September 16, 2007

I would like to begin with a quick poll. How many of you here this morning are pretty happy and contented. Maybe you have some frustrations, but overall, things are going well. How many of you are struggling?

One hymn that has meant so much to those who are struggling with grief and pain is the hymn, "It is Well with My Soul" "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, "It is well, It is well with my soul.'"

Horaitio Spafford wrote that hymn while passenger on a ship that passed over the same spot in the Atlantic Ocean where just a short time all four of his children had perished in a sea accident, drowned after another ship collided with theirs, sending it and many of its passengers to the bottom of the ocean.

After he heard about the tragedy, Spafford back in the United States was desperate to receive news of his family. Finally, the blow fell. A cable arrived from Wales stating that his four daughters were lost at sea, but his wife was still alive. He was crushed with what had happened. All night he walked the floor in anguish. Toward the morning he turned to his friend, Major Whittle, and said, "I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost me something."

"I am glad to trust the Lord when it will cost me something." Think about that. Now listen again to the first verse of our scripture.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

I would like zero in on that word, "comfort." Kids, I have a question for you. Do you remember what language the Old Testament was originally written in? [Yes, Hebrew-the language of the Jews-- and our Bible is a translation of the original Hebrew] Now the Hebrew word for comfort is "nicham." That's an interesting word, because when Hebrew people said it, it brought a certain picture to their minds. Some words do that. For instance, do you know the Navajo Indian word for car? They call it a "chitty." Do you know why? Because when cars first came to the reservation-probably back in the days of the Model T-that's the way they sounded, "Chitty- Chitty-Chitty." Well, when Hebrew people said "nicham" that sounded to them like the breathing of a horse after a hard run in the hot desert. Now you might wonder what comfort has to do with sounding like a horse. But, stop and think about maybe a time in your life when you really sad and started to cry your eyes out. And then your mom or dad or a friend came to give you a hug. Your nose starts to water and you start to snuff and your breathing gets shaky. To the Hebrews, at least, you were sounding a little like one of their horses. But that was just the sound. As they thought about that sound, in their minds they felt their mom's warm embrace. They felt arms that would never let them go. Nicham.

You can never know the depths of this comfort until you been in the depths of despair. Remember Jesus words, "Happy are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." Now earlier, I asked if you were happy and contented this morning. And many of you raised your hand. No, I wasn't setting you up. And I certainly wasn't saying you don't have to listen to this sermon. For what I will be describing is something that is meaningful for all God's children, but it is especially comforting to those in despair.

Some conservative Bible scholars, like the late Edward Young, believe that Isaiah wrote this prophecy almost 100 years before the fall of Jerusalem and the time God's people Judah were led into captivity in Babylon. It was probably during the reign of good King Hezekiah. If they are correct, then God was speaking truths that were relevant for all time, but the comfort he spoke of was especially meaningful to the people's great grandchildren, to the generation who lost their homes and cities and became captives in a foreign country. The words were brought a special consolation to those who saw many of their loved ones die of starvation during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem or slaughtered by Nebuchadnezzar's ruthless soldiers. It was a consolation to those who saw their homes and the great city, including the Solomon's beautiful temple become a smoldering ruin.

But what was so comforting about his message? This message was comforting because it was true comfort. Unlike false comfort, true comfort deals not just with the symptoms of a problem, but with the problem itself. True comfort is not an aspirin tablet that covers over the pains of life, it's the radical surgery that deals with the root cause of the pain. If I have splinter in my finger that causes me pain, is my real problem the pain or the splinter? Obviously, it's the splinter. Similarly Judah's real problem was not captivity in Babylon. To find the real problem we must ask why God had allowed Babylon to conquer his people and lead them into captivity.

While Children of Israel were still slaves in Egypt, even before they were traveling In wilderness, God promised in the words of Exodus 6: 7, "I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God." And God promised to provide for them and care for them and give them a land of blessing, if only they would obey his laws and be faithful to him.

But hey were not faithful. Time and again they disobeyed God*s laws and they worshiped idol gods. By their actions they told the Lord that they no longer wanted to be his people. They walked out on God. They told him, "You're not our boss; we are. We're going to do what we want, no matter what your law says." Therefore, God left them alone. ‘You want to be like the other nations, said the Lord. You want independence from me. Okay, I'll withdraw my presence and treat you just the other nations. So, God withdrew himself and his hand of protection. And the Babylonians came and conquered Judah.

But, think about it for a minute. Wasn't what the Jews did similar to what our parents Adam and Eve did. When Adam, as a representative, or spokesman for all his children after him, disobeyed God and ate from that tree, he was rejecting the Lord as his God. He was saying, "God, I'm my own man. It doesn't matter what you say. I am going to do as I please." Isn't that what people are still saying today. In the words of the poet Henley, aren't people really telling God, "I am the master of my fate; I am the guardian of my soul." God responded by withdrawing his presence, allowing Adam and his children the independence they demanded. That's the reason for all the grief in this world.

People of God, we cannot know the comfort of these words until we know the depths of our rebellion against God. And we can't know it until we stop looking for all the signs of rebellion out there in the world and start looking in our own hearts and at our own lives. We can't know it until we start grieving over our own sins. Let's not forget the words of David, "Happy is he who transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered... When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." (Psalm 32: 1, 3)

Well, what's the good news found in this prophecy? Notice again how it begins,

Comfort, comfort my people.

That little possessive "my" told the Jews that they still belonged to God even though they were in captivity. What good news! What comfort! God did not abandon them. Instead he forgave them and still claimed them as his own,

¹ Comfort, comfort my people,

says your God.

² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the LORD'S hand

double for all her sins.

This was this comfort that carried them through those terrible years. It was this realization that allowed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to walk without fear into the fiery furnace, and that gave Daniel peace as he was dropped into the lion's den. This gave Queen Esther the confidence to approach King Xerxes and save her people from Haman's plot.

Do you remember Jesus' parable of the prodigal son? I referred to it in my sermon a few weeks ago. In many ways God's captive people were like the younger son. Do you remember how the story goes? The younger son asked his father to give him all the inheritance that would be his when his father died. And when his father did, he left, taking all that money, and he blew it on wine, women, and song. And about the time he spent his last dime, there was a famine and looked everywhere to get a job. And he finally found one feeding pigs, unclean animals that no Israelite would have been caught dead around. (Think how you would feel if you got a job working in a sewer or cleaning latrines.) And he didn't get paid much. He was so poor he wished he could eat the pig slop. Finally he decided to try to get a job as one his father's servants. So he set out for home. But when he was still a long way off his father saw him and ran to him. His dad put his arms around him and kissed him. And they had a big party And the father said with great joy in his heart, "My son was dead and is alive; was lost and is found."

And this is the message God brings today. It is message to all of us, but it is especially aimed at those of us who feel like we are far from God-to those of us who wonder whether our God in heaven still loves us. This message tells us his arms are open and we can know it is well with our souls.

But, what does this mean for those of us who are struggling? Look at verses 3- 5,

Here we see a picture of the mighty God charging into the wilderness. He doesn't just leave us alone to find our way our way out, he comes in after us. Notice what the voice cries, "In the desert prepare a way for the Lord..."

Certainly to the people of Israel this brought memories of how God had led their forefathers through the wilderness to the promised land. God didn't just tell his people to go through wilderness and that he'd meet them at the other end. He led them with the pillar of cloud and fire. He went with them and prepared the way.

But, to God's people today, this means even more. It is the voice is that of John the Baptist crying that God was sending his own Son Jesus into the wilderness of this world. If you are feeling all alone in the wilderness this morning, listen to Jesus own words,

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Hear those words and know that we can never go so far into the wilderness, that he will not find us and lead us out.

The comforting words of verse 3- 5 are followed by words that assure why we can depend on our Lord: verses 6- 8.

In these verses a voice calls out that all people are like grass that withers and dies. In Psalm 103: 13- 16 we read,

³ As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass,

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

Sometimes we wonder whether God knows what he's doing. But, let's not forget that that God is our Creator. As our Creator, he knows everything about us. He designed us. He knows how fragile and vulnerable we are. He knows how easily can wither and die.

But, as God's people today, know something else. The God who made us, became flesh and lived for a while among us. And he knows personally what it means to suffer. And we know that the words of Isaiah 53 describe what the one who created us when through for us,

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

But our Lord did not suffer just so that he could feel our pain. He came into our wilderness and suffered our pain, so that he might bring us out. He came to lead us home. He came to pave the way from death to life. And he will make sure that we get there.

Look at verse 11,

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

How did David express that thought in Psalm 23

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,^

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

All of this reminds me of a story I read a story in the recent Newsweek magazine about Son Jong Nam. Let me read an exerpt

"Few people can say they have it good in North Korea, but at one point Son Jong Nam could. He was the son of a high-ranking officer in the all-powerful military. As a child he never had to worry about going hungry. As an adult he became part of Kim Jong Il's personal security detail-paid well, and trusted implicitly.

All of which makes him a potent symbol now. In 1997, Son's pregnant wife was hauled in for questioning after dropping a critical remark about Kim's handling of the famine. An interrogator kicked her in the stomach; she lost the baby. Distraught, Son fled to China with her and their young daughter-but the wife died soon after, according to Son's brother, who now lives in Seoul. Son turned to one of the missionaries operating clandestinely along the border, helping refugees escape. Like many others Son converted to Christianity. Unlike most, he returned to North Korea to spread the Gospel. Today he sits on death row in Pyongyang, accused of being a spy."

("Prayer in Pyongyang: Activists Cast Light on the Underground Church," by Christian Caryl and B. J. Lee, Newsweek, September 17, 2007)

Losing everything he had, Son Jong Nam found Jesus and today, languishing in a prison cell, he knows the comfort that Isaiah wrote about. Friend, what about you?

⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Amen!