Hope and Truth

The Glory of the Lord Shall Be Revealed

I’d like to share with you this morning the scripture from Isaiah 40: 1 – 11. This is a message of hope and truth.

Isaiah 40:1–11
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 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 all her sins.

A voice cries out: “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 become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

The historical setting for this scripture is Babylon. It is addressed to the Jewish community in exile. The Babylonian exile, while economically more favorable to the Jewish community than staying in Israel, still threatened the community with cultural and religious assimilation.

At this time in history, the conquering of a people by another people meant that the god of the conquered people was conquered by the god of the conquerors. The action meant the loss of their personal, cultural, political, and spiritual identity. They literally lost the center on which their lives turned. The challenge before the prophet was threefold:

First he had to try to answer the question in the minds of the people: Is God still God? Second: with the loss of the temple and kingship, do the people of God still exist as a people?

And Third and last of all: Does God still care for the people?

The prophet’s answer to all these questions was a resounding, “Yes!”

There is great hope offered the people here by the prophet. They had lost all hope. They thought their God had been conquered and was no longer the God of their tribe.

The apex of the scripture comes in 40:9 with the proclamation: “Here is your God!” God is great. God still loves the people. God is honoring the covenant made with Jacob and David. God cares about you. God is here in the midst of our most terrible circumstances. “Here is your God!” There is hope. The hope of the Advent season is symbolized in the sacrament of Communion. At the Lord’s table we are reminded of God’s saving role in our lives. That saving role is not necessarily in an afterlife, it is actually for us in the present day…in this life. Many people find life so difficult that they give up hope of anything getting better. In God we find hope for our lives and in God we receive the promise of God’s continuing presence with us. And this morning as we partake of the emblems of the sacrament, God’s glory is once again revealed to us.

Central to this scripture is the age old question: Is God good? Is God great? The next central questions are: How has God shown involvement in our lives? Has there ever been a time when God has seemed absent from our life? If so, how did God return to us?

God is good because God is always with us. God is great because God continually works in our lives to help us make good decisions and to comfort us when all seems lost and we feel alone with our life dilemmas. Sometimes God seems a long way away from us but it is not because God has withdrawn. It is because we have stopped listening to God’s voice. We have withdrawn. That is truth. Truth, and our search for it, is also a part of the glory of the Lord. And how do we recognize truth when we find it? The Buddha told this story.

‎"A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. Then he took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organized a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him. Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and continued to cry. After some time, the child left.

Father and son never saw each other again."

After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it."

Let us open our minds always for truth. Let us be open to truth.

As we prepare for the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper today, let us examine these questions for ourselves and attempt to answer them silently for our own lives.

When we miss God in our lives and feel we are all alone, and no longer hear that still small voice. It is not because God has deserted us. It is because we have withdrawn into ourselves and have ignored God. If we want to return to God, God is always right there ready to help us with the big decisions in our lives to comfort us in our worst dilemmas. God is with us in our worst moments and also in our best moments. If we recognize that, we will find the courage to face whatever may come our way in life. God is still God. God is the God of all people and God still cares deeply for us.

That is truth.