One of the Advent hymns that we will be singing during communion this morning is “Comfort, Comfort Now My People”, it’s hymn #29 in the Lutheran Book of Worship. The first line of the hymn says “Comfort, Comfort, now my people; “Tell of Peace” so says our God. (LBW 29 v.1) I have to admit, I really like this Advent hymn. Some people think it’s a bit slow, but I think the tune perfectly sets a mood of peace, serenity, quietness, which to be perfectly honest, I really need during a busy time of the year. It’s a voice that gently lulls away anxiety: “Comfort, comfort, now my people.” I think this hymn is one of the reasons I really like our Old Testament reading for this morning.
But as much as I love this text, I have to admit, every time I work on this particular text, something blows my mood. It’s like a bullhorn on a job site calling you back from lunch; it’s this voice shouting “Make way, make way! Comin’ through! Come on, move it, move it, move it!” Actually, it’s the voice of John the Baptist, foretold by Isaiah the prophet, telling us to get up and get with it. It’s definitely a mood changer.
The prophet’s voice is supposed to open a new, comforting section of the whole book of Isaiah. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are primarily speaking of judgment, ending with a prophecy of the Babylonian captivity. Chapters 40-66 then are primarily intended to be a message of comfort. It starts out well enough: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” (v.1) But then, the prophet’s voice changes altogether. It leads us to ask a key question: Where’s the Comfort in that voice?”
It’s as if a voice cries out that anything standing in God’s way will be bulldozed. Just listen to that voice crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of 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.” (v. 3-5)
We start off by hearing the phrase “Every valley and mountain shall be leveled.” That statement brings to my mind pictures of a road construction site, where they are putting in a highway in a place where there hasn’t been one before. “Get that earthmover over here! Get that blasting crew! We need some dynamite here! Hurry up with those ‘dozers!” There’s a lot of hard work to prepare the way for that new highway. Things have to be leveled out before you can begin the work of making the highway. In a spiritual sense, that’s the voice we hear from Isaiah in our reading. You could say that our text is a “hard-hat only” area; as vast tracts of land are being leveled. A highway is going through. Because of that, to make the path straight, you have to prepare for it. The highway isn’t going through the valleys or around the mountains. In fact, there’s not going to be any more mountains or valleys for the highway that Isaiah is speaking about.
You see this highway that Isaiah is talking about is the Messiah coming. God is on His way. He doesn’t reroute for anybody, nothing is going to stand in His way. Not solid granit peaks, not deep, steep ravines. The fact is, when the Messiah comes, God Himself arrives, if you’re not prepared and you’re in the way, you’re gonna get bulldozed.
This is exactly the reason that 700 years after Isaiah first spoke these words, that his prophecy came true when John the Baptist arrives on the scene in our Gospel reading for today. John’s message was simple. “The Lord is coming! Prepare the way of the Lord!”, or in other words, “Repent!”
You see, John wasn’t concerned about mountains being run over, he didn’t care who was in the crowd, what their social status was, their economic situation was, or how educated they were. His message was the same to all, because John came to see that people didn’t get flattened when the Lord arrives. He did it by pointing out the sins of those who came to hear him. You see, lives that aren’t level, that are crooked because of sin, that are not perfectly in line with the rule of God’s Law, will be blasted away when He comes. When the heavy machinery comes rolling through in the arrival of the Messiah, anyone with sin is not going to be an innocent victim.
This sounds so foreign to us, especially during this season of Advent. Today, we get all excited about Christmas coming, about celebrating the birth of the Messiah 2000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem. We do our own preparations to get ready, by having parites, putting up all kinds of decorations, making plans for a big family get together, and of course shopping for all those perfect Christmas gifts. To us, preparing for Christmas is a joy filled experience, completely opposite of what Isaiah is saying in our Old Testament reading and what John the Baptist is saying in our Gospel reading for today about that Messiah.
You see, quite often in the Old Testament, when prophets spoke about preparing for the coming of the Messiah, it wasn’t a joy filled message. Often, those voices warned of the Messiah’s coming. For an example, Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet when speaking about the coming of the Lord wrote: “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire” (Mal. 3:1b-3) Essentially, Malachi is asking who can stand when the Lord appears? Someone whose words are thoughtless and hurt the feelings of others? Someone whose thoughts are selfish, greedy, or lustful? Someone just standing around, indifferent to the King of the Universe? Will anyone who has these sinful behaviors and attitudes stand when the Lord appears? No. No obstacle will be allowed to stand in His way, least of all, sin, no matter how natural or attractice it may be.
That’s the reason that both Isaiah and John cry out: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” That’s why we hear John’s voice each year during the Advent season. Advent is a time to prepare for the celebration of Christmas, the birth of the Messiah, and also a reminder for us to prepare for the promised second coming of Jesus. Thus, as part of our preparation, Advent is also a time of repentance. That’s why this morning in our readings, you hear the message that when the Lord comes, anyone who is standing in their sin will be bulldozed.
We sing “Comfort, comfort, now my people”, but by this point, you’re probably ready to ask “Where’s the comfort, Isaiah? Where’s the comfort, John? Where is the comfort in that voice?” There sure doesn’t seem to be any comfort for us.
But before you give up in despair, listen to what else that voice from Isaiah has to say to you: “A voice says ‘Cry!’ And I said ‘what shall I cry?’” (v.6a) I’ll tell you what it cries. That voice cries out that we have our own reasons to cry. Isaiah continues by saying” All flesh is crass, 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; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades.” (v.6b-8a) Now where’s the comfort in that? What hopelessness! What helplessness! What desperation we read in these words. We’re all like grass clippings they mow and throw out, just composting, rotting. Flowers are beautiful for a while, but eventually, they wilt, droop, and die. Pretty pessimistic, isn’t it? Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, that’s a pretty accurate description of our condition. We have reminders that we’re fading, hair loss, crow’s feet, larger dress or waist size, constant reminders we’re fading. Not only that, but you know what it feels like to feel withered; how many days do you get home from work or school and just want to crash because you’re worn out? But worse than that, the things we try to accomplish in life often seem so futile. There are many across our country who have spent years saving for retirement, looking forward to those “golden years”, and then, just as you reach retirement years, you lose the loved one you wanted to spend that time with. You think you invested everything toward a loving, trusting relationship with your children, but something’s broken down. You do all the right things to prepare yourself for your future spouse and marriage, and then, you start to wonder if anybody’s going to come along for you. That voice cries out “The grass withers, the flower fades.” Where is the comfort in that? Well, the truth is, if that’s the way we see ourselves, as flowers or grass, then there is indeed comfort in the voices of Isaiah and John.
Because we’re so helpless, it is comforting to hear the voice of God so strong, clear, and irrestistable. Just look at the what comes after this section. Isaiah says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”! Did you hear that voice? How did that sound? “The Word of our God stand forever!” You see, that means that God has spoken, His voice rings out as clear and strong and irresistible as can be. When the angel announces to Mary that she will be the mother of the Savior, it happens! When Isaiah and John the Baptist say that the Lord is coming, He comes! When the voice cries that every hill and valley will be leveled, nothing can resist him. Nothing will stop the Savior from coming to rescue us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Now let me ask you, how does THAT sound?
You see, if we want to be big, tough, ruggedly independent, stand up to God or even stand up before God as we are-sin and all-if we’re going to set ourselves up as mountains in God’s way, then the last thing we want is a voice of God that’s irresistible, that moves mountains. In that case, we want a God with a wimpy voice we can easily ignore. We want a god with a voice that speaks wishes, but not truths, a god whose threats and promises will probably never happen. If that’s the kind of voice we want to hear from God, then there’s no comfort in the voices of Isaiah, or John, because the mouth of the Lord HAS spoken, the Word of our God DOES stand forever, whether we recognize it or not. But when we realize that we really are grass, a flower that fades, then that’s the very voice we want to hear. It’s a strong, clear, irresistible voice whose promises will be accomplished, a voice that can give us the strength and certainty we lack. Hear that voice of the Lord; “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…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. (v.9-11, 1-2) This is true comfort! This isn’t just a wish, or a nice idea. This is something that IS going to happen!
In fact, it is something that HAS happened. The Lord God has come, just as Isaiah knew, just as John proclaimed. “The mouth of the Lord has spoken…the word of our God stands.” Jesus Christ has come at Christmas, lived, died on the cross, risen from the grave. And because Jesus has done all of that for us, our sins have been pardoned, forgiven, forever. That was John’s message too for those who wanted to stick around and listen to “the rest of the story.”
Today, we’re here in God’s house, listening to His voice, as the Messiah, Jesus, gathers us, His helpless lambs, holding us close to His heart. We could say that Jesus is carefully picking up the faded flowers, pressing them gently to a page to preserve and keep them forever. Perhaps you’re aging, fading, but in Christ, you have eternal youth and life. You may feel withered, ready to crash at the end of the day, wondering where you will find the strength to face tomorrow, but Christ always refreshes us, renews us for service to Him for another day. We may think our dreams, plans, families, have come to nothing, but Christ has plans for us beyond our wildest dreams, even if we don’t understand them right now. You see, when the voice of the Lord speaks these promises to us, as He has done through His Word this day, nothing can resist him. No obstacle will prevent Him from doing this for us. There’s confidence in that strong, clear voice, isn’t there? There’s comfort in that voice for withered, faded souls. A voice that says “Make way! You’re grass.” But a voice of good tidings, whose words will stand forever. Indeed, a voice of comfort for His people. Amen.
