“Two Great Questions for God”
Isaiah 40:1-11, 27-31; Mark 1:1-8
Opening Prayer:
Praise be to you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort; by your Holy Spirit, speak now through your written Word, of your care and power for us who wither and fall, that we may see him who is your Living Word, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Last week we sang,
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear. [1]
Do you ever feel like you are languishing in exile being held captive? Oh, I know that most of us here have not had an experience like those held hostage by Columbian drug lords or Somali pirates, but I am speaking of other kinds of captivity; to some physical or emotional disability, to some bad habit or besetting sin, to a mistake of the past or disqualifying background. Many of us wrestle daily with things that hold us in bondage and we long to be free. We feel exiled from the wholeness of life that we know God wants us to have. We are struggling and we need support and comfort in our struggles in order to keep going. In the dark times, we wonder whether God cares about our situation and if he does, does he have the power to change things for us?
These two great questions – Does God care? Does God have the power to change things? – lie behind many of the laments and cries for help in the Bible. They also lie behind the pain and anguish of people everywhere throughout history. “If God is God, then why has he not acted to help us in our dilemmas?” “Does he not care? Is he powerless to act?” This is the theme of our sermon today from Isaiah, chapter 40.
The Exile in Babylon
These two questions lay behind the cry in Isaiah 40:27, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God” – this was the cry of a people in despair. In the 6th century BC the nation of Israel was in exile in Babylon, their country and holy city deserted and in ruins. Where was God? What had happened to his promises? Had God abandoned his people? Did he care about them? Did he have any power to change things?
For many years, Israel, the People of God, had disobeyed him and fooled themselves into thinking everything was all right. They had settled for the externals of religion and had neglected the heart of the matter. They had compromised their faith and substituted materialism and exotic experience for holiness and true religion. Through His prophets, God had sent them repeated warnings and calls to turn back, to repent, but they had paid no heed. They had accused the prophets of mixing religion and politics and claimed their religious pedigree as their iron-clad defence and protection.
Finally, around 600 BC, as a last resort, God gave their nation into the hands of the Great Powers of the day who occupied Mesopotamia – modern Iraq – to the north-east. The bulk of the nation that was not killed was transported, lock, stock, and barrel to the great and sophisticated cities of Nineveh and Babylon. Here, the remnant of the people finally realized what they had done in rebelling against the Lord. But now, there was a new problem. As they gazed in wonder at the mighty buildings and wide boulevards, the magnificent temples and exotic ritual, was their God really God after all? The people of Assyria and Babylon seemed to prosper under their gods. The Israelites were a conquered nation; were the pagan gods more powerful than the God they knew? Where was he? Was he able to rescue them? Did he even care? There had been a prophecy that they would be in exile for 70 years and this time was now almost completed – yet where was God? They languished in despair. “By the waters of Babylon, we lay down and wept” (Psalm 137:11). They needed comfort and encouragement.
A Word of Comfort
Then came the word: “Comfort, comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for” (Isaiah 40:1-2). The command rings out through the heavens that God’s people in exile are to be comforted, that their sin has been paid for, that their exile is over. They are going home! The shortest way would be through the wilderness of the Syrian desert – humanly impossible. But now there was to be a highway through it – far more magnificent than the grand boulevards of Babylon. “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (verse 3). This was to be the highway of the Lord – he would go ahead of his people to lead them out – the desert would be no barrier, the valleys would be raised up and the mountains made low and all obstacles would be removed from their path. This mighty act, seemingly impossible against the physical and political realities around them, would reveal God’s glory, his true nature, what he is really like, that he is a God of comfort, of caring and a God of strength.
The Word of the Lord
Then comes the prophet’s questioning response, “What shall I cry? All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass” (verses 6-7). Isaiah is saying that the situation looks hopeless! Then comes the reply: “Yes, you’re right. Left to yourselves, it is hopeless,” – “…the grass withers and the flowers fall: but the word of our God stands forever” (verse 8). This is the key to our comfort. This is the central message of these middle fifteen chapters of Isaiah: God’s Word accomplishes that which it describes. “As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10, 11). At the beginning of creation it was so: “And God said, ‘let there be light!’ And there was light” (Genesis 1:3). God’s word is not just a series of letters strung together; it is the very expression of his being. This is why Jesus is called “The Word of God”, because he is the expression, the action of God amongst us. He is the “Living Word. How does God communicate his Word to us now? Supremely through His Word written, Holy Scripture. “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
How does this work? Are there set Scripture verses for every situation? Is this how I get my comfort and support?” No, not necessarily, although some specific verses are very helpful. The greatest use of Scripture is to show us, through God’s actions in history, how he has operated in the past, and thus how he will do so in the future, although in an even deeper and more glorious way.
We have an example in today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings. For the people in exile, elsewhere in the book of Isaiah, the prophet refers them back to the Exodus, when they were delivered through the sea out of Egypt. e.g. “This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters” (Isaiah 43:16 and ff). Then he says, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing…I am making a way through the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19). If God did it before at the Red Sea, he can do it again, yet only more powerfully, this time in the Syrian desert.
Then, did you notice in the reading from Mark, the same words from Isaiah 40 were applied to John the Baptist: “…a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’” (Mark l:8). Just as Isaiah prepared people for the return from exile, so John the Baptist was preparing people for a new return from exile, only this time it was even more glorious. This exile was not from captivity in Babylon, but captivity to sin. The Lord himself was coming in the person of Jesus to lead people, not to an earthly promised land, but to life forever in his eternal kingdom.
God’s written word has led us to God’s Living Word, Jesus. Jesus is God’s greatest action in history. It is in Jesus, that we see and have ultimate confirmation of what God is really like. In Jesus, we see that God does care for us – “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). In Jesus, we also see that God has the power to change things – but not in the way we might expect. Our Advent collects tells us that he came “to visit us in great humility.”[2] That humility led him to the cross (Philippians 2:8) which was the greatest display of power the universe has ever seen. Only it was not a display of naked coercive might, it was the ultimate power that can only come through total self-giving love. It is the release of that power, through God giving his own self on the cross, that we are set free from our exile and captivity to sin. In the Incarnation, God becoming human in Jesus, we see most powerfully the answer to our questions, “Does God care?” and “Does he have the power to change my situation?” The answer is a resounding YES! This is the heart of the Christian Gospel. This is why all religious systems that do not see God acting supremely in Jesus fall short. This is what the joy of anticipation in Advent is all about. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.
The Application for Us
Let us return to the message of Isaiah to see the application of all this for us. We can read this passage and apply the picture of God we see there to our own situations. The God who led the exiles back from captivity is the same God who wants to lead us out of our exile and captivity to sin and suffering and sorrow, through the ravages of this desert journey of life, to the promised land of his heavenly kingdom. We are on a journey. As the exiles were comforted, so can we be.
Or, we can join the poor left behind in Jerusalem, who are told to go up on a high mountain – “You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain” (verse 9). We look and peer across the vast desert expanses and see on the horizon a mighty throng with the Lord at its head. What do we see? “The Sovereign Lord is coming with power” (verse 10). His arm is strong to defeat all the dangers of the long journey home. Then we look again; “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” (verses 10, 11). This mighty God is a caring God. He lifts up the young and frail and carries them; he helps those with young, those burdened with the responsibilities of life. For those who see the God of the Old Testament as a stern God and the God of the New Testament as a loving God, here is a certain negation of that lie. The God of the two testaments is both a powerful God and a caring God.
This God, pictured leading his people home through the desert, is the same God who is leading us home, on our journey through this life. He is strong enough to defeat all that assails us on our journey, the robbers of despair and defeat that want to take away our joy, the emotional ups and downs of the terrain that make our way discouraging, the dangerous places of temptation we must walk through that seem capable of taking away our very life. He is able to protect and keep us.
But not only is he powerful, he is caring. Like a shepherd with lambs, he takes us in his arms and carries us; he helps us with our burdens and responsibilities. We have a God who loves us dearly and carries us close to his heart. He is a caring God; he is a powerful God.
Conclusion
So when you are tempted, like the exiles, to complain “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God” (40:27b), remember his Written Word, the Scriptures, and his Living Word, Jesus, where we see the answers to the two great questions: Does God care? Does he have the power to change my situation?
“Do you not know?
Have your 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.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary
and young men stumble and fall;
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.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)
This is the word of the Lord.
THANKS BE TO GOD!