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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Fourth Sunday of Advent |
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Isaiah 40:1-10 Comfort
for God’s People “Comfort
ye, my people.” Not to Isaiah only, but to all ministers comes the
call “Comfort ye my people.”
Someone has aptly summarized the work of the ministry as
“comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.”
Very true. But how can
we, mere men, do anything to comfort anyone?
What have we to offer? How
can I comfort that person who is slowly dying of a horrible disease?
How can I comfort those who love him and are forced to watch him
suffer and die? How can I
comfort the grieving, the poor, the hungry, the oppressed and the
downtrodden, the tempted and afflicted in spirit, or even those who are
simply disillusioned? How could Isaiah comfort the people of Judah,
captive as they were in a foreign land, and mourning the violent
destruction of their homeland and the deaths of countless of their loved
ones and countrymen? What
could he offer in the face of such suffering and grief? My
brothers and sisters, I, like Isaiah, offer nothing, but God offers
everything. God offers
comfort that revives the soul and inspires faith and hope, even in the
face of troubles. Therefore,
we have great cause to be comforted, even amid the challenges of life.
The command of God, “comfort
ye my people” is a commission to share with people the comforts of
God. And, so, I say unto you
assembled her today, be comforted. Be
comforted because we are at peace with God.
God told Isaiah to proclaim to Judah that her warfare is
accomplished. What warfare?
We know about the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians, and the
captivity of the Jews as the result of war.
Certainly God is telling them that warfare is ended.
But on a higher level God is saying He will no longer wage war
against Judah. The time of His anger for their sin is over.
The time of wrath is over; the age of grace has begun. This
is as true for us as it was for Judah.
The wrath of God on our sins is over.
The age of grace has begun. In
Christ the wrath of God has been appeased, and grace is freely given to
all who accept it. Those who are in Christ have peace with God through the
blood of His cross. True,
those who will not come to the Savior are still under God’s wrath, but
the warfare of God is over to those who are in Christ.
Know this, and be comforted. Be
comforted because our sins are forgiven.
As Isaiah said to Judah in verse 2, “her
iniquity is pardoned.” The reason God made war on the Jews is the
same reason He “makes war” on people today: sin.
God is angry at our sin. “For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). But
in Christ we are under grace, not wrath.
We are no longer treated as guilty offenders; we are received as
friends. We have
gone from condemned criminals to Knights of the Round Table.
We have become like Edmund in The
Chronicles of Narnia, who betrayed his family and Aslan, yet was
received by Aslan as a worthy friend. Our
sins are forgiven because Christ bore them on the cross.
No matter what else the crucifixion of Christ accomplished, and
there is much more, it has at its heart the substitutionary atonement of
our sins by the vicarious death of Christ.
As Isaiah said in chapter 53; Surely he hath borne
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. Know
this and be comforted. Be
comforted because “the glory of
the Lord shall be revealed.” The
Jews lived in a time when God spoke through prophets, signs, and wonders.
He was revealed to them in the conquest of their enemies and by
their redemption from captivity. He was revealed to them in the law and prophets and the
ceremonies and sacrifices of the Temple and synagogue. But
the great revelation of the glory of God came when Christ was born.
In Him, the word who was with God and who was God “became flesh, and we beheld his glory.” If we have “seen” Him we have seen the Father.
He is the fulfillment of the Law and prophets.
In Him God has overcome our great enemies of sin and death and
hell. In Him the doors of
Heaven are flung wide open, for He is the Door.
The way to Heaven is made plain, for He is the Way.
The truth is revealed for all to see, for He is the Truth.
The glory of the Lord is revealed in Him, and that glory is
revealed as the Savior, who gave His own life as the ransom for ours.
We have seen the glory of the Lord.
We no longer walk in doubt and fear.
Know this and be comforted. Be
comforted because God’s purpose is infallible.
He said through Isaiah, “The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand
forever.” Isaiah refers
not to the Bible, or to the revelation of God.
Isaiah refers to the word of God as a promise.
“Word” is used the way we use it when we say “You have my
word on it,” or “I give you my word.”
The meaning is simply this; if God says it , it will happen.
If God makes a promise, He will keep it, and it will come to pass
infallibly. Nothing can
prevent the accomplishment of His will.
The Jews were returned to Judea, just as God promised, and we will
be delivered to Heaven just as God promised.
On that day every tear will be dried, and all the trials and
difficulties of life will be only memories, and we will count them as
nothing compared to seeing Christ, and walking with Him in unbroken
fellowship, forever. This
will happen because God said it will. Know this and be comforted So,
where is the comfort to the dying, the grieving, the poor, the hungry, the
oppressed, the tempted and afflicted in soul and mind?
It is not in man. It is not in hospitals, or physicians, or soup kitchens, or
homeless shelters. It is not
in governments or political parties, or education, or the next generation,
or technology, or even in church buildings, or clergy, or beautiful
ceremonies. Wonderful as
those things are, and thank God for them, for, used well they can be great
blessings. But, ultimately our hope is in none of these things.
Our hope, our comfort is in God.
For all the worldly trials will end but God is forever.
Christ is our comfort, and His Advent is, as the carol says,
“tidings of comfort and joy.” In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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