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Isaiah 40:9-11 9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Luke 1:26-38 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
God’s Good Tidings
Today is the last Sunday in Advent. Only three days until Christmas when we will celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Throughout Advent this year we have been studying Isaiah 40, verses 1-11. It’s a relatively short passage but packed with meaning.
In the last verses we are going to study today Isaiah has something important to say. It was of great importance to the people in captivity in Babylon and it is equally important to us today.
The message is “here is your God!” This word was spoken to a captive people longing for their homeland who may have been thinking, “where is God here in Babylon?” Isaiah reminded them that God is everywhere. He is not only in Jerusalem; He is with them in Babylon. This is something we need to hear today. God is everywhere. He is not just in church on Sunday mornings; He is with us throughout the week during everything we do. Sometimes we can forget about God when we are away from church but God does not forget us. God is equally with us in good times and bad, in joyful times and times of grief. Not only was God with the Jewish people in Babylon and is here with us today. but Isaiah also tells us He is “your God.” This is the God to whom we belong. We are His people. It is important to hear this properly. When Isaiah says your God he does not mean that God belongs to us. We do not, can not possess God and to think this would be a grave error. It is we who belong to God and we are to be forever grateful that God would want to have us. Let me give an example. I can say to you America is your country. You are proud to be Americans, you belong to the United States of America; it is your country. You do not own the country though. Isaiah was reminding his people that God was with them and was still their God even though they were far from home.
Isaiah tells us to shout to the world, “Here is your God!” What an appropriate message for this Sunday before Christmas. Is this not what Christmas is all about? We shout to the world, halleluiah, our savior is born. Christmas is surely about the incarnation, of God being “here”. And so the message that Isaiah calls the messengers to shout is a preparation for the message of the angels, the apostles, and the church today. Christ is born and the world is changed forever. No more is God separated from humanity. Through the incarnation of Jesus, God has come near. God came to live among us as one of us. Just as Isaiah told the nation to shout to the ancient world so are we to shout the good news to our world. It is a message desperately needed today.
Isaiah gives us two images of God in these verses. “The Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him.” God comes in power like a mighty warrior. He is the great I AM. The image is one of strength and authority. A transcendent, all-powerful God. This image of God inspires awe, even fear in us. God seems holy and unapproachable.
Next Isaiah says, “He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.” God is the good shepherd.; feeding the sheep, carrying the lambs, guiding the mothers. The image is one of compassion, intimacy. A very tender, caring God. An intimate, loving God. This image of God draws us to Him in love. He loves us and we love Him in return. The arm of God is in both images. In the first it is raised in might and in the second it tenderly holds the lambs. So which is the correct view of God? The answer is both! They are both correct images of God because our God is both transcendent and intimate, powerful and loving.
We need both images of God. Our image of God is not complete if we try to pick one over the other. A God who is wholly transcendent, totally above and separate from His people would be unreachable. A God who is totally intimate, our buddy, our chum, lacks power and authority. If we want to know God we need to know both the powerful I AM and the intimate love of Jesus.
Today we lit the candle of love. God’s love comes to us on Christmas through a baby born to Mary. We see the first, the powerful image of God in some of Gabriel’s words to Mary. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.” We see the second image of God through Mary. Gabriel tells her she will conceive in her womb and bear a son and she is to name Him Jesus. Jesus comes to us not in power and might but is born through a poor peasant girl. Could there be a more humble beginning? God steps down from the throne of heaven, lays aside His might and begins life among us just as each of us did, as a baby growing in its mother’s womb. Born completely helpless and dependent. Learning to walk and talk, growing slowly to adulthood as each of us did. The divine creator of the universe became an infant and yet was still God. A divine mystery.
Jesus didn’t come with might. He came gently, quietly. Born in a manger stall to poor parents, watched over by shepherds. Yes, the wise men came with grand gifts but they didn’t stay and Jesus’ family had to flee Herod’s wrath. Jesus laid aside His power when He came the first time but Revelation tells us when He returns Jesus will come in all His glory and might. This is part of the Advent season we sometimes miss. We celebrate the birth of Jesus but we are also to anticipate the Second Coming when Jesus will return and make all things new.
Let’s take a moment here to remember Mary, Jesus’ mother. We heard from Luke of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. She demonstrates a life given over to God. When Gabriel explains what is going to happen Mary says, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” She is a wonderful demonstration of a life fully surrendered to God. We can all learn from Mary. What God called her to wasn’t easy. She was not yet married to Joseph when she became pregnant. We know about the angel Gabriel coming to her, we know the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary’s neighbors and friends didn’t, couldn’t have known. Mary carried that shame. She bore a child and later watched Him die. As Simeon warned her when Jesus was presented at the temple as a baby, “and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Mary took all this on when she said, “here am I, the servant of the Lord.” No matter what God calls us to in life we will do well to answer God’s call as Mary did. God has a purpose for each of us. We can best fulfill God’s purpose if we are obedient as Mary was.
After the sermon we are going to sing “Mary Did You Know”. The lyrics were originally written by Mark Lowry as questions he would have liked to ask Mary. He asks if Mary knows who Jesus will become and what He will do though His life. We tend to focus almost completely on the incarnate, intimate side of Jesus at Christmas but I don’t want us to forget that Jesus is fully human and fully God. We honor the memory of a baby born over two thousand years ago and we recognize that this was not just a baby but was God. The song talks of the miracles Jesus will perform and that He is the savior of the world. The final line says “the sleeping Child you’re holding is the great I AM.” This is the great miracle and mystery of Christmas. In Isaiah’s words, “Here is your God!”