Good News of Comfort

Read: Isaiah 40: 1-11

We live in a time in history where it is at times difficult to find good news. When I opened my web browser to begin writing this reflection, of the dozen or so news stories on my homepage, eight or nine of them were about something negative--shootings on a college campus, political unrest in different parts of the world, and tragic events from around the world to name a few; the rest of the stories were inconsequential. My point is that we sometimes have to work to find any piece of good news today. Let's not be naive, though, there is much good news; we just don't hear about it much.

For the people of ancient Israel who first heard Isaiah's message, things were bleak. Their nation had been overrun. Many of their people had been killed, and those who weren't killed were carried off into captivity in  a foreign land. Yet in the midst of this bleakness, God says to them "Comfort, comfort, my people". Isaiah proclaims that God is about to bring great joy and comfort to Israel; a great joy that will dispel the bleakness and brokenness they feel. What's more...this good news is going to be good news for all time. The word of the Lord, we are told, stand forever. The good news that God proclaims to Israel isn't just for a moment in time--it is for ALL time. The good news that was proclaimed is the Lord's coming to Israel. The Sovereign Lord would come with power and would be the shepherd of Israel and Israel would be restored.

As we read that passage, the news is not just good, but it is glorious. God descending to shepherd God's people and lovingly care for them and comfort them. Even though they had abandoned God previously, God never abandoned them!  Dear ones...this is God's glorious news to us today. Even though we might have abandoned God previously, even though there seems to be little good news around us, and even though we might feel as if everything is falling down around us, there is good news. Indeed, there is glorious news. It is the good news of God's coming to us in the form of Jesus Christ. It is the good news of Emmanuel, God with us. This Good News will never fade away, it is God's enduring promise to us all. As we prepare the way of the Lord this Advent season, my our hearts--yours, mine, and the hearts of all the world--take comfort in God's glorious news. Glory to God in the Highest!