Isaiah 35:1-10 Sermon

Third Sunday of Advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Christmas and Christ’s Kingdom: “Christ’s Kingdom Give Us Strength and Courage”

Isaiah 35:1-10

1The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (NIV)

It takes courage to live as a Christian.  It takes courage to stand up for our beliefs, knowing that confidently expressing them will likely result in ridicule.  It takes courage to confess a belief in creationism in a world that has turned bad science into a deity, and it takes courage to speak up for one-man-and-woman marriage amidst the din of “live and let live” and a “mind your own business” mentality so prevalent in the world.  Such things take courage.

But most of us can deal with those things.  Where Christianity really takes courage, where strength is really needed, is in the day-to-day stuff.  It’s needed as the Holy Spirit takes what’s in here (Bible), gets it to sink into here (heart), and ultimately guides us to reflect it in our daily behaviors and actions.  It’s easy to look the other way when the words or actions of a brother or sister in the faith clearly undermine God’s will; it takes courage to be strong enough to lovingly point it out.  It takes courage to pray together with my family when I am deathly afraid of sounding foolish not if, but when, I stumble.  It’s easy to resort to moralizing in raising my children, but it takes courage to point out the blunt reality of sin and follow it with the consolation and comfort of the gospel.  It’s easy to slam the shortcomings of a spouse, but it takes courage to admit that my own sin at the very least plays some part in the reason this marriage isn’t as strong as it could be.  Yes, in so many areas, it takes courage to put the Christian faith into practice.

Well I have good news for you then this morning, or I should say Isaiah has good news.  In the past two weeks God has used Isaiah to assure us that Christ’s Kingdom is Coming and that It is Worth the Wait; this morning he promises that Christ’s Kingdom Gives Us Strength and Courage.  Strength and courage may not be the first two things that come to mind when we reflect on a baby in a manger, yet the imagery that Isaiah conveys for us this morning give us the confidence that Christmas and Christ’s kingdom do in fact provide us with strength and courage.

By now we’re used to the word pictures of the prophet Isaiah; nevertheless, this morning once again he takes somewhat abstract concepts of strength and courage and makes them concrete for us by using recognizable pictures.  Through these pictures, Isaiah touches on what we might identify as being five areas in which Christ’s Kingdom has made us strong and courageous.

The first is in the area of Appearance.  The change in appearance prophesied by Isaiah would hardly go unnoticed.  It is about as drastic a change as can be.  Isaiah writes, “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God” (v.1,2).  One does not need to be a gardener or work in a nursery to appreciate the eye-popping change between a parched desert and a one that has just been doused with rain.  Life seems to appear out of nowhere.  Dust and dirt and earthy tones give way to bright and vibrant colors of plant life after the rain.

You and I can relate.  If we were somehow able to compare a “before” and “after” picture that could reflect the difference in appearance between what we were originally, before belonging to Christ’s Kingdom, and what we are now, we’d be unrecognizable.  The desert landscape of unbelief is dotted with the bone-dry soil of sin and the withered and crunchy plants of failed perfection.  The luscious landscape of life in Jesus, however, is strikingly different.  Grace blossoms in abundance.  Forgiveness flowers in a splendid array of colors.  Salvation springs forth in celebration of what we’ve become in Christ.

We notice the difference when we see it in fellow Christians.  The grace of God glows in the brother or sister becoming more and more spiritually mature.  Others notice it too.  They may not tell you initially, or ever, but they notice it.  Year after year those who have begged off on religion have taken notice of how you differ in appearance.  The wayward, the wondering – they have noticed that you are different, because you are.  Being in Christ’s Kingdom changes our appearance.

It also has given us strength and courage in our Ability.  “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way” (v.3).  It’s undeniable: as we age, our bodies aren’t able to do what they used to.  We can’t lift as much, we cannot grip as tightly, we have trouble even keeping ourselves steady and stable.  But it works the other way around spiritually.  Spiritually speaking, without God we have feeble hands and unreliable knees, but once we are brought into his kingdom, we become strong and continue to be strengthened.  We become able do that which we couldn’t before we belonged to Christ.  We become able to do more as we spiritually mature than when we were infants in the faith.  And it isn’t us, but the Holy Spirit working in us who equips us to grow in our ability to lead, to pray, to serve, to give, to evangelize, and so on.

Not surprisingly, a change in appearance and ability is often accompanied by a change in Attitude.  Isaiah wrote, “say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you” (v.4).  Isaiah is expressing the same confident attitude that God encouraged Joshua to have when he told him, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).  It is the same attitude of King David, who wrote in Psalm 56, “in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?” (v.11).  Man is able to carry out the unthinkable and reprehensible to fellow man – but only in this life.  God, however, is the one who determines where a soul ends up in the next life.  And, dear friends, because Christ came at Christmas and he still rules and reigns in his kingdom right at this very moment, we have absolutely nothing to be afraid of at this very moment.  Our attitude is fearless.  We have been claimed by Christ, and he comes again for those he claims.  Until he does on that Last Day, he also promises to be with us always.  We have nothing to fear.  Let the world paint its bull’s eye on your back for being a narrow-minded, uneducated, “anti-everything” Christian; sticks and stones, right? 

A strong and courageous attitude not only allows us to weather the storm of Christian-bashing rhetoric, but it makes us bold enough to act on the only real solution to the problem – changing the hearts of those opposed to Christ and his church.  Sure, we could hide away.  We could circle the wagons with other Christians and badmouth the world.  We could resort to the common misperception that what we really need is prayer in schools, “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy holidays,” stores closed on Sundays, etc….. Those are the things Christians resort to when they’re afraid.  But remember – our attitudes have changed and we have nothing to fear, so we’re unafraid to personally address the real need the world has: it needs the gospel.  It needs Jesus.  That means that sin must be pointed out so that the world can know of and admit its need for a Savior.  You belong to the church for that very purpose.  God hasn’t called anyone else but you and me to proclaim Jesus to the world, and he’s made us a part of his kingdom so that we have the proper attitude to do it.

Being a part of that kingdom has also opened our eyes, hasn’t it?  It has given us Awareness.  We read and study God’s Word, which so clearly spells out both our need for a Savior and the confidence that we have one in Jesus, and we become increasingly aware of how important that message is for ourselves, our family, and our friends and neighbors.  Isaiah said, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (v.5).  Before being brought into Christ’s kingdom, we were clueless, clueless of our own personal need of a Savior, and clueless of that need for others.  All that has changed.  Our eyes and ears have been opened.  Our awareness has changed our perspective, so that we essentially have two priorities: God, and everything else, in that order.

When that happens, finally, there is something phenomenal about being a part of Christ’s Kingdom that simply cannot be bottled up and hidden away.  Faith in Jesus and the free gift of forgiveness and salvation and peace and joy and, and, and… simply can’t be topped.  So we express our Appreciation.  Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert” (v.6).  “Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (v.10).  Isaiah uses animals and nature to personify the sheer joy that cannot help but be expressed in appreciation for all that we have in Christ’s Kingdom.  Such appreciation does not need to be coerced; it comes naturally.  Watch a child attack an ice cream Sunday and it is quite evident how much she appreciates it.  In the same way, watch Christ work in the life of a believer and see how much she appreciates it.  It becomes evident in every facet of life.

Christ’s Kingdom Gives Us Strength and Courage, and, as Isaiah points out, it is evident in our lives through our appearance, ability, attitude, awareness, and appreciation.  May the grace that ushered the Christ child into our world to give us all things, continue to give us strength and courage in Christ’s Kingdom.  Amen.

                                                             

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)