Prepared for Hope

Prepared for Hope

Turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Isaiah 40:1-11. Last week we read a passage at the beginning of the book of Isaiah about the Light of Hope. We were reminded that Jesus was the promised Messiah who would be the Light that overcomes Darkness. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the kind of peace that means there is Nothing Missing Nothing Broken. We all long for that kind of peace because our world is a broken place. And I know we have experienced that brokenness this week in our church family from Shirley being in the hospital again, Charles allergic reaction, Denise broken wrist… and I am sure you can add a lot more to that list of things that weigh on your heart. We long for peace, and we long for hope.

We need the light of hope for the dark days we live in right now. But we can also live in preparation for the hope of what is coming…the promise of the Messiah’s return. What does that look like? To be prepared for hope? Let’s turn to Isaiah 40 to find out.

Listen now as I read Isaiah 40:1-11

1 Comfort, 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 wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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 people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “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. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

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!” 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.

Let’s pray.

The people of Israel were longing for good news, both at the time this passage was written and at the time Jesus was born. In fact, throughout much of Israel’s history they have struggled to follow God’s law and worship God alone. They were constantly struggling with pressure from neighbors to do things their way, worship their neighbor’s gods and practice their rituals. Or they were overthrown by other nations and found themselves exiled away from their home and longing to be free to follow God the way they were supposed to. You know, things haven’t really changed much. We also feel pressure from neighbors and our culture to worship other gods: gods like money, stability, fame, comfort. We sometimes feel as though we are exiled from our families or communities through trauma and mental. Depression and anxiety can make us feel abandoned and desolate. Our experiences today mirror much of what Israel was experiencing then.

This passage offers us a glimpse into who we are as humans who need hope, and who God is as our Shepherd who brings hope. What does all this have to do with preparation? The thing that we are hoping in today, as followers of Jesus, is the same thing that the people of Israel were hoping in back then: the coming Messiah. They were hoping for him to come the first time, which he did. We are hoping in his second coming. We prepare for the coming Messiah by spreading the gospel, the good news. This was done in the first century by John the Baptist for the Messiah’s first coming, and we read about it in the Gospels. The spreading of the good news in preparation for the second coming of the Messiah is done by you and me. How can we do that when we feel overwhelmed ourselves and in need of hope? We can share hope because we remember who we are and Who God is. We can spread hope because we remember who we are and Who God is.

These few verses in Isaiah give us a good, solid picture of who we are as human beings. The people listening to the prophet speak these words were in desperate need of comfort. Their world had fallen apart. Was God still there? Yes, and he had some good news for them. Comfort. In the original language, repeating a word like this brings a tremendous amount of emphasis. It’s almost like saying “The most excellent, best comfort possible is coming your way.” And the comfort God is talking about is not just a big, comfy chair and a warm fuzzy blanket. This comfort is consolation, relief, support, compassion. I don’t know a soul right now that doesn’t need this kind of comfort today, and God is offering to us the very best consolation and support for us in our time of need. We all are human, and we all need support in one way or another. We need to be comforted, and God gives comfort to us.

We also need to keep this in mind when we are interacting with others, right? Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. We may not be able to see what is going on in their minds, and we may never know the things in their family or relationships that are weighing them down. You are not the only one who needs comfort. The person sitting behind you and beside you need it, and that guy you really don’t like from work or your neighborhood or your family. Everyone needs to be comforted, consoled and supported.

The prophet goes on to talk about Israel’s sin being paid for. We all have sinned. We all have sinned! Now we may be tempted to say “so-and-so has sinned more than me” or perhaps “my sin is too great to be forgiven.” Both those sentiments might feel true but they are actually beside the point. It’s not about the amount of sin or the bigness or littleness of the sin. We all have done things that injured others, or ourselves, and consequently dishonored God who created all things. This passage reminds us that we all need comfort and we all have sinned.

In verses 6 and 9 we see that we are called to be heralds of the good news. The herald was kind of like the town crier. In a time when there were no newspapers or social media, the herald was an official position that would travel around the city to proclaim the news so that every one got a chance to hear it. God is inviting us to be that to the world so that each and every human being gets the opportunity to hear the good news. What does God want us to say? First, that we humans are like flowers and grass. Now, you may be thinking, “Pastor Kim, I am NOT going to walk around telling people they are like grass. That would be utterly confusing.” And you are right. This is why it’s important to notice this is poetry and poetry is rarely literal. So what does God mean? We are nothing compared to God whose simple breath can utterly destroy us. Grass and flowers are fragile and temporary. Yet in the midst of this reality that we are fragile, sinful, needy humans – God declares we are called to be heralds of the good news! Do you see the contrast growing here? We are hurting people in need of comfort, sinful and seemingly disposable like grass BUT GOD.

But God comforts us. But God forgives us. God, who could blow us into oblivion like a lawn mower cutting grass, instead invites us to be His voice, to be God’s living word. God calls us to be his herald, to share the good news. And then God tells the herald in this passage to shout the good news aloud without fear. Fear is the reason why more often than not we choose to stay silent rather than share the good news. And we are very good at coming up with all the reasons to be afraid. Have you ever thought any of these? If I say something it might turn them off to the Gospel. I don’t want to offend them. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to say the wrong thing. I don’t want them to say yes to Jesus out of obligation. It’s probably not a good time. Here’s the thing: every time with come up with an excuse of why not to share the Gospel, we are making ourselves way too important. It’s not actually all about you, or all about me. It’s not about the right words or the right timing. Instead of asking “what is the right thing to do” ask yourself “what is the most loving thing I can do?”

You see in verses 10-11 the kind of good news we are supposed to declare boldly is that God is here, God is mighty, God holds us close to his heart and gently leads us. This is good news! Yelling about the sin from a street corner might not be the most loving thing you can do. But listening to someone who is hurting and offering to pray for them – pray for them to feel that God us with them, that God is mighty, that God cares for them might be. THAT is the good news.

My dear friends THAT is how we prepare for the hope of our Messiah’s coming. Go back to look at verses 3, 4 and 5. 3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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 people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Think of it this way: those who don’t yet know Jesus, who have not yet received God’s comfort, it is like their hearts are desert wilderness. And every time we do something or say something loving it makes a path for Jesus to walk on. Because we humans have this natural tendency to build walls and mountains around our hearts. The way in is rough. But our job as heralds of the good news is to smooth things over so that they can finally hear the good news and receive it. Some of us have harder more difficult paths to make than others. You may have been praying for that child of yours to know Jesus for years, or that neighbor, or friend. Your loving actions, like the gentle shepherd who leads us, are what prepare the way for hope.

Are you prepared for hope? Is the way to your heart clear and ready to receive Jesus, the King and Messiah? If your heart is already prepared and has received the good news, are you preparing the way for others? Have you accepted God’s call to be a herald of the good news to prepare His way so that others can receive Him?

We are hurting people in need of comfort and consolation; we are sinful and seemingly disposable like grass BUT GOD. BUT God sent Jesus to take our sins and bear the weight of them on the cross. As we take communion now, we remember who we are and who God is. We are a people in need of a savior. Jesus is the Messiah who has come and will come again. And we remember what He has done for us until he comes again every time we take this cup and eat this bread. We proclaim the good news and prepare the way for the Lord.