Comfort, Comfort
Comfort, Comfort by Rev. L. John Gable
December 5, 2021
“Comfort, O comfort, My people says your God.”
These words are spoken by the prophet Isaiah to a people who were suffering the despair of exile, the people of God, the nation of Israel, in the 6th century BC. The temple, their city, Jerusalem, their homeland, their identity as the people of God had all been taken from them as they were overrun by the Babylonians and carried away to that foreign country. They knew all about suffering and sorrow, about being threatened, attacked, and defeated, about being forgotten and abandoned by God, or so they thought. In to that desperate situation the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah saying, “Comfort, O comfort My people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins.”
These words of comfort and assurance spoken to that people centuries ago are spoken to us as well today, for we too know the feelings of loss and suffering, of sorrow and despair.
As a nation we know the feelings of being under attack, such as the horror we felt on 9/11 as we watched the twin towers come down, or some among can still summon the feelings they felt on December 7th, 1941, the day that will live in infamy, as President Roosevelt addressed the nation announcing the inconceivable news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. In moments such as these we need to hear these words,“Comfort, O comfort My people.”
As a community we know the despair, the fear, the frustration that comes when we experience senseless and random violence on our streets and in our neighborhoods, acts of aggression – micro and macro, the vitriol of racism and bigotry and injustice, the tension of discord and disagreement. We too long to hear these words “Comfort, O comfort My people.”
As individuals and families we know the heartbreak of losing a loved one, the devastation of divorce, of disease and debilitation, the disappointment of betrayal and broken relationships, the ravages of abuse and addiction. During these past two years we all have been affected by the pervasiveness of pandemic. Whether we contracted the virus or not, we have felt the effects of isolation, unemployment, depression, discouragement, helplessness and hopelessness. Through these experiences, and a myriad of others, even we as people of faith have found our faith tried and tested, some perhaps even wondering if God has forgotten or abandoned us.
These words then are spoken not to that exiled people long ago alone, but to us as well today, “Comfort, O comfort, My people says our God.”
How do we know these words are trustworthy and true, and not just pious platitudes, wishful thinking, a bit of Hallmark theology intended to bolster us up and keep us going? How do we even know they are spoken to us at all and not intended only for those people long ago? We know because these are God’s words, spoken through the prophet and they ring true for us today as much as they have for any people in any time and place. A prophet, such as Isaiah, is not a fortune-teller trying to discern tea leaves or tarot cards, nor is he just a prosperity gospel evangelist trying to paint a rosy picture on a dismal situation. Rather a prophet is one who has been called by God to listen to and interpret the promises of God and then apply them to the particular circumstances of the people of God, reminding them of God’s faithfulness and encouraging them to hold on, to keep the faith, not to abandon their trust in God because God has not abandoned them. How do we know these words of comfort are trustworthy and true? Because “the mouth of the Lord has spoken them”, says the prophet. These are not Isaiah’s words, this is God’s Word to us. “Comfort, O comfort My people.”
Hearing this message of hope the people, they then and we now, are called to respond to it, first by preparing for it, making ourselves ready to receive it. “The voice of one crying: in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall be made level and the rough places a plain.” As we spoke last week this is the message we attribute to John the Baptist, the one who announced the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah, but this was not his responsibility alone, this is the work we have been given to do as well in anticipation of the Lord’s coming, even now, into our lives, into our world. We have some work to do to ready ourselves for His coming: broken places in relationships which need to be straightened; low places of disparity and discrimination which need to be raised up; high places of pride and privilege which need to be brought low; uneven places of disadvantage and inequity which needs to be made level. The spiritual work of confession and repentance and forgiveness. This is the work of preparation we have been given to do and Advent is the season in the church year which reminds us, again and again, of the importance of this work.
All of this we do in anticipation and expectation of the day when “the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all people will see it together.” How do we know that day really will come? “Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!”
But bear in mind, this work of making the Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven is not our work to do alone. We have tried too long, too hard, in too many ways to fix the problems that ail us, too often with only minimal and frustrating results. We know that there are problems which face us, without and within, that we simply cannot fix by our own good efforts. So, we can almost hear the despair the people felt when they were given the second command, “Cry out!, announce this good news of glad tidings!” The prophet seemingly counters that announcement of Good News of comfort and hope as he speaks out of their despair and discouragement, saying, “What shall I cry out? All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.” We know how he feels don’t we? What’s the use, when our best efforts to change things continue to come up short? To this the Lord responds by acknowledging the ultimate futility of human effort alone; indeed the grass does wither and the flower fades, the Kingdom of God is not of this world, “but the Word of our God will stand forever!” So part of the work of preparation is to remind ourselves that God is faithful still and that His promises are sure, so “Cry out…Get you up on a high mountain and shout with a loud voice…Your God is here!”
Friends, this is the Good News of the Gospel: God has not abandoned or forgotten us. So take heart and be of good courage. This is the message of Advent and the promise that is fulfilled on the Christmas day when God sent His Son to be with us. Despite our frustration or fear or despair, or even that nagging doubt that God has abandoned or forgotten us, we have been given this glorious promise of Good News: “Your God is here,… so comfort, comfort My people.”
The message of Christmas, most simply stated, is that God has fulfilled His promises and has come to us in the birth of the Messiah, Jesus our Savior and Lord. And just as God has come to us in this precious and miraculous way, so He invites us to come to Him. We hear Jesus’ invitation as though it was spoken to us, here, today. “Come to Me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus’ invitation is for us to come to Him when we need comfort and strength, rather than to all of the other fixes we have tried which are at best temporary and at worst detrimental to us. His invitation to us is to learn His way, to walk alongside Him, to apprentice ourselves to Him, for He is gentle and humble and His ways are helpful and true. Jesus came to teach us the ways of the Kingdom of God, ways we can begin to put in to practice right now.
We who are called by His name are called to walk in His way, to echo His call and to point others to Him through the ministries we do in His name. It has been said that the role of the church is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Today, we will focus on the former and leave the latter to another day. Martin Luther once described the church as being “a fellowship of conversation and consolation.” Of conversation: a place and a people who talk about the importance of eternal things, not mere temporary pleasures and fixes. A place and a people who talk deeply about the ways of God and set their hearts on preparing for that way, living in that way and announcing that way so that all people may hear His invitation and come to Him.
And also of consolation: our faith takes seriously the difficulties of the human condition that all people are like grass, like the flowers of the field which wither and fades. But rather than sinking in to the depths of depression and despair over that “not so good news” we lay hold to the promises of God, “Comfort, O comfort My people says the Lord.”
Last Sunday evening many of us joined the Advent Zoom conversation we had with Al and Becky Mayo, and I hope you will join us this evening for our conversation with Pavel and Ivonne. Following the Advent season, the topic of discussion last week was hope and Al and Becky shared very candidly their experiences of hope and discouragement when Al was hospitalized for 99 days several years ago. It was a wonderful time to hear each of them express both the highs and the lows of their experience, each from their own perspective, as well as the hope and faith which carried them through it. But what I found fascinating and very encouraging is, as the Mayo’s shared their experience, their candor invited others to join in the conversation and share their experiences as well. Even in our remoteness, via the technology of Zoom, we were able to “be the church” and experience something of the fellowship of conversation and consolation together.
In a similar way, this past week I had the opportunity to have breakfast with a young pastor who shared with me his struggles in ministry. At one point, I confessed to him that “The past two years have been the most difficult in my nearly 40 years in ministry”. He looked me square in the face and told me that was the most helpful thing I could have said to him.
Our honest sharing of our suffering and sorrow, our fears and frustrations, our discouragement and doubts with one other as fellow followers of the Messiah is something more than having a pity party and different than “misery loves company.” In our fellowship of conversation and consolation we dare to come alongside one another as Jesus as come alongside us. We share one another’s burdens as He is willing to share ours. We do ministry in His name, prepare His way, announce His coming, and hold fast to His promise of “comfort, comfort for His people…for our God in here!”
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN