The Weight of
Sin
Does the
gravity of your sins ever weigh you down?
Does your inability to do what God says or your complete ineptness to
avoid committing that same sin time and time again ever get at you? It gets at me. There are days when I just can’t seem to act
how I know the Lord wants me to act.
There are times when I just can’t seem get myself to do those simple
things that the Lord wants me to do.
There are moments when I just can’t seem to hold myself back from saying
those things that I know I’m not supposed to say. And it can get a little frustrating. It can be disheartening to look back on the
day gone by or the week or the month and all I can do is shake my head in
disgust. How worthless I have been! What an utter failure I have been in my
Christian life! I should have been
better than that! I should have known
better than that! What was I
thinking? Why can’t I get better? Why do I sometimes seem to be getting even worse?
I’m sure
some of the conscientious Christians in the Old Testament were thinking the
same thing during the time of their exile in Babylon. They must have looked back at everything that
had happened and kicked themselves: “What were we thinking? How could we have possibly ignored and
rejected and turned away from the Lord’s Word for so long? Now we have been torn away from our homes and
kicked out of our country; our temple has been burned to the ground and the
walls of our capital city have been destroyed.
If only we had listened! If only
we had believed! Then we wouldn’t be
stuck here in this horrible country for the last 70 years!”
It was their fault, after all. They had no one to blame but themselves. Prophet after prophet had been sent to them
to warn them about what was going to happen, including the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah lived before the exile into Babylon
but a good portion of the book that is named after him deals with the
punishment they were about to experience there.
And it’s interesting, because as Isaiah writes his prophecy from the
Lord he talks as if they were already there.
He speaks as if he were there with them, elaborating on their
stubbornness and their refusal to take the Lord’s Word to heart. And Isaiah’s words must have struck a chord
with some of them - especially after they did end up in Babylon! Because the effects of their sins were right
in front of them! The consequences of
their disobedience were something they had to deal with every day. But if they did remember Isaiah’s words to
them about their sin, then I would hope that they also remembered Isaiah’s
words to them about their comfort.
Because by the time they were in Babylon, comfort is exactly what they
needed.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your
God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and
proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been
paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins… See,
the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him… He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers
the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads
those that have young.
The
Israelites needed this. They needed to
hear God’s comfort; they needed to be reminded about his love; they needed to
believe in their Savior. And so do
I. So do we. We need this comfort when we are weighed down
by our sins. We need this comfort when
we are disturbed by our actions. We need
this comfort when we can’t stand to look in the mirror and face the fact that
we just don’t measure up. We need to
hear the soothing sounds of our Savior’s salvation flowing over our hearts. We need to hear the massaging Message of the
Messiah as it works out all of the kinks and the knots. We need to hear the relieving voice of our
Redeemer assuring us: “I’ve taken care of everything. You don’t have to worry about a thing. It’s going to be OK… Comfort,
comfort my people… your hard service has been completed, your sin has been paid
for, and you have received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” We don’t just need any kind of comfort. We need this
kind of comfort. Because this kind of
comfort is based on fact. This kind of
comfort from our Lord is founded in his love.
Normally,
when a person tries to comfort another person in this world, it is nothing more
than a faint hope and a feeble attempt to make that person feel better, isn’t
it? A child might fall off of his bike
and the mother will “comfort” that child by rubbing his leg and saying, “It’s
going to be OK.” An elderly woman might
lose her husband and her friend will “comfort” her by placing an arm around her
shoulder and saying, “It’s going to be OK.”
A man might receive the news that he has been diagnosed with a
life-altering illness and the doctor will try to offer some sort of “comfort”
by saying, “It’s going to be OK.” But
this kind of comfort isn’t really comforting at all, is it? Because this kind of comfort is just another
way of saying: “Hold your chin up high; things can’t get any worse!” Or “Time will hopefully heal those wounds if
nothing else does.” Or “I feel really
bad for you; I’m sure things will get better for you some day!”
We don’t
need that kind of comfort, do we? Because
that kind of comfort is simply a wish or a heartfelt desire that things in this
life will turn out all right. We need
the Lord’s comfort, the comfort that he’s actually done something about
it. “Comfort, comfort my people… your hard service has been completed, your
sin has been paid for, and you have received from the LORD’s hand double for
all her sins.” “You can be
comforted,” the Lord says, “because your sins have been paid for by my blood. No matter how many sins you have committed, I
have taken them away through my death on the cross. No matter how much guilt you have been
carrying around with you over the years, I have lifted it off your shoulders
through my resurrection from the grave.
No matter how ugly your past has been, I have made your future beautiful
through the promise of heaven.” That is
what we need, don’t we? And we need this
desperately. Especially right now.
Craziness vs.
Comfort
Because
this time of the year can get a little bit hectic, can’t it? It can get a little bit crazy. Have you been overwhelmed by the craziness of
the pre-Christmas season yet? Have you
pulled the decorations out of the garage?
Have you popped in a few Christmas cd’s?
Have you done some shopping, made travel arrangements to visit family,
planned for those big meals, written Christmas cards, maybe even received a few
of them already? It’s only 20 days until
Christmas Eve after all and so if your life wasn’t busy before, it’s about to
get busy whether you’re ready for it or not.
This time of year is filled with so many extra activities and so many
extra obligations and so many extra purchases that we need this. We need this comfort. And we need this season of Advent that brings
it to us.
The word
“Advent” means “coming.” Specifically,
the coming of Christ at
Christmas. And so this season is
naturally a season of longing, a season of anticipation, a season of excitement
as we look forward to the Savior of all comfort coming into this world as a
human being for the very first time.
This is a great time of year. And
not because of family and presents and music and whatever else you like about
the month of December, but because of the comfort. After all, the comfort of Advent is going to
be something that you will need not just to get you through these next few
weeks, but all year long - not to mention all life long.
Life-Long
Comfort
Don’t
just revel in this Advent comfort during Advent! That would be a mistake! That would be detrimental to your faith to
only bring this kind of comfort to mind during this time of the year! Because there may be days when things are
going well for you in the years to come; there may be times when things are
relatively easy and life is generally enjoyable outside of these next few weeks. But then you’ll get sick. And you’ll be in bed for an extended period
of time or you’ll be in pain most hours of the day or maybe you’ll even be in
the hospital for tests and procedures and other things that aren’t quite so
pleasant. And your body won’t function
like it’s supposed to; you’ll feel completely lousy and unbearably cranky; your
life that was once so sweet will have taken on a sour flavor. And then what? Then where will your comfort be? When your body hurts so bad that you want to
cry; when you are in the hospital more than in your own house; when you are
lying in your bed without being able to do anything you used to do… where is
your comfort? Where will you need to turn? You will need to turn to Advent, to the coming of your Savior into this world
and the comfort that his sacrifice accomplishes. You will need this. At that moment the only thing you will need
is what you are hearing right now.
There
may be moments in this life when the relationships you have with those around
you are all in alignment. There may be
times when things are going well with all of the people you love or at least
they are in a state of toleration. But
then someone will die. Someone you love
will pass away. And then what? When your heart breaks, when every pore of
your body misses that person so badly that you ache, when every holiday and
birthday and special event reminds you of that person now gone whether you want
it to or not, where will your comfort be?
Where will you need to turn? You
will need to turn to Advent, to the coming of your Savior into this world and
the comfort that his sacrifice accomplishes.
You will need this. At that
moment the only thing you will need is what you are hearing right now.
There
may be days when you are happy and at peace and content. But then there will be those days when
something happens and your entire attitude changes. And maybe it’s just a little thing: a bounced
check, a problem with one of your children, a problem with one of your parents,
car trouble, an argument with your spouse… And then what? When your head wants to explode and your mind
can’t focus on anything else and your mood is in a dark, dark place, where will
your comfort be? Where will you need to turn? Advent.
The coming of your Savior into this world and the comfort that his
sacrifice accomplishes. You will need
this. You will need this comfort. At that moment the only thing you will need
is what you are hearing right now.
Take This Comfort with You
Because
this worship service can’t last forever, can it? We will eventually wrap things up, sing the
last hymn, stick around for Bible study, and be out those doors. We will go back to our own homes and get on
with our own lives and jump right back into our daily routines. But don’t leave that comfort in here! Your sins have been paid for! You are guilt free and worry free and stress
free right now. And so take that with
you! Take this comfort back with you and
carry it with you wherever you go! It’s
yours to keep. It’s your to enjoy. And so don’t go anywhere or do anything in
this life without it. Because you’re
going to need it. Believe me: You’re going to need this comfort in the
years to come. And what a blessing
it is to know that what you are going to need you will already have. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Amen.
“Praise be to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort
those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” - 2 Cor. 1:3-4
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