“When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best"
Isaiah 40:1-11
Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:1-11
Pause right there. “Are you ready for Christmas?” That’s a popular question this time of year. It has to do with Christmas card lists and presents for the family. How important are all those things in a world that needs to recognize the Messiah of all humanity becoming flesh and blood in a Bethlehem barn. It was very popular to have signs that said, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Do you agree? Do your Christmas celebrations give this message?
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Do you remember those old Hallmark commercials? The person would turn the card over and look on the back to see the Hallmark logo. Each year, we spend billions of dollars on Christmas cards, not even counting the postage for the ones we have to mail. What is the purpose? When so much of the world seems to be on-fire, what message is worth that kind of spending? How do you feel when the card reads, “Happy holidays from all of us to all of you… and a happy New Year”?
The prophet Isaiah had a hard message to give the Israelites that had been in exile more than 50 years – “Comfort, o comfort my people, says your God.” Let’s look at that message and see what it might say to us in 2023.
First, God gave them a MESSAGE OF PARDON, v.2
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
This is a message of forgiveness for what they had done – “sin has been paid for.” So, what had they done? Actually, it was a list of sins:
• They worshiped other gods
• They created a social structure where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer
• They were involved in many forms of immorality
Stop right there – do we live is this kind of culture today?
Americans have other gods. We worship the god of entertainment, the god of “I-gotta-have-it-right-now”, and the gods of comfort and convenience. The result is a world in which things matter more than people. We live in a world where it’s too easy to look the other way and wait for the government to pass another law and another law and another law.
We need the message of pardon – this message that God gave to Isaiah when His people were in a land far from what they knew. We need to see that God wants to forgive our sins. This forgiveness is a basic need of every person and every nation.
Jesus looked at the woman who had been set up to be stoned to death for the crime of adultery. In John 8:11 we read Jesus’ words to her, “11 “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Christ is speaking to each of us this day – “I forgive you, now repent – turn from the sin in your life.”
Second, God gave them a MESSAGE OF PROMISE, v. 5
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah gave them (and) us a promise that the Messiah is coming. Or, is it a warning?
We know that God heard the cries of the Israelites in Egypt: Exodus 2:23-25 “23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
God must have heard them in Babylon: Psalm 137:1-4
“1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?”
God hears our prayers and our cries as we long to hear the words I told you last week that Jesus would say one day – READY OR NOT, HERE I COME! This is a promise to those who will repent – who will straighten out the crookedness of the paths on which they now walk.
That’s a message of promise to us – to you and me. God cares about even the little sins. Ever take something from work? One of the side benefits of folks working from home is that employee theft of office supplies has dropped to its lowest point in years. In the US, it is usually estimated to be more than $10 billion.
If you need to get straight with God – repent. Start with “God, you’re right and I’m wrong.” Ask God to let you see sin the same way Jesus sees it. Just be warned – that could lead to you being up at 3:30am with a broken heart. Don’t wait – that’s the warning to us!
Third, God gave them a MESSAGE OF SECURITY, v. 10-11
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.’
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.”
Security is one of our 3 basic needs – 1 Significance, 2 Acceptance, 3 Security. Security is hard in a world that is changing faster than we ever expected. We are reminded, too often, that life is short:
6b “All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
That word of uncertainty is followed by a word of security -
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
We can count on God’s Word it is God Himself. God’s Word to Israel promised that a Savior would come. In a few weeks, we will celebrate the fulfillment of that promise as we remember a little baby who spent His first night on earth in the feed trough of a Bethlehem barn. The coming of Jesus Christ did not change the moral standards of God. Those standards are the same from generation to generation Z. We can have no lasting security in this day without trust and acceptance of God’s Word.
In 2022, there was a survey of 1,000 pastors. “The report found that one-third or more of senior pastors believe:
• Determining moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.
• The Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but is a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity.
• Having faith matters more than which faith you have.
• A person who is generally good, or does enough good things for others, can earn a place in Heaven.
Additionally, one-third or more of senior pastors reject the belief that people are born into sin and can only be saved from its consequences by Jesus Christ; they, personally, will experience eternal salvation only because they have personally confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.”
https://www.arizonachristian.edu/2022/08/30/basic-biblical-beliefs-lacking-among-most-pastors-in-all-u-s-denominations/
Where is the hope for the Church when so many of the shepherds hold views that offer no hope?
Fourth, God gave them a MESSAGE OF HOPE, v. 9
“9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Today, so many are hopeless. We have several generations of lost folks – isolated, lonely, apathetic. But there is good news – WE HAVE THE MESSAGE THEY NEED! It’s not the message of our Christmas cards. They see that same old message and they believe that we don’t care about them. Are we going to stay the same old church/congregation that we have always been? We can change and we can start to offer folks a message of hope. We can start today!
There is no hope in the message that Christmas is all about ribbons and wrapping – all about Santa and singing – unwanted gifts and unwanted messages on our Christmas cards.
We can reclaim the message of Isaiah as we celebrate the birth of a Savior who came that all people – not just us and the folks like us – all people will be assured that each and everyone is beloved by God. When we start to share that message, we will show the world WHY God cared enough to the very best – HIS ONLY SON! Amen.
TEACHING SHEET
Second Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 40:1-11
When You Care Enough to
Send the Very Best
Who was Isaiah?
Isaiah, whose name means “Yahweh is salvation,” is best known for writing the book that bears his name in the Old Testament. His writings are especially significant for the prophecies he made about the coming Messiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born (Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-7, 11:2-4; 53:4-7, 9, 12). Matthew quotes Isaiah when describing John the Baptist’s ministry (Matthew 3:3; Isaiah 40:3), and when Jesus moved to Galilee to start His ministry, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled (Matthew 4:13-16; Isaiah 9:1-2). Jesus quotes Isaiah’s prophecy when speaking in parables (Isaiah 6:9; Matthew 13:14-15), and the apostle Paul also refers to the same prophecy when he is in Rome (Acts 28:26-27). When Jesus reads from Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2) in the synagogue at Nazareth, He amazes many of the Jews by claiming the prophecy is fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16-21). It is also interesting to note that the Gospels quote more from Isaiah’s writings than from any other of the Old Testament prophets. (gotquestions.org)
God gave them a MESSAGE OF PARDON, v.2
The sins of Israel:
• They worshiped other gods
• They created a social structure where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer
• They were involved in many forms of immorality
Stop right there – do we live is this kind of culture today? God wants to forgive our sins.
This forgiveness is a basic need of every person and every nation.
John 8:11 we read Jesus’ words to her, “11 “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
God gave them a MESSAGE OF PROMISE, v. 5
Isaiah gave them (and) us a promise that the Messiah is coming. Or, is it a warning?
Exodus 2:23-25
Psalm 137:1-4
God hears our prayers and our cries as we long to hear the words I told you last week that Jesus would say one day – READY OR NOT, HERE I COME! This is a promise to those who will repent – who will straighten out the crookedness of the paths on which they now walk. Ask God to let you see sin the same way Jesus sees it.
God gave them a MESSAGE OF SECURITY, v. 10-11
Security is one of our 3 basic needs – 1 Significance, 2 Acceptance, 3 Security.
We all know that life is short – v. 6b-7
That word of uncertainty is followed by a word of security -
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
God gave them a MESSAGE OF HOPE, v. 9
Today, so many are hopeless. We have several generations of lost folks – isolated, lonely, apathetic. But there is good news – WE HAVE THE MESSAGE THEY NEED! It’s not the message of our Christmas cards. They see that same old message and they believe that we don’t care about them. Are we going to stay the same old church/congregation that we have always been? We can change and we can start to offer folks a message of hope. We can start today!
There is no hope in the message that Christmas is all about ribbons and wrapping – all about Santa and singing – unwanted gifts and unwanted messages on our Christmas cards.
We can reclaim the message of Isaiah as we celebrate the birth of a Savior who came that all people – not just us and the folks like us – all people will be assured that each and everyone is beloved by God. When we start to share that message, we will show the world WHY God cared enough to the very best – HIS ONLY SON! Amen.
