Tidings of Comfort and Joy

[Our lessons were Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, and Mark 1:1-8.]

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.

With these words, the “second Isaiah” brings good news to the people of Israel of God’s comfort and God’s redemption from their exile of 150 years. There is an end to God’s judgment and wrath because the God who punishes is also like a shepherd who leads his flock down the highway through the desert which leads to Jerusalem and home.

Now the word “comfort” here has a very specific meaning. “Comfort” doesn’t mean to put at ease or make comfortable. “Comfort” here means to “make strong” or to fortify. Take Heart! Be encouraged! Be prepared for the better days to come.

A voice tells us to be ready, to “prepare the way of the Lord”, to “make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” To this abandoned community who supposed that God had left them, Second Isaiah announces the God is approaching on this highway they are preparing.

People may wither and fade, like the grass and the flowers, but the word of God stands forever. God will come with might and gentleness as a shepherd cares for his flock.

Our Epistle reading was probably written in Peter’s name sometime after his death, probably about the end of the first century, but perhaps as late as the middle of the second century. Like 2 Timothy, this letter was written by a follower of the apostle, using the apostle’s name to give the letter greater weight.

The letter deals with a theme of Advent: waiting. Why has Christ taken so long to return? It’s probably a good thing that the writer didn’t know we could ask the same question in the twenty-first century. Waiting is based on two concerns: expectation (“will it be worth the wait?”) and response (“What shall I do in the meantime?”).

First, we are reminded that God’s time is not our time, that “one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” What is “soon” to God may not seem “soon” to us. (This sounds something like the way “Christmas is coming soon” doesn’t seem to mean the same thing to a parent and a child.)

God isn’t being slow about his promise for “slowness’ sake”. What looks like tardiness is really mercy. God is wanting everyone to have a chance to repent and be redeemed. God doesn’t want anyone to be damned. But, since we won’t know when that day will finally come—it will come without warning “like a thief”—don’t wait to repent, because you might not count time as God does and you might get it wrong!

Finally, we begin the Gospel of Mark by proclaiming “the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” But, we don’t talk about Jesus in this reading.

In our culture, people seem to have to take lead, to be seen as the person in charge. Our political and business leaders don’t say, “It wasn’t all about me. There was a messenger who came before me, and in fact prepared the way.” But that is how the story of Jesus begins.

Even as the Jews of the time of Second Isaiah were in foreign exile in Babylon, the Jews of the First Century were under foreign occupation by Rome. So Mark looks back to the words of Second Isaiah to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” He also quotes from the prophet Malachi, who warned Israel of God’s judgment. If we look for God to deliver us from our enemies, we must first examine ourselves to see whether we are fit to stand before God.

Our lessons today thus tell us to be strong, because God will redeem his people. We should not lose heart because the day of redemption seems delayed, because God wants everyone to be redeemed. And we prepare for that redemption by joining with John in confessing our sins and looking to the mightier one who is to come. In the words of the Christmas carol, “tidings of comfort and joy”, indeed!