lightnin’ I see bad times today

Don’t go ’round tonight It’s bound to take your life There’s a bad moon on the rise

I hear hurricanes a blowin’ I know the end is commin’ soon I fear rivers over flowing I hear the voice of rage and ruin

Hope you got your things together Hope you are quite prepared to die Looks like we’er in for nasty weather One eye is taken for an eye

"Bad Moon Rising" is a 1969 song (written by John Fogerty) of the group Creedence Clearwater Revival, on their album Green River. The song displays John Fogerty’s ill feelings torward the election of Richard Nixon to the U.S. presidency.

That prophecy, in the last 35 years has had two fulfillments as relates to war, and one to natural disaster

In retrospect: the Bad Moon continues to rise and the nasty weather enveloped not only Louisiana but much of the Gulf Coast. The irony of the song, written 35 years ago is that its reference to a “bad moon” is well understood in the Bayou country. A "bad moon" refers to a rising of the water in Louisana caused by the tide every twenty years or so to an unusual level; it’s bad because the land is only a foot or two above sea level and the moon draws the water.

PROPHETS ARE NOT WITHOUT HONOR, EXCEPT IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY SAID JESUS. So while some listened to Bad Moon, few really heard.