12-11-2015

        Good Morning All!!     

     Isaiah 40:2; “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.”

    How long do we wait?  Sometimes the wait can seem like forever.  I listen to some of the freshmen and sophomores in our high school groups lament about how long it is.  Their parents tell them they cannot date until they are 16 and that is so far away.  It will never get here; all their friends are dating; it is just not fair.  Waiting is difficult; especially when we are forced to wait, when it is not our idea to wait and the waiting seems painful and interminable.

   Isaiah is prophesying to Jerusalem (and all the Israelites) about what will happen at the end of the Babylonian exile.  He is speaking to a time when they have sat in captivity for seventy years.  During that length of time, some have acclimated into the Babylonian lifestyle but many did not.  Many yearned to return to Jerusalem.  Many lamented not seeing the Temple or living in the city of Jerusalem.  (One of the lament psalms is Psalm 137 sounds the cry of Babylonian captivity.)  They were waiting to go home.

    When Isaiah tells Jerusalem that her warfare is ended, it can also read that her time of service is over.  In other words, the time of being exiled is over and she will receive a double portion of blessings, the double fold of grace.  The inhabitants of Jerusalem now have something to hold onto, they now have hope.

    This is what happens to us with the coming of Jesus.  He came to bring an end to the exile.  We no longer sit in the darkness of sin.  We no longer are held in the grip of sin and the devil.  We are free.  This is what Jesus announces when he first announces the arrival of the kingdom of God; he was announcing that the time was served and now, now we live with the certain hope of salvation.  The Messiah has arrived to usher in our freedom.  We are no longer slaves.  We no longer yearn for freedom we have freedom.

    We no longer have to fear the evil and the world.  We are no longer under the punishment of our sins.  We have received a double portion of grace.  We have forgiveness and reconciliation with God.  We have peace with God.  With this peace we have the comfort of his loving arms protecting us from the world.  We have complete and total access to Him through prayer.  The dark and dreary night is over.  The dawn of a new day for us has arrived.  The Savior has come; the Savior promised from old.  Take comfort in this truth.  Find hope in his arrival.

Gracious Lord, you have ended our time of captivity.  You have brought us the light.  You give us life and hope.  Be with us and enliven our hearts.  Lift us up so that we may forever be with you.  Be with those who are still in chains, who are still feeling the time is still being served.  Shine bright into their heart that they may know you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret