“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:1-7 NIV)
As he neared retirement, an old pastor told the story of his Seminary graduation. After it was all official, his mother quietly hugged him and gave him one piece of advice on being a pastor. Can you guess what she said? What would a mother say to her son as he graduated from the Seminary? Here is what she said: “Comfort the people.” Just those three words. “Comfort the people.” That story has always stuck with me. With all that he was going to do as a pastor, that’s what his mother wanted him to always remember: “Comfort the people.” “Comfort the people.”
Because that’s what we all need. Every single one of us needs comfort. At church, we put on smiles and brave faces. We have this thing where we all pretend that everything is going great, even though there isn’t a person here for whom everything is going great. Every single one of us needs comfort and strength to know that we matter and know that people care and know that someone is in control and know that we are forgiven. We all need comfort. Don’t believe me? What’s your comfort food? “Why am I eating this?” What bad habit can’t you break? “Why do I keep doing this?” We all need comfort! That mother was right. “Comfort the people.”
Even Jesus needed comfort. That’s a surprising thought in the Bible. Even Jesus needed to be comforted. I should explain that. As God, Jesus doesn’t need comfort from anyone. But this is how far Jesus humbled himself for us. He became a human being. As a human being, he needed food. He needed sleep. And he needed to be comforted in the trials of life. Our lesson today from God’s Word is filled with comfort from God the Father for Jesus. God the Father said to God the Son, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.” Comfort for Jesus!
Those comforting words from God the Father gave Jesus strength. “My chosen one in whom I delight.” You know what Jesus faced. His life wasn’t easy. He faced pain. Sadness. Death of loved ones. Rejection. Outward failure. Before all that happened, God the Father said to him, “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.” The Father speaks to Jesus with such compassion. This is what Jesus needed! As he faced all his suffering, he had these comforting words: “I have called you.” “I will take hold of your hand.” “I will keep you.”
Not just here. During Jesus’ life on earth, there were two occasions when God the Father spoke words of comfort for Jesus. When he was baptized, the Father’s voice came from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Can you imagine hearing God say that to you? What comfort! On Transfiguration Day, that voice from heaven said the same thing. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). As Jesus walked alone to the cross, he had comfort from God the Father. What that mother told her son, “Comfort the people,” is exactly what God the Father did again and again for Jesus!
So do you know what Jesus is really good at doing? Comforting. Caring. Showing compassion. Listen to what God the Father planned for Jesus to do: “I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” I especially love the phrase: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Jesus knows how to comfort!
Do you ever feel that way? Like a smoldering wick? There’s a tiny bit of red left, but it’s about to go out. Like a bruised reed? A plant that’s been stepped on and squashed and is barely hanging on by a thread? Jesus came to comfort you. For some reason, I think of a coach or a father who yells at his players or his kids constantly. “I’ve got to tear them down to build them up. I’ve got to make them tough.” We’ve all met people like that. Here’s something you should know: Jesus is not like that. Jesus doesn’t weed out the weak. He comforts. He cares. He loves. Listen again: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
There was a little girl who died. All her friends and relatives were weeping, but Jesus told her parents not to worry. He went into her room. He took her by the hand (Mark 5:41). He raised her from the dead! A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touched Jesus’ robe. In Bible times, if someone was bleeding, they couldn’t touch anyone. Like ancient social distancing. But Jesus didn’t get upset. He stopped and said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace” (Mark 5:34). Jesus touched lepers. Jesus ate with tax collectors. Jesus talked with prostitutes. Why? He came to “comfort the people,” just like that mother had told her son.
If you’re looking for comfort in your life, look to Jesus! Even when you sin. Even when you deserve the worst. Jesus came “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Even when we’re blind. Even when we’re captives to sin. Even when we’ve lived in the deepest darkness. Even when it seems completely hopeless. Like no one could save you. Like no one could forgive you. Jesus came to save you. “To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” That’s why the Father called Jesus, “My chosen one in whom I delight.”
Wouldn’t it be great if God were to say that about us? “My chosen one.” What if God were to look you in the eye and say, “You are my chosen one in whom I delight”? Wouldn’t that set your heart on fire? He does! When? In baptism. In baptism, everything God says about Jesus comes true for you. The Bible promises, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). When the waters of baptism wash over you, they wash away your sin. They make you God’s child. So that God looks at you and says, “You are my chosen one in whom I delight.”
Baptism isn’t your commitment to God. Baptism is God’s commitment to you. In baptism, God’s voice thunders down from heaven, “This is my son, this is my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” “This is my chosen one in whom I delight.” If God looks at you and says, “You are my chosen one in whom I delight,” who cares what anybody else says about you? It doesn’t matter what your coach says about you. “This is my chosen one in whom I delight.” It doesn’t matter what your coworkers say about you. “This is my chosen one in whom I delight.” Isn’t that comforting? This is what you and I need to face life. You’re God’s chosen one!
As I was writing this sermon, a Facebook friend of mine had surgery. She wrote that these verses came to mind—the ones about the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. She said, “Even though I was in a low place, feeling like a bruised reed, God wasn’t going to let me go. Making it through those times had nothing to do with my strength, but everything to do with God’s strength.”
No matter what you are facing, no matter how dark it seems, no matter what other people are saying, this is the truth about you: You are the baptized child of God. No one can take that away from you. You are God’s chosen one in whom he delights. You don’t have to be successful to be important. You don’t have to have money for God to care about you. You don’t have to have a better family before you can feel loved. You are God’s chosen one in whom he delights. Do you see how that takes the pressure off? What God thinks of you has nothing to do with how your life is going. Because of Jesus, because of your baptism, God delights in you his chosen one.
Remember what that mom told her son when he became a pastor? “Comfort the people.” I hope this message comforts you. But that’s not just a pastor’s job. This is what all Christians get to do: “Comfort the people!” The Bible says, “God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). You get to comfort people. Just like Jesus comforts us, you get to comfort others. How? “Brother, sister, God delights in you. God has saved you. Jesus loves you, and we do too.”
Where do we start? How about this: In your house. More than anything else, your spouse needs comfort from Jesus. Your kids need comfort from Jesus. Not criticism. Not sarcasm. We all get enough of that already. They need comfort. “God delights in you, and I do too.” The irony is, you’re going to take turns. One of you today needs comfort. You feel like life’s falling apart. But I bet in a month or a year, it’s going to switch. The other will feel like life is falling apart. Isn’t this how it goes? Back and forth. This is why we need each other. We need fellow Christians. You get to share God’s comfort. “God delights in you, and I do too. You are God’s chosen one!”
The story is told about a lumberjack who went out to cut down a tree. He noticed a little bird making a nest at the top. So before he cut down the tree, he hit it with the back of his ax to shake it. The bird got the message and flew away. But then she landed in the next tree. He was going to cut that one down too. Uh oh! So the woodcutter hit that one too. But she just flew to the next one and the next one. The lumberjack kept harassing the bird until finally it flew up and made its nest on a rock. Isn’t this what God does? We think he’s against us. We think he’s harassing us. No, God knows all the trees are coming down. None of them can hold us until we make our nest in the Rock. In Jesus and his promises. In the waters of baptism. Build your nest on the Rock!
God’s got this! “This is what God the LORD says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” People today say that the world is the result of chance. That your life has no purpose or meaning. That you’re just one of many. That’s not true! The Bible says God created you. The Maker of everything chose you. What a difference! When you get anxious, stop trying to rule the world. God’s got this. God’s got you. You’re God’s chosen one!
How can you be sure? Your baptism proves it. When water was put on your head in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, God put his Spirit into your heart. God claimed you as his child. God committed to be your Father. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” There’s comfort for God’s people. You are God’s chosen one!
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