This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached the Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023. The reading I preached on was Isaiah 40:1-11. You can view a video of the sermon here.

Comfort! Prepare! Cry out! Get up!

That’s our first reading from Isaiah today. Four commands.

Comfort! Prepare! Cry out! Get up!

Who is commanding this? And who is being commanded? Let’s take a look, one command at a time.

Comfort!

Isaiah writes: Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

Who’s commanding this? God is. God, the creator of heaven and earth, the sovereign of the universe. This command comes straight from the Lord.

Who’s being commanded? Not as obvious. I can tell you this: This was originally written to the people of Israel while they were in exile in Babylon. God wanted them to know that they had suffered enough, and they would soon be set free. And so the original people being commanded were probably people like Isaiah himself. The prophets. The Israelite leaders. People who were set apart to be trusted guides. “Comfort my people!” said God. “Comfort them. Tell them it’s going to be okay.”

It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.

Just as Isaiah told the exiles, so I tell you. It’s going to be okay. No, really. It’s going to be okay. Whatever you are concerned about. Whatever burden you have carried into this place today. It’s going to be okay. It is.

I understand if you’re skeptical of that. It sounds like such an empty promise. But it will be okay. Not because I say so. But because God says so. And God has commanded me to tell you so.

Like the prophets before me, God has set me apart, made me holy, and called me to tell all of God’s people: it’s going to be okay. I have been chosen to do this. And you know what? So have you. This command comes to me not because I am an ordained minister, not because I’m a pastor. But because I am a baptized disciple of Christ. And so are you. So who are the ones commanded to comfort God’s people? We are. We all are. As baptized Christians, we are all set apart and made holy, we are all called and sent out.

Comfort! Comfort my people, says your God.

But who are we commanded to comfort? Let’s take a look.

Prepare!

Isaiah cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.”

Why in the wilderness? Why not do it in town? Why not in a nice heated church sanctuary? Why not just prepare God’s way right here, where it’s comfortable? God can sit next to me in the pew, I don’t mind.

Because it’s out in the wilderness that God is. Out in the desert. Out in the wastelands. The wilderness is a metaphor for all the places of fear. The places of suffering. The places of worry. The places we all visit in our own ways throughout our lives. And that’s precisely where God dwells. Wherever there is pain, God is not far. Wherever there is suffering, God is near. Wherever there is fear, that’s where God meets people. Right at the edge. Right in the midst.

God dwells in the wilderness, and Isaiah tells us that God is already at work there. Every valley shall be lifted up, he tells us. Every mountain and hill shall be made low. God is leveling the uneven ground and making the rough places a plain. God is out in the wilderness, transforming it and making things better. Go out and prepare with him! Make a highway there in the desert for God.

What does this metaphor mean for us? It means go and be with people just where they are, in the wilderness. Don’t be afraid of meeting people in their suffering, in their pain. Because right there is where God is. We, the people of Prince of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church will actively seek and serve Christ in all people. Where is Christ in those people? In their weak places, in their fearful places, in the place it hurts. The place where God is transforming them. And us.

In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!

Cry out!

What shall we cry out? Let’s find out.

Isaiah tells us, “All people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades. But the word of our God will stand forever.” This is simply the truth. We don’t always want to hear that, especially the part that we will wither and fade. But it’s true. We wither and fade, but the word of God will stand forever.

So cry it out! Cry out that truth! Cry out the Word of God! And we already do that! We do that right here! Here in this place, worshiping God. We cry out that truth in so many ways. I’m going to remind you of a few of those ways, and ask you right now to call them out with me.

There is the truth that we tell on Ash Wednesday, as we get ashes on our foreheads. Cry it out together now: “Remember that you are… [dust], and to dust you shall return.”

There is the truth we tell on Easter Sunday. Cry that out together now: Christ is risen! [Christ is risen indeed!]

There is the truth we tell before communion. Cry it out together, with motions: Let us proclaim the mystery of faith: [Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.]

There is the truth that we will sing again so soon on Christmas Eve. Cry it out together: Hark! The herald angels sing, [Glory to the newborn king.]

We gather in this place all year long to cry out the truth, the truth that we are weak, but he is strong. The truth that we are dust, and he is Lord. The truth that we might bear gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but he bears the gift of eternal life.

Cry out! The word of our God will stand forever. Can I get an Amen?

So what do we do with all of this? What do these commands really mean for us? Let’s find out.

Get up!

Isaiah says, “Get you up to a high mountain, lift up your voice with strength, say to the cities of Judah, to all the cities of the earth, ‘Here is your God!’”

The message that we cry out here in this place…get up and share it with all the people of the world. Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born! Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ brings light and life to all! Go tell it on the mountain, that God is coming! Go tell it on the mountain, that you’ve seen that God is coming! Go tell it on the mountain, that you’ve experienced God’s love! Go tell it on the mountain, that it’s going to be okay.

What does this mean for us?

It means tell people and show people. Tell people and show people that love is real. Tell people and show people that there is hope. That there is light in the darkness. That their suffering won’t last forever. That it’s going to be okay. Show them this through your words and your actions. Point them to where you’ve seen that hope. To where you’ve seen that light.

The light is coming. Coming into this world of darkness. And we know the secret: the secret is, the light is already here. He’s already here. Let’s not keep it a secret anymore.

Comfort. Prepare. Cry out. Get up.

Amen.

Image by sebastian del val from Pixabay