"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD'S hand double for all her sins."

 

            John Weborg makes a distinction between "holiday time" and "Christmas time." He says that on the surface they seem to be the same, but they are not the same. One of the differences comes in gift-giving. The most prominent symbol of giving in holiday time is that of the American Santa Claus. Santa stands for competitive giving. Competitive giving seeks to buy allegiance, it is often exhausting, and it appeals to a self-indulgent comfort. It often excludes the poor.

            But the most prominent symbol of giving in Christmas time is St. Nicholas, who was a real person, a bishop in the early church. He stands for redemptive giving. His giving freed people from desperate situations. One example was that of a family whose daughter was sold into prostitution so that they could survive. But the gift from St. Nicholas allowed her to be set free, to be redeemed. This is giving that brings the comfort of God. It is part of hope.

            As I think about redemptive giving, I realize that it can seem rather fragile, and yet when it is part of hope, it is very effective. JoEllen Reaves writes in her latest newsletter about the work of a group called the Fuentes Libres Team ("flowing waters"). I met this team when they first formed about 15 years ago. They were a group of courageous and faithful young adults in the Covenant churches in Mexico who banded together, with the help of some grants from Covenant World Relief, to begin compassion ministries in remote villages in the mountains of Oaxaca. They had a variety of dreams and ideas of how to help people in these villages overcome some of the issues of poverty and disease. But there was resistance to their work, and some of their projects failed. So I was encouraged to read JoEllen's report that the Fuentes Libres team has now established over 400 functioning community banks giving micro-loans for cottage industries. That is redemptive giving. The poor in Oaxaca are being helped in the Lord.

            "Comfort, comfort my people."

            The prophecies we read today speak of the redemptive giving of God that brings comfort to people in need. That comfort is found in exiles in Babylon who are allowed to return home; it is found in the gift of God who sent Christ into our world; and it is found in the return of Christ in power and glory.

            When the Jews were defeated and sent in exile to Babylon, they lived with two overwhelming questions. First, "Has God been defeated by the gods of Babylon?" Second, "Has our sin separated us from God forever?"

            The answer to those questions is found in Isaiah chapter 40. The answer comes in a proclamation of comfort, double comfort really, which matches the double punishment they had endured for their sins. The doubling means completeness. What is the comfort that Isaiah proclaims? It is the comfort of peace finally coming after so many years of conquest and exile. It is the comfort of forgiveness and the assurance that the Lord's discipline has been completed. It is the comfort of one day seeing the Lord's glory. It is the comfort of knowing that God's Word remains while everything else fades and dies. It is the comfort of seeing God come with power. It is the comfort of being tended by God as a shepherd and carried close to his heart. To those we can add two from II Peter: It is the comfort of knowing God's patience and not losing hope. It is the comfort of anticipating a new heaven and a new earth.

            "Comfort, comfort my people." Here was a new message for the community of prophets. For many years their message had been one of warning and of impending judgment. In those years there were some who spoke an easy word of peace. But Jeremiah said, "They have healed the wound of my people lightly . . ." (6:14) and cautioned about prophets who said "peace, peace, when there is no peace."

Paul Hanson writes that "Isaiah addressed a people who have suffered and repented and now are receptive to God's Word." It took time, and many difficult days. So a word of comfort is given that is truly from the Lord. John Oswalt puts it this way: "God said that judgment would come, and it did. Now he says restoration will come, and it will!"

            The comfort of God is shown in three images: a highway in the wilderness, grass and flowers in the field that quickly fade, and the arm of the Lord in victory. The preparation of a highway for the Lord demonstrates that when God comes to save, it will not be by human effort, nor will there be human resistance. When God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt, it came by defeating the resistance of Pharaoh through a series of plagues. But here there is no pharaoh in the way. When Persia defeated Babylon, they sent the various people in exile back to their homeland. Israel returned with Persia's blessing. But there is more here. It is not just about Israel returning home. This looks forward to God sending his only son into the world. The cross and resurrection of Jesus are the work of God. He is the one who saves. No mountain or valley or human obstacle, no king or priest can stop the Lord from his way of salvation. When Christ is lifted up on the cross he will draw all people to himself. When Christ returns in glory, there will be a new heaven and earth.

            The next vision is that of grass. All people are like grass, including the Babylonians, including conquering kings and tyrants. They come and go, but God's promises remain forever. The word of God created the earth, and the word made flesh brought redemption to all nations. Don't listen to the tyrants of earth or be overly impressed by them. God's promises and God's word is what lasts.

            So the Good News is to be announced, with a shout. "Here is your God! The Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him." Notice the two uses of God's arm. First it is a symbol of power. The arm of God overcomes all the powers that would resist it. Next it is the good shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms. The arm of God is compassion. Oswalt writes, "The creator breaks into his world, both to break the power of evil with his strong arm and, like a shepherd, to gather up the broken in his gentle arms."

            The one who comes with power, and who is the shepherd, is the Lord Jesus Christ. We look to his return in power. Michael Green writes that "The most important thing about the return of Christ is that it is Jesus himself who will return. He is the compassionate one who understands our frailties."

            How do we proclaim the comfort of God in his season? How do we give redemptively and not competitively? How do we move from self-indulgent living to the anticipation of the return of Christ in glory?

            Peter says it is by living holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. We live for the good of the earth that will be transformed into a new heaven and a new earth. We live for the salvation of people for whom God waits to come to repentance.

So we give redemptively to students in the villages of Alaska whose lives are so often broken but have found a healing place at Alaska Christian College.

We give redemptively to our Christmas party families who will be welcomed to come into our church and enjoy a good meal and hear the music of Christ's birth, and be told of the love of God through the gift of Christ and then given gifts purchased by you for their Christmas.

That same afternoon there will be a Christmas party in a neighborhood in Chicago that has been paralyzed by the bullets of gangs, but whose residents are loved by God, who wants none of them to perish. Atonement Covenant Church will receive on that day the comfort of God.

Finally, we give the peace of God to our children and families and to one another, as we gather this day at the table of the Lord. Here we will find the comfort of God.

            Amen.