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Luke 12:27-32 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you– you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Isaiah 40:6-8 6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Breath of God
Today we enter the third week of Advent. There are less than ten shopping days to Christmas. The mad rush has begun. Shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating. It all moves into non-stop mode now. Christmas looms ever closer every day. The pressure is on! We will get it all done? Today we lit the candle of joy but the joy of Christmas can be lost in the panic and scramble to buy just the right gift for everyone. Let’s take a moment this Sunday to stop! Take a breath. Relax. Let’s step out of the world and listen to what God has to say to us this morning. It is a wonderful message of hope, peace and joy.
Isaiah says we are like grass of the field, we are here today and gone tomorrow. He focuses on the fragility and temporary nature of life. He says that just like the grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it, so do humans wither and fade. Let’s spend some time on what the breath of the Lord means as Isaiah is using the term.
The word translated breath is the Hebrew word, ruach and in it can mean wind, breath or spirit. They are closely related terms in Hebrew and sometimes translators vary in what the word means in a given verse. Genesis 1, verse 2 is sometimes translated the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and in other translations it is a wind from God. The same is the case here. Is it the breath of God or the Spirit of God or a wind from God? Interestingly, the same thing happens in Greek. The word pnuema can also mean wind, breath or spirit. Does it matter? Spirit, wind or breath, it comes from God. Jesus said the Spirit of God is like the wind in that it blows where it chooses. (John 3:8)
In order to understand Isaiah it may help to look at where else we see the breath of the Lord. It can be seen in creation when God breathed life into the first human and frequently in the scriptures the breath of God is seen as giving life. In John 20 after His resurrection Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit.” Breathing is a creating, filling action. The breath of the Lord is more frequently seen in creating and giving life but it can also be seen as judging and punishing. Here are two examples.
Job said, “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.” (4:8-9) That is definitely judgment and punishment. In the thirtieth chapter Isaiah, in a prophecy regarding Assyria, Isaiah says the breath of the LORD is like a stream of sulfur kindling wood. Assyria was the wood and would be destroyed.
When we think about it, it’s no wonder Isaiah saw the breath of God as judging and punishing. Isaiah lived in a time when his people were in exile, they were being punished for turning their backs on God. In many ways Isaiah is lamenting his fate along with his people’s. They are in exile, strangers in a strange land, longing for their homeland. Isaiah stands on the edge of despondency, close to giving up.
How about our world? There is war in Ukraine and the Middle East and the threat of war in Europe. In our own lives we worry about our health, we worry if our money will last through retirement. My friend, Rev. Steve Weed retired last year. He was looking forward to more time to study and read, more time to teach. Since he retired his wife’s breast cancer has returned. Steve found out he had thyroid cancer. This week I found out the cancer has spread to three other spots on his spine. His plans for a quiet retirement ended, his world was turned upside down. This can happen to any of us. We all live in a world of uncertainty. What peace can we find today?
The grass withers, the flower fades. Nothing lasts, nothing matters. When compared to God we are nothing. We cannot stand. He blows and we are gone, we wither and fade if God but blows on us. We come and go. Poor, transitory creatures that we are. If that was all there was we might as well collapse in despair. Instead we have verse eight. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah remembers God’s promises and that is what keeps him and us from despair. We remember God’s promises and we have hope.
The Bible is often called the word of God so when we hear it in the last verse we tend to think of the Bible. In this case though, Isaiah is referring more to God’s promises in scripture rather than scripture itself. God’s promises, God’s covenant with His people will stand forever. Those promises to us are contained within scripture but scripture is not the promise itself, it tells of the promise. That is why we do not worship the Bible, we worship the One who inspired the Bible, our loving, covenanting God. God’s promises do not endure because the Bible says so. The Bible endures because it contains God’s promises, because it speaks truth about our God and how God relates to us and what God wants from us. His word is truth and it is written in the Bible. The Bible is truth because God is truth. That was all Isaiah had in his day. We have far more than Isaiah did. Isaiah had the word of God and the promises of God. Even more than God’s promises in scripture though we have Jesus Christ, the living word of God in whom we see the fulfillment of God’s promises to redeem His people. God has not just saved us from Egyptians or Babylonians. God has saved us from ourselves. God in Jesus broke into our world and set us free from sin and death.
I’ve often heard people say the only sure thing in life is death and taxes. This morning I tell you this is not true. The one sure thing in the world is not taxes and it is not death. The one, the only sure, enduring thing is this world is the promise of God. God has promised to never forsake us. God has promised that He is with us at all times and through all events. God has promised that even when our eyes close in death, it is not permanent. We will open them again in heaven where we will spend eternity with God. God and His promises to us are what give us hope, peace and joy in a hazardous, uncertain world. We don’t know what’s coming tomorrow but we do know that God will see us through no matter what. That is what we trust in, that is our assurance.
In our scripture from Luke this morning Jesus also talks about the grass of the field. He has a different view than Isaiah though. The contrast between realizing the fragility of human life, our grassness if you will, and what Jesus says in our verses from Luke is wonderful. Jesus makes the point that if God cares for the grass of the field how much more will God care for us. Jesus says the lilies of the field are clothed greater than Solomon in all his splendor. Then He says if this is how God treats the lilies of the field, the grass, how much more will God care for us.
When you think about this, God didn’t make the lilies of the field so beautiful for themselves. Flowers can’t see themselves, they don’t know what color they are. But think of the pleasure, the joy we can get from beautiful flowers. When I worked before I went to seminary I had a 45 minute commute to work and I spent a good portion of it praying. Most of the drive was on back roads and in the spring there were beautiful flowers along the way; daffodils and tulips, hyacinth and crocuses, forsythia bushes, a veritable riot of color. I always thanked God for the beauty, the variety of colors and for the ability to appreciate color and perceive beauty. God made us so we enjoy colors. He didn’t have to do this. We would function well enough without color vision. Yet God gave us this ability and made it pleasurable for us. When we look at the great variety and beauty that surrounds us, how can we doubt God’s love?
After He talks about the lilies of the field Jesus says, “Do not keep striving, do not keep worrying.” We are helpless without God but God is the one sure constant in a constantly changing world. The word of our God will stand forever. His promises endure forever.
What Jesus does tell us to do is to strive for the kingdom instead. He says His Father knows what we need and we will be given what we need when we strive not for things but for God’s kingdom; when Jesus is our highest joy. I love Jesus’ final line. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” How reassuring! Jesus knows we worry, He knows we are afraid but He reassures us and comforts us. There is such tenderness in His term, little flock. Such love!
Well, the sermon’s about over. I have a question about your Christmas shopping. Have you remembered Jesus on your Christmas shopping list? He wants a gift you know, a gift that only you can give Him. Can you guess what He wants? What He wants is your heart. Will you surrender it to Him? If you do, you will surely find the greatest joy there is in our world. The joy of knowing Jesus is far greater than anything else we can ever experience. Reach for the joy. It is there for us. It is our strength when our own fails. This is the truth of the Advent season. Christ is always coming. Joy to the world, the Lord is come.