Advent 3 2023-- Clothed in Joy

Isaiah 61:1, 3 “1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;… 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit....”

Today’s readings remind you that the peace and joy you’re preparing to celebrate at Christmas are, in fact, there. That may be difficult to see, but they are. They are there. They are hidden behind disappointments and difficulties; they are hidden behind the presents and the parties; The peace and joy of Christmas are “dressed up,” if you will, in strange clothing.

That is what we see in today’s readings. Isaiah is not wrong. The birth of Christ ushers in “the year of the Lord’s favor, …the day of vengeance of our God; …comfort [for] all who mourn; …a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit...” (Isaiah 61:2-3). But what do we see in these last days leading up to our celebration of the birth of Christ? John the Baptist.

Isaiah promises “garments of praise,” “the garments of salvation,” a “robe of righteousness,” ; what you seem to get is a strange man dressed in camel hair and a leather belt. I’m sure it was quite practical and durable for him, but it’s not quite the same. Not quite as comforting.

He promises “the day of vengeance of our God,” but what you get from John the Baptist is a call for you to repent (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:8).

Isaiah promised the “oil of gladness,” but John points One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).

Now, it must be granted that John, Himself, was not actually the One Isaiah was talking about. He was not the light coming into the world— he came as a witness, to bear witness about that light (John 1:7)— but that doesn’t change the basic issue. The exact same thing is true of the Word who became flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary: the joy, the peace, the comfort come “dressed up,” if you will, in very strange ‘clothing’.

The One whose sandal John was not worthy to untie was born in a stable. The One who promised that He would clothe you “with the garments of salvation” (Isaiah 61:10) was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger (Luke 2:6-7).

John cried out, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” but the road that the newborn baby would take would go from Bethlehem to Egypt and then to Nazareth. And that was just His first few years of life. The joy, the peace, the comfort that Isaiah promised come “dressed up,” if you will, in very strange ‘clothing’ in His case, too.

But make no mistake, the prophecies of Isaiah 61 were not wrong in the least. Jesus, Himself, says that He is the One Isaiah was talking about. He preached a sermon on Isaiah 61 at the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. He declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Isaiah had promised “the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:2). And, sure enough, at Jesus’ birth, angels declared to the shepherds, “14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14, NIV). Isaiah was not wrong. But the joy, peace, and comfort that he promised were dressed in very strange clothing.

In fact, the ‘clothing’ that the joy, peace, and comfort are dressed in would only get more and more strange. Jesus was sent to bind up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1), but it would only come about because He was scorned and despised (Psalm 22:6). His path wound back and forth, north and south, east and west through Judea and Samaria— the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head, of course— but, as circuitous as His path seemed, He was headed directly to the cross. He proclaimed liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound (Isaiah 61:1), but that liberty would only come because He handed Himself over to be arrested. The only reason He, Himself, was not bound and cast in prison was because He was headed for the cross, instead.

The garments of salvation that He has clothed you with were made possible because He was willing to have a purple robe put on Him in mockery. You are clothed like a bridegroom like a priest with a beautiful headdress (Isaiah 61:10) because He was willing to wear the crown of thorns. You receive the oil of gladness (Isaiah 61:3) because His blood flowed freely from His back, His head, His hands, His feet, and His side.

It was, most certainly, the day of vengeance of our God. That vengeance fell upon Him instead of you. “He was pierced for [your] transgressions; he was crushed for [your] iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought [you] peace, and with his wounds [you] are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

But, again, make no mistake: Isaiah was not wrong in the least. You have, in fact, been clothed with the garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10) “27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). He has covered you with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covers all your sins (Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 7:14). You have been dressed like a bridegroom who decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isaiah 61:10). “26 [He has sanctified you], having cleansed [you] by the washing of water with the word, 27 [and presented you] to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, ...holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

“11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God [causes] righteousness and praise to sprout up [within you] before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:11). “5 While [you] were living in the flesh, [your] sinful passions, …were at work in [your] members to bear fruit for death” (Romans 7:5). But you have been buried with Christ and raised with Him (Romans 6:3) in order that you may bear fruit for God (Romans 7:4).

That’s right. It’s still true: the joy, peace, and comfort that Isaiah promised are yours, but they are “dressed up,” if you will, in strange ‘clothing’. They are “dressed up” in suffering.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, God has not turned His back on [those who are suffering]. Rather, He hides Himself in human suffering just as surely as He did at Calvary. When it seems that God is absent, when we can neither see nor sense Him, in actuality He is truly present. Human reason and logic teach us that suffering is bad, and glory is good. God turns things around: With Him what seems logical actually is foolishness, and those things people brand weakness in reality are strength. “A theologian of glory calls good evil and evil good,” Dr. Luther wrote in his 1518 Heidelberg Theses. “A theologian of the cross calls a thing what it actually is.” [Your] suffering is not punishment. Rather, by the grace of God it is the way He intends to conform [you] to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). We are not masochists; we certainly don’t seek suffering. But when it comes our way, we will not run away. Rather, we recognize that suffering is another opportunity to examine our sinful hearts, confess our sins, and find relief and peace in the wounds of Christ, who suffered once upon His cross that we might be released from guilt and shame and take our place within the shelter of His love. The paradox is that Christ is never closer to us than when we suffer. (Rev. Dr. Harold Senkbeil, “Suffering and the Theology of the Cross”)

In our minds, God leading us on the path to joy and peace and comfort looks like leading us directly along the shortest path to success and influence and wealth and prosperity. But, in reality, He leads us to those things along the crooked paths of disappointment, broken relationships, the pain of being betrayed by others and the shame of betraying them, as well. But His power is made perfect in the weakness of our lives as He turns that twisted path into the most direct path to His presence.

Isaiah was not wrong— not even one little bit. In fact, Christ has not just proclaimed to you joy, peace, and comfort, He has given you His Holy Spirit. And “22 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control...” (Galatians 5:22-23).

There will be a day, though, when everything is, once again, clothed properly. One day, the tent that is your earthly home— your physical body— will be destroyed. But you have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. “2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2).

Or, we can say it a little more clearly: “53 this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). And that day is coming. When it does, “54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). For now, your eternal life is hidden beneath a grave stone. But, one day, “what is mortal [will] be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4).

In that day, there will be no more death or morning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4). All that will remain is the comfort of the God who will wipe every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21:4) and the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, with its leaves which will be for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).

All that will remain is the eternal peace of the devil— and even death, itself— being cast into the lake of fire where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10). The eternal peace of His kingdom where the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat (Isaiah 11:6). He will, at last, be your Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). From that day on, “7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end...” (Isaiah 9:7).

You will enter into the joy of the marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which shall have no end.

Today’s readings remind you that the peace and joy you’re preparing to celebrate at Christmas are, in fact, there. That may be difficult to see, but they are. They are there. They are hidden behind disappointments and difficulties; they are hidden behind the presents and the parties; The peace and joy of Christmas are “dressed up,” if you will, in strange clothing.

The sermon that Jesus preached that day in Nazareth, He now sends pastors out to preach to His people, Sunday after Sunday. “1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3). Today, again, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.