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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
June 24, 2024
Nativity of John the Baptist
The Invitatory
The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: O come, let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
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.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
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!’
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
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.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
It’s not the heat, though, no doubt the chill of the Advent season might be far more welcome as you read this passage. The season of Advent is the time when we are most accustomed to hearing this very familiar, if not famous, passage from Isaiah. Reading it “out of season,” if you will, opens us to a different understanding.
What is striking at the start of this passage is not that there are persons in need of comfort; it is that God commands that they be comforted. It is Jerusalem whom God says is to receive comfort. In the context of the Book of Isaiah, Jerusalem is hardly a sympathetic character. Chapter after chapter describes how the people of Jerusalem prospered through wickedness, oppression, lies and injustice, refusing to heed the prophets’ calls to repent, reform and be reconciled to God.
In 587 BCE the Babylonian Empire conquered and destroyed Jerusalem. The leaders and a significant part of the population were marched off to Babylon. The Jerusalem prophets made it unmistakably clear that the destruction of the city and the exile to Babylon were not due to Babylonian strength; they were a well-deserved punishment from God. The opening verse declares now the time of punishment is at an end. Jerusalem’s “term” is completed and “her penalty is paid.” But why should she receive comfort? Persons who serve time for a crime do not typically receive comfort on the day of their release. They have been judged deserving of their penalty and now must prove their worthiness.
The Book of Isaiah is replete with actions that are incompatible with God’s desires for humankind that end in punishment, Nonetheless, God continues to identify as their God. God does not overlook or ignore those behaviors but all people should know that God has not abandoned Jerusalem. God intends that they will have a future together. God's comfort is the strengthening assurance of God’s sovereign goodness in the midst of suffering. It is demonstrated in the following ways.
The clear declaration of release from debt to sins and the announcement of a penalty paid suggests divine grace in the release. It is the release from debt — not the efforts to satisfy the debt — that brings comfort. The command to Jerusalem to announce good tidings to the cities of Judah makes clear that Jerusalem is to be involved in voicing comfort to others. The release from service is paired with the announcement of the LORD’s coming. That the Lord’s coming is comfort, not terrifying judgment, is clear in the transformation of the wilderness and desert: “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.” What is of greatest importance is the announcement of God’s involvement in creating a new future. Just as the conclusion of a prison term does not, by itself, result in a better tomorrow, the end of the Babylonian period does not ensure that what lies ahead will be any different for the exiles. But for their sake, God chooses to be involved in that future. The deepest comfort and greatest joy is the power of God at work in their midst, providing, protecting and guiding them with his love. True comfort, indeed.
Prayer for Protection
Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose of the way of thy servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation; that among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by thy gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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