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3rd Sunday in ADVENT

December 16, 2007

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sioux Falls, SD

Rev. Norman F. Seeger

 

Isaiah 35:1-10

The 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.

         The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way;

                     wicked fools will not go about on it.

         9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there.

            But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD 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.

 

Isaiah 35:1-10 

"DO NOT BE AFRAID!...GOD COMES TO SAVE!”

1.  Evil is Undone

2.  We Walk a Highway to Heaven

 

Dear disciples of Christ,

Changes can cause discomfort.  Changes are a by-product of progress.  Changes are often unwelcome or always expected.  What apprehension or appreciation might enter my mind as Isaiah emphasizes & illustrates a most comprehensive change to be caused by the coming Christ?

Is change a product of progress?  Twelve years ago – way back before Mr. Roloff arrived in Sioux Falls – our first Vicar Bode, was prayerfully seen by some as an initial step toward a second pastor.  More than a decade later – after Mr. Roloff accepted a call to our high school in Watertown six months ago – the Lord led us as a congregation to call a second pastor.  Progress-producing change can come slowly.  Changes can also occur quite quickly.  A mere two months after our council decided a new pastor’s family better fits the parsonage, our house is being built & able-bodied men are asked to help move Mary & me into our new home two weeks from yesterday.  A little later -- Sunday, January 13th at 4:00 p.m. -- we expect to install Pastor Werre as our associate pastor because Good Shepherd’s gospel ministries are growing.

Change-inducing growth, of course, can cause some discomfort.  Pregnant mothers find their clothes becoming a bit too tight, but will not really complain because we know a baby is another blessing God is pouring upon us even if a full night’s sleep becomes nothing more than a memory.  Expanding ministries might stress some of our facilities, but we cannot seriously complain about crowded meeting spaces & cramped Sunday school classrooms or Bible study areas because God will be bringing more souls to learn about our Savior.  More people worshipping with us might mean I have to come a little earlier to sit in my ‘regular’ seat or even find a place in the front pew.  I might encounter some unfamiliar faces in the entryway, which could make a couple individuals uncomfortable.  I might need to drive different roads next summer when 57th street expands.  I expect some grumbling as we are moved out of our ‘comfort zones,’ but I pray we will never really complain – never sinfully complain -- about changes we face because God blesses us with opportunities to share Jesus’ life-giving truth.

Learning from experience, let’s face some facts:  Changes – new homes, new jobs, new family members by birth or by marriage – always cause a  little discomfort because new routines force us out of old ruts.  When I wake up in morning, I will not be able to walk into the kitchen on autopilot, but may need to think which way to turn -- maybe even turn on a light.  Sitting in a pew worshipping with you some Sunday mornings instead of standing in this pulpit preaching will provide a strange new perspective for me & for Pastor Werre.

While we know changes cause some discomfort, I also know change can be a blessing.  In fact, I know growth is good if our growth is guided by God.  Changing sinful habits, for example, is never easy.  It is far more comfortable to keep on sinning, but I know God’s blessings will flow if I stop cursing, abusing alcohol or allowing anger to rule my emotions.  I could first feel uncomfortable telling somebody about Jesus being born to win salvation for their soul.  I may feel odd ordering ‘water & water.’  Letting God’s love guide me to bless & to help a person who hates & harms me will not first feel normal.  Whatever discomfort I might experience, however, I really ought to rejoice as the Holy Spirit changes me from a sinner to a saint.

We ought to rejoice in every gift God graciously gives.  We ought to rejoice in the amazing changes Christ causes in our life’s present situation as well as in our eternal destination!  But I may become comfortable in my life’s routine ruts.  I might resist any change of action or attitude.  I may actually be afraid to change.  I admit:  major changes in my life may be intimidating.  But Isaiah -- describing God’s biggest possible blessing producing unanticipated, almost unbelievable changes or transformations – like Christmas angels singing to shepherds outside Bethlehem, Isaiah urges us, “Do not be afraid!  God is coming to save you.”  Friends, faithful friends, do not be afraid of life-altering changes Christ causes in our lives, for when Jesus appears, as promised, evil is undone & we believers will be walking a highway to heaven.

Day instead of night?  Up in place of down?  Right rather than left?  How would we describe the difference God’s promised Savior produces in our world?  Exact opposites are needed to accurately reflect the total change Jesus causes to occur because  “the reason the Son of God appears is to destroy the devil’s work.”[1 JN 3]  Tempting Adam & Eve to sin in Eden, Satan separated man from God since God’s holiness cannot tolerate nor coexist with our wickedness.  But when Jesus becomes a human being -- born under the law -- Jesus, as our Substitute, resists every one of Satan’s temptations.  Since our Savior’s actions are credited to our account, Jesus’ imputed righteousness brings believers back to God’s side.  First born in sin -- separated from God, dying with the devil – we are now alive in Christ.

Now, what is there to fear when Jesus wins forgiveness for our sins?  Being changed from sinners condemned to hell into saints who will live with our Lord forever is the greatest possible progress.  “The desert & the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice & blossom.  Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom, rejoicing greatly & shouting for joy.”  Total change is anticipated as Isaiah sees the promised Savior coming to undo evil – sees Jesus being born to erase our guilt.  Lebanon’s prized cedars, Carmel’s fertile fields, Sharon’s thick forests are as different from a desert landscape as anyone might imagine, but best of all is seeing “the glory of the Lord” appear in person.

Coming out of slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness, to the promised land, “the glory of the Lord” appears as a cloud by day; a pillar of fire at night.  Resting in the holiest section of the tabernacle where he orders priests to offer sacrifices for sin every day, the Lord keeps picturing a Savior he always said he would send to graciously, gloriously offer himself as the only Sacrifice able to actually atone for every sinner’s every sin forever. 

Make no mistake:  Jesus is our promised Savior.  Jesus is the person Isaiah sees appearing in our world not to deliver a death evil individuals deserve but to produce life by innocently suffering sin’s death in our place.  “The eyes of the blind will be opened & the ears of the deaf unstopped.  The lame will leap like a deer & the mute tongue shout for joy” are not only total reversals illustrating God’s forgiving grace replacing his righteous anger in oury life but also serve as signs identifying Jesus as our Savior when Jesus miraculously makes the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; the mute talk.  Asking us to look at his life’s work – as he asked John’s disciples in our gospel reading today -- Jesus definitely identifies himself as our promised Savior.  When I see Jesus powerfully perform miracles – when I watch Jesus perfectly obey God’s commands -- can anyone come to any other conclusion than that Jesus is our promised Savior?  Without a doubt, Jesus is the sinless Son of God who was born of Mary in Bethlehem to build this highway to heaven believers are walking as we faithfully follow Christ.

Before totally changing our world by winning forgiveness for every sin as he innocently dies every sinner’s death on his cross, Jesus first establishes “a highway called the Way of Holiness” by living a perfectly holy life.  With our Savior / Substitute rolling out his righteousness like a red carpet inviting us into God’s heavenly glory, God counts Jesus’ obedience as our obedience.  Declared righteous in Christ, I need not obey God’s commandments to obtain eternal life.  As a forgiven sinner, I can simply apply God’s orders to my life’s attitudes & actions as I thankfully show my love for the Lord Jesus who loved & saved me first.

Please understand, in Isaiah’s day, roads were merely dirt paths worn in the ground by people walking the same steps.  This road the prophet’s inspired eyes see is totally different – something similar to our relatively restricted interstates.  “No lion…no ferocious beasts get up on this road” to attack us.  “No unclean soul” will make life’s journey with us.  “No wicked fools” will walk beside us to temptingly lead us down some dead-end detour.  Living in God’s forgiveness, “only the redeemed walk on this highway.  Only souls ransomed by the Lord walk this Way of Holiness.”  As interstate traffic flows the same direction, Christians will encourage & assist one another as we gladly & joyfully follow Jesus together.

As we follow Christ, changes will still occur in our lives.  Babies will be born.  Funerals will be celebrated.  Graduates get jobs or go away to college.  Will upcoming changes cause some discomfort, produce progress or instigate unreasonable fear of anything being different tomorrow from what is is today?  As we rejoice in Isaiah’s promise of a Savior who would come at Christmas to change us from sinners into saints, I pray we will faithfully follow Jesus, the coming Christ, whose righteous life & sinless sacrifice of himself changes our eternal destination from hell into heaven.  I pray we will always walk on our Lord’s holy highway -- always live in Jesus’ righteousness.  I pray we will gladly follow God through every change he slowly or suddenly brings into a life where he would use us saints to fearlessly witness our Savior, Jesus, the one Savior for every soul.

Amen.