Waiting For God’s Comfort

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

As the song says, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Is it the most wonderful time of the year? Well, I guess it depends. There's probably certain times or seasons in which the Christmas holiday has felt like the most wonderful time of the year to you. But there's lots of times in which it feels challenging and hard in the midst of a world that is filled with war and strife. In our personal relationships, we have brokenness, we have all kinds of things.

One of the things that I think we need as human beings is we need to be comforted. While we may not like to admit it, as human beings we have weakness. We are not always strong. And whether it's things that have come at us or things that we have contributed to the world, there is a sense of brokenness that pervades all of life.

And so we need comfort. And this is the beautiful part about Advent is that Advent, one of the themes is a theme of comfort. Today we're going to see it through Isaiah. Isaiah 40 is a poem about God coming, the certainty of God's coming, and bringing comfort to all.

We see a few things in there that are really helpful. One, we see that God is certain. While life is uncertain, and we are not always certain. God is certain, and so God's certain comfort is coming. Two, we remember and see that comforting others is actually an act of strength. So God's strength manifests itself as comfort. We don't always think of it that way.

And then lastly, it sets our identity. We are to be a people that create a community of comfort when we understand and know who Christ is and what is to come in the future. So let me highlight these things a little bit more

In Isaiah. It says that human beings are like the grass or like the flower of the field.

They fade and they wither. Age after a while teaches you that you too are fading and withering. At one time in my life I had a full head of hair and that hair had a wonderful swoop to it. And Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell, I was really trying to have that kind of vibe and I had the head of hair to go with that.

Well, like the grass and like the flower, my head of hair has faded and withered. And in fact, if I don't keep this sort of cut as the way it is, it looks like a dandelion that's gone to seed. You blow on it and it would all just disappear. We don't like to admit this, but as human beings we are frail, we are weak, and our lives will come and they will go.

And so that creates a sense in us of like, okay, well, what hope is there? Am I going to be able to continue to proceed in this world? And what God offers us is comfort. God's comfort that comes is certain. Because God is eternal. God is the one who never gives up. God is the one who is always faithful. God is the one who will bring renewal and set things right.

And we need to hear that message. And so it's great news that the voice is declaring that comfort is coming from the Lord.

The second part about comfort that I think is interesting is I think sometimes we trying to hide our insecurity and trying to hide our frailty. We try to be the ones who are, are strong.

And when we think about strength, we think about things like winning. We think about things like imposing our will. We think about things like dominance. But this passage in Isaiah reflects a different look of what comfort looks like. Comfort is actually something that someone strong does. So God comes, and God is the one who is strong, but then what does he do?

Well, God nurtures, and God cares for, and God shares in the presence of his people, offering them comfort. And so that sets for us how we are to be. We are to think about strength in a different way. You and I, while there are times that we need to be comforted, we will also each have certain strengths and power.

And when the reason we have that is not to control others, not to dominate, not to impose our will, but to nourish and nurture and care for others. And so what does that look like in your life? How might you be one who, because of the comfort you experience from God, choose to be a person who offers comfort to others?

How could you do that in your everyday life? So as frail and weak people, we need to be comforted. As people who have experienced God's comfort, we are to comfort others, that that's a healthy use of strength and power versus control and dominance as we see often in the world.

And lastly, it shapes our identity. We are to be a people, a comforting people, we are to create a community of comfort. This passage in Isaiah which talks about how the making way, the path of the Lord, making things straight and flat, is quoted in each of the Gospels. And the way Luke uses it as a determination of John the Baptist, and then from there challenges people.

If you have two coats, give one away. If you have food, make sure that people don't go hungry. If you're a soldier, don't abuse your power, but rather use it to protect. If you are collecting taxes, only take what is yours. And so it's this reminder to be a community that has strength, but uses that to comfort others.

How do we provide comfort? Well, I think that comfort comes in the midst of relationship. I know in my life, when I have needed comfort the most, the way I experience comfort from God is because people showed up in my life. They couldn't fix everything, but they chose to be present. They didn't want me to be alone in it.

I think that's true for us. And so, as a church, right now, one of the things we're trying to do is get better at creating this community of care. This community of comfort. And we do that in two ways. One is organized and the other is organic. From an organized sense, it's having events like our family Christmas party next Sunday.

And I hope you can come and be here because it'd give you a chance to get connected to other people because in the midst of relationship, that's where God shows up and where we're able to offer comfort to one another. But additionally, I would say, I hope that you get better at the organic. In the midst of donuts and coffee on Sunday, or just as a random text message, reach out and provide comfort to people and invite them in to relationship.

Because together, we can be a community that offers comfort to one another and comfort to the world, because that becomes our identity.

The world we live in is fragile. We are frail, we wither, but the hope of the Advent message is that God's comfort is certain. And that the act of comfort is something that someone with strength does.

And we're thankful for the strength of God to provide comfort. And that then shapes our identity to be a caring and comforting community ourselves.

So throughout Advent, we've been asking the question, what are we waiting for? Well, we're waiting for two things. We're waiting for the return of Christ. And with the return of Christ, there'll be a return of comfort. And we'll, the world will be set right. We've also been asking the question, what are we waiting for? With an exclamation point at the end, like, Hey, let's get going. What are we waiting for? Let's go do this. Let's go be these people. And that's the second call of Advent that we are to be a community of people that offer comfort to one another in the world.

So what are you waiting for? Always glad to be with you. I hope you have a great week. Take care.