The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.

Advent 3BIsaiah 61:1-4

GOOD NEWS FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, our joyous anticipation is often marred by bad news concerning natural disasters, terrible crimes, tragic accidents or a downturn in the economy. We hardly feel like watching the TV news or reading a daily newspaper for fear of hearing of more depressing news. We long for some weighty, decisive, good news that outweighs all the bad news we hear.

The story of Christmas announces good news of great joy that has stood the test of time. Hundreds of years before the first Christmas, the Book of Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would bring good news for the oppressed, the broken-hearted and the destitute. Prophecies like this helped God’s faithful followers to look forward to the coming of Christ. Through the turbulent times before that first Christmas, nothing could destroy the hope of God’s people that one day the glorious prophecy in today’s sermon text would be fulfilled.

No wonder then, people like Anna, Simeon and the shepherds were overflowing with joy when their hopes were fulfilled. We celebrate Christmas each year to strengthen and sustain our hope that God has and will continue to fulfil His promises to us. The message of Christmas reassures us that our own prospects are as bright as God’s promises. His Son, Jesus Christ, has come among us to liberate us from the pressures, the worries and anxieties, the guilt and feelings of inadequacy that oppress us. All of these are the result of sin’s grip on the world. Are you feeling demoralised because you achieved less than you’d hoped this year? Did some of your hopes end up in disappointment? Remember, your disappointment is an opportunity for Jesus to minister to you.

Jesus wants to apply His healing touch to wherever you hurt most. Today’s text tells us that Jesus has come to bind up those with broken hearts. There are more broken hearts around us than we’re perhaps aware of. In Psalm 51, David rejoices that God welcomes the broken-hearted. When we hand over to our Lord all the pieces of a broken heart, He gives us the strength to face the future with fresh confidence and courage. Our Lord does this by binding the broken-hearted to Himself. We have a saying: “Time will mend a broken heart.” Jesus does more than that. When we, in love, give our whole hearts to Him, He transforms them, making them new again. That’s why Jesus remains the only true and lasting hope in a world of stress and personal setbacks. “Wounds speak to wounds.”

Many aching and wounded hearts have found their healing in the fatally wounded heart of Christ whose suffering was entirely for us. He can help us to live contentedly in the midst of all that oppresses our wellbeing. He’s aware of how worries can make us sick at heart. Therefore, He wants us to hand all our worries over to Him and discover the healing power of trusting Him. “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)”

Human guilt can eat away at our peace of mind. Today’s text speaks of the healing power of forgiveness. Forgiveness is a healing gift from our Lord. “Forgiveness of sins is greater than all sins; it goes beyond all sin, and is mightier and stronger than all sin. Therefore, sin cannot harm the one who is in Christ and has forgiveness of sins in His name. As for forgiveness, it is not earned but is a gift by grace (Luther).” What other good news can excel this?

In New Testament times, “gospel” was an electrifying word. It meant the declaration of victory. By the cross, Jesus has triumphed over the underlying causes of everything that ruins and messes up life for us. Of course his victory will only be experienced completely in the fullness of time, but we can live confidently here and now in the hope that it produces. “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”, our Lord reassures us. The Gospel gives you liberation from sin and guilt, selfishness and fear. Jesus’ life and death is good news for your life today, good news for your lasting blessing and benefit. The Gospel is your greatest source of hope and confidence for the future. Those who treasure and embrace the good news of Jesus’ work of salvation are the world’s best hope for a new tomorrow. “Christ our Saviour defeated death and brought us the good news. It shines like a light and offers life that never ends (2 Timothy 2:10).” It means you can live as if your life has just begun. The Gospel offers new life, a fuller, richer life now, before death. “See, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2b).” The Gospel enables us to see our lives here in perspective. It means that God’s power and help is closer to you and more amazing than you ever imagined possible. The good news about Jesus Christ is so welcome because it brings eternal life into the present. “The gospel is the light which salvation throws ahead of itself … salvation runs ahead of itself and appears in the gospel … the gospel is not a utopian description of some far-off future. It is the daybreak of this future in the pardoning, promising word that sets people free (Moltmann).”

Jesus has launched the greatest liberation movement the world has seen. Our past sins and guilty consciences can no more condemn us. “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).” Our Lord frees us from our burdens and the heavy loads we’re carrying. Rest is the best expression of the freedom Jesus brings. “Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).” Taking time off to rest and relax is His will for us at this busy time of year. Martin Luther once said, “We also worship God when we rest.” Jesus frees us from pessimism and gloom as He assures us that He will continue to care for us in the same surprising and unexpected ways tomorrow as He did yesterday. More important than knowing what next year may bring is remembering that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He continues to treat us more favourably than we deserve.

We want to be in favour with others. We want other people to like us. But we don’t have to do anything to win God’s favour. Jesus announces “a year of the Lord’s favour”. He wants to treat you better than your past record deserves. You’re offered new worth and standing before God. Jesus has come to put a new face on our lives that were headed for death. The good news of Christmas is that “Jesus is God with a human face.” Amid his pain and suffering, Job asked God, “Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see?” Christmas means we can now say “yes” to this question. In Jesus Christ, God sees life as we do. What a comfort it is to know that! And Jesus opens your eyes to see life and the people around you as He sees them. The new vision He gives you takes away your blindness, making the faults of others seem so much smaller and less significant than your own faults. Jesus opens your eyes to see the wonderful things He’s doing in the lives of those around you. He enables you to focus on what’s essential and central in our Christian faith, and to

keep minor matters in perspective. He enables you to see someone you may be rather critical of as a person dearly loved and treasured by Him.

In announcing the agenda for His life’s work, both while He was on earth and in our midst today, Jesus quoted the words from this morning’s text, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18-19).” Jesus said that He would fulfil these words. The first word He says in His first sermon in Nazareth is “Today”. His message of hope is meant for today. He wants today to be a different day for you. Today is a good day to make a new beginning in your life with Christ. All your problems won’t be suddenly solved. Sharing your troubles, hassles and frustrations with Jesus makes them so much easier to cope with. His companionship is a comforting and strengthening experience. He gives us His comfort so that we can pass it onto others.

We appreciate the blessings we receive from our Lord as we share them with each other. God grant that wherever you are this Christmas season, you will bring comfort and blessing to those in need of it. Remember the words of your Saviour throughout this sacred season, and it will be a truly blessed celebration of Christmas for you: “More blessings come from giving than from receiving (Acts 20:35).”

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.