Do You Ever Wonder Why Scripture Comforts?
Good Morning Friends,
There is comfort in Jesus and comfort in the Holy Spirit. But today in the middle of Lent we meditate on a different though related means of receiving a reassurance that prepares us for a deeper relationship with God. It is not a time to panic. It is however a time for our hearts to rediscover the blessing. It is time to share the words of God to the least, the last and the lost. It is time to discover a way to something that lasts. And to do that we need to open the Bible. Do You Ever Wonder Why Scripture Comforts?
Scripture: 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.
Isaiah 40:1-8 (NRSV)
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Peter 5:10 (NRSV)
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.
Isaiah 40:9-11 (NRSV)
Message: There are lots of scriptures that comfort the afflicted and others that afflict the comfortable. However today I have chosen a section from the prophet Isaiah that foretells of the work of John the Baptist and inserted a verse from Peter that might just combine to do both. It is perhaps best read at Christmas for it is a message of promises and hope of the coming of the Messiah. The work of Christ permeates its message. It is the story not about a construction project…the building of the Roman roads though their conquered lands. It is the image of how God proposes to conquer our hearts. And I guess that is why I am writing about it the middle of the Lenten Season. You see today’s scripture is the story of the gradual preparation, the raising up of our hearts to receive Jesus. It lays out the strategic battle plans for the coming of the Christ child but also reminds us that there is no celebration of Christmas without the events of Holy Week. It shows us how scripture can comfort us. For in the reading we build a highway of hope in our very being. In the reading of verse upon verse a story is etched on our spirit that comes to a climax during Holy Week. Here rank on rank we march word by Word though the Transfiguration and Triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to the Cross and the Grave, to be raised up though a time of repenting, remembering, restoring, renewing, and rejoicing as well as. Leveled by the law of love, sentence by sentence we are to bring comfort to others during their time of confusion. Here we learn to see clearly and as a whole the Way. Here raised up in the spiritual realm by scripture we learn to become dependent on God and so in the reading comforted. So this season of Lent is a time to prepare our hearts. We are to practice the songs of this changing season. It is time to get ready. It is time to be connected at the crossroads of Christ’s pardon…Christ’s presence…Christ’s permanence and power in the promises and hope of scripture. So take comfort today as we prepare. Read well. It is time to get ready, but not for death but the resurrection of new life. It is time get ready to welcome a resurrected Jesus into our hearts with joy. Friends, in today’s scripture Isaiah speaks of an everlasting comfort that results in everlasting strength…the comfort of God. Peter along similar lines asks those who have been called out to follow Jesus to remember His teachings about leadership, humility, anxiety and adversity. Peter makes it clear that not all suffering is a product of having done something wrong. Some suffering is because we are fighting the right cause against the right foe learning the importance of endurance and hope in the process…being pruned of behaviors that are not needed in the Kingdom. Friends, that is the story of the cross and it demonstrates in its fullness that God’s comfort, like God’s love is unique. It is infinite, inexhaustible, immutable, and indestructible. Friends, our afflictions are temporary and transient. God’s comfort is everlasting. Lent is a good time to read and remember how we are comforted by scripture.
Pray that when we read scripture that our hearts are turned on and our hopes lifted up. Pray we see the world not just though a child’s eyes again with trust and amazement and wonder but also with a sense of maturity. Pray that when we read scripture together that a light in our soul is turned on and shines away the darkness. Pray that scripture helps us to rediscover the blessing of giving a smile of acknowledgement to another. Pray that scripture helps us to learn to love as Christ loves. Pray that the rhythm of the reading keeps in step with our daily walk with God. Pray that by God’s grace and His eternal hope our hearts are prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give a reason why we find hope in Jesus the Word made flesh. Pray the God of Grace comfort our hearts. Pray we too are restored by the Word.
Pray that we discover the captivating presence of grace in a phrase of hope that greets us like an old friend. Pray that we embrace the compassionate purpose and changing power of a verse of grace. Pray that the dots be connected. Pray that we enjoy the comforting provision of grace and its confident promise found in scripture.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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