Opener: Have you ever heard of “Happy Hour?” This is a time where we try to distract ourselves from all the problems of the world and try to cope with the reality of real life…..I think one of the reasons that “Happy Hour” was created was in an effort to cope with our sorrows. This topic of sorrow may be something less familiar to talk about in church culture…but it’s an issue that meets us all at one time or another. Whether you would like to admit it or not, we are a people full of sorrow….
· Sorrow invades our world through the television…watch any news program and you are instantly exposed to several stories of sorrow from around the world…
· some one dies and it reminds us of the frailty of life and we carry the sorrow of missing that loved one in our lives
· we struggle with illness…some of us cope with chronic illness and we carry the weight of that burden…or we are intimately involved with these people who suffer and we grieve with them and for them
· Some of us struggle emotionally…we see a world that seems to be so happy, and have their act together and yet we wonder if somehow we are missing something…we are disappointed….or we are disillusioned….what do we NOT know that every one else does know…(students in college/university struggle with depression/loneliness….hence the need for Reading Week).
· Some of us are moving through change….a new job, a new baby, a new relationship, a new house, a BIRTHDAY (hint, hint)….often these changes are good….they’re refreshing…but sometimes these changes are challenging….they mean a letting go of what we once knew and a re-connecting with something that is unknown….we feel clumsy…..we feel awkard…..and our hearts grieve as we try to adjust to a new way of living
· Sorrow grips the church in unbelievable ways….(recount the story of the church split in Vancouver)
· Ecclesiastes 3 captures this in the familiar passage:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
So today, I want to us to reflect on sorrow in our lives…..not doing this in a masochistic way….but simply encouraging us to connect with a part of life that so many deny…..we want happy……we want carefree…..we want things to magically be better….but everyone of us, at one time or another, moves though a season of sorrow….
Even our pop culture is in touch with sorrow…..this last week I spent some time in Vancouver (when you love the sun like me, that’s a sorrowful place to be)….but I was getting in touch with pop culture (music) and I gravitated to a couple of dark songs…one of them called: “Fallen”
Sarah Mclachlan writes:
“Heavenbent to take my hand, nowhere left to turn….Though I’ve tried…. i’ve fallen….I have sunk so low, I have messed up, Better I should know, So don’t come round here…And tell me so I told you so…”
Humankind turns to many things to cope with their sorrow…
· live the happy life
· live the anesthetized life (entertainment, drugs, relationships, shopping, eating, pouring our lives into our childrens’lives….. )
· wallow in sorrow through writing, music, drama
· And there are those…like us….who are the people of God…who humbly bring our sorrow to the God of the universe…believing that he is able to cope with and carry us through our sorrow….
And so we begin with Isaiah 40….written by the prophet as a word of hope to the exiled people of God….who were in captivity….but let’s not forget….that this too, is our story….as I preached a couple of weeks ago….Isaiah is not just a story of redemption and hope for wayward Israel (2500 years ago)….we too, join in Israel’s identity….this story is our story….and so in the midst of our sorrow or our journey with the sorrowing…..hear God’s words of comfort…..
Movement #1: GOD SPEAKS COMFORT (v. 1-5)
Comfort for God’s People
1Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
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.
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [1] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [2]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
WE are a people who are challenged with sorrow in so many ways....we go through our own journey of sorrow or we walk with people who are in the midst of sorrow.....BUT do we hear God’s voice saying "comfort, comfort my people." Do we believe in this God who brings comfort...how are we receiving this comfort?
As we think on this, I’d like to enter into our second movement…
Movement #2: COMFORT COMES IN THE FORM OF A SHEPHERD (v. 6-11)
Comfort may be a positive, feel-good word for those who are suffering….but who will deliver this comfort to us? And why should I trust God with my suffering?
What do we know of shepherds? I don’t know a lot, but I was able to have a conversation with a modern day shepherd in our congregation….and he offered the following insights into the Shepherd/sheep dynamic:
· Shepherd really form a relationship with sheep….sheep recognize their shepherds voice (ie. He calls to them…he calms them)
· When baby sheep are first born, they need to be carried by their shepherd in order to be taken to their mothers and create a bonding relationship
· Sheep are followers…they are vulnerable to attack…they can easily get swayed from the flock…they need to be checked on every day (high maintenance)….and so it’s crucial that they are shepherded by someone who cares for them
That’s helpful isn’t it? And so I’d encourage you to think of an image that helps you understand this shepherding image…..Is there someone who has been a companion to you….and carried you in his/her arms….and loved you….and held you because you were precious?
e.g. I think of my friend ....., a seminary friend who walked with me…a 6’6’’ Zambian who would put his arm around me…because I knew he truly cared for me. Not all of us are fortunate to have those kind of caring relationships in our lives…but maybe as we choose to do that for someone else, to shepherd someone else’s heart, we will get in touch with a God who shepherds us as we function as ministers of God’s grace, kindness and comfort.
Sometimes our lives can feel so fleeting….but God reminds us that his comfort comes in form of a shepherd…
6 A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory 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.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, [3]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
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.
Our hearts (if we take time to listen to them) yearn for something more....this temporal world we live in does not satisfy the longings of our heart. Perhaps we long for one who might hold and shepherd our hearts. Imagine God as our shepherd...do we know what it means to have someone who carries us....and holds us close to HIS heart?
And what makes him trustworthy and capable for such a task? I’d invite you into the 3rd movement of this passage…..
Movement #3: OUR COMFORTER IS INCOMPARABLE … HE’s Indescribeable!
(v. 12-26)
This section is so reminiscent of the book of Job….where God presents some supernatural object lessons to Job in the midst of his skeptism and unbelief…
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has understood the mind [4] of the LORD ,
or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
18 To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
He is an incomparable God. This is why he is able to comfort and carry. We need something that’s bigger than us...we try to shape something that will take care of us and take us through life....but this is just busy-work in the eyes of a mighty God. Stand back and consider the awesome works of God....he’s invincible....he’s incredible..
(share about the example of “My King”by Rev. Lockridge)
"I wonder....do you know him?"
And maybe for this “known-ness” to happen….the better question is this: “Are we willing to put our lives in the hands of this kind of God?”
The final movement highlights the posturing of a people who receive comfort…surprisingly it’s not meant for us when we’re “on top of our game”…instead….
Movement #4: COMFORT COMES IN WEAKNESS (v. 27-31)
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD ;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Our God is known in weakness. He is not looking for our strength. He is not waiting for us to be good enough, holy enough, smart enough, worthy enough. We could never get there even if we wanted to....and HE doesn’t want that from us! So let’s bring our stubborn, broken, striving and unwilling selves to God’s presence. And receive strength.
There is some incredible mystery to these last 3 verses…sometimes we see these verses plastered on “Christian motivational Posters” … read this 3 times and your life will get magically better….but I don’t want to sell you that today…but I believe there is a place for us as the people of God where we will be able to trade our weariness for strength… where we will bring our weakness and receive power….
…where the running doesn’t tire us out
…and the walking doesn’t cause us to grow faint. (if you’ve experienced that, then share you story!)
It’s a place of intimacy…with a God who dearly loves us…and he wants to carry us and shepherd our hearts…because he’s more than able…and he’s familiar with our humanness… and because of his son, Jesus, he is familiar with the joys and sorrows of our life journeys. He knows the incredible experience of giving up a son and getting him back again even though he had to go through heart-wrenching sorrow to get there.
This God invites us to come and be a part of his comforting Kingdom.
