COMFORT!

I went to bed pleased, but I woke up this morning feeling sad. These two days in mid-September have done that to me for the last several years. September 10th is my birthday, and my wife always makes sure that it is a special event. September 11th is... well, you know.

I'm sad not just for the thousands of families who will be mourning their loved ones today, I'm sad for the state of the world that seeks solutions in violence. I'm sad for the cycle of hurt leading to hatred leading to hurt leading to hatred. I'm sad for the foolishness of fighting hatred with missiles. And I'm sad for the church's misplaced fervor for (or against) presidential candidates.

But there is hope. Walter Bruggeman describes Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE (which Isaiah prophesies in chapter 39) as Isarael's 9/11. It was that jarring, that shocking, that deflating. It was here that Lamentations was born. All was bleak.

But then when you turn the page from Isaiah 39 to Isaiah 40 something tremendous happens.

"Comfort, oh comfort my people,"
says your God.

"Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She's been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it's over and done with."

Thunder in the desert!
"Prepare for God's arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth,
a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
clear out the rocks.
Then God's bright glory will shine
and everyone will see it.
Yes. Just as God has said."

A voice says, "Shout!"
I said, "What shall I shout?"

"These people are nothing but grass,
their love fragile as wildflowers.
The grass withers, the wildflowers fade,
if God so much as puffs on them.
Aren't these people just so much grass?
True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God's Word stands firm and forever."

Climb a high mountain, Zion.
You're the preacher of good news.
Raise your voice. Make it good and loud, Jerusalem.
You're the preacher of good news.
Speak loud and clear. Don't be timid!

Tell the cities of Judah,
"Look! Your God!"
Look at him! God, the Master, comes in power,
ready to go into action.
He is going to pay back his enemies
and reward those who have loved him.

Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock,
gathering the lambs in his arms,
Hugging them as he carries them,
leading the nursing ewes to good pasture.

The comfort is in his coming. The solution is the concert of his power and tenderness. Hope resides in followers leveling the path.

Then God's bright glory will shine
and everyone will see it.
Yes. Just as God has said.

Shout, "COMFORT!"