None Can Compare Isaiah 40:21-31

Grace, mercy, and peace …

Our sermon title today is none can compare. It’s based on our Old Testament from Isaiah 40, especially verse 25, To whom, then, will you compare me, that I should be like him?, says the Holy One. He is incomparable.

In our Epistle, which we’ll talk about in a few minutes, Paul uses an analogy of an athlete, a runner.

In professional sports, every once and awhile, an athlete comes along by whom all the others are measured. In baseball, it was probably the babe, Babe Ruth.

In Hockey, some say Gordy Howe, was the best, but others contend that Wayne Gretzky was the best, the Great One, as he was called.

In Basketball, Michael Jordan. He was so great he didn’t even need a nickname, although sometimes he was called Air Jordan, after his shoes.

Football is a little harder to come up with an incomparable one. You almost have to go by position. But if there was one incomparable one, I think it might be the great running back, Jim Brown.

In science, the incomparable one was Albert Einstein, although some say that Albert Tesla was even more brilliant.

In magic it would have to be Houdini.

In movies, it’s hard to say, but in westerns it would have to be the Duke, John Wayne. He had a style all his own, and it worked for him like none other.

In politics, government, I think Abraham Lincoln was our greatest president.

Yet none of all those famous ones can compare to the Holy One, God who is perfect in every way.

When Jesus came into the world, the people marveled at him, because they had never seen anything like him before, and they would never see anything like him again, not until he comes back to us.

Last week, we talked about his astonishing words, which even had the power to heal and cast out demons.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ miraculous power to heal hit home for his disciples.

Peter’s mother had became deathly ill with a high fever. Jesus went to her home, where she laid in her bed; he took her by the hand and pulled her up; she sat up and was instantly healed. So much so, that she got up out bed and started to make dinner for them.

Something like that can’t be kept secret. News spread, and that very evening people arrived with their sick friends and family members, and Jesus healed them.

Hearing about his casting out a demon from the man in the synagogue, which he had done just before he healed Peter’s mother, some who were possessed by demons were brought to Jesus, and he cast them out.

After all that, healing people, and wrestling with and commanding demons, Jesus must have been exhausted. Still, he had the self-discipline to wake up very early the next morning, so he could go to a private place to pray. He needed the guidance of His Father in his life.

Kobe Bryant…

Jesus gives us an example to take the time to pray. If Jesus needed prayer in his busy life, we need it in our busy or stressful lives…  Busy on the inside…

But the disciples wouldn’t leave Jesus alone. They searched until they found him and they said, “The people want you. They’re all asking for you”.

Jesus said, “It time to move on to the next town, so I can preach there, because that’s why I came.” – to spread the gospel.

Jesus did miracles and he healed people because he cared about them, but most of all in his ministry, during those 3 years before he died and rose, he went among the people to share the gospel, so that their souls could be healed.     

Jesus cares about us physically and provides for us, but he does far more, he cares for our souls, which are eternal.

Caring for the body is good, but it only has temporary benefit; caring for the soul has eternal benefit. God does both for us; and he calls us to tend to both our body… and our soul.

The body can seem to demand more attention when it’s hurting, and it’s easier, it seems, to ignore the soul. But the consequences of ignoring the needs of your soul are great, and there’s no undoing them, they last forever.

So like Jesus, take time to care for your soul; make it your first priority, and it will be a great and eternal blessing for you. It’ll be one of those things that you’re happy you did.

In our Epistle, like Jesus, Paul talks about his calling to preach the gospel. He said that it’s “laid upon me” to do so. “Woe to me if don’t!”.

As you pastor, it’s my calling to proclaim the Gospel to you. And it would be to my shame if I failed to do that. But it’s my joy and honor to share the best words in the world with you, the words of God in Bible.

And in a sense, it’s a calling for all of us, not only to know Christ, but also to make him known, to share the gospel.

Paul goes on and he says, I became like the people I preached to. He doesn’t mean that he took on the immoral, hedonist Greek culture, but he took on their customs.

When he was with the Jews, he followed the Jewish rituals, even though he didn’t need to because Christ has fulfilled them all by his holy life, and his holy death.

This teaches us to get to know the people we witness to. Learn from them. Don’t learn sin from anyone. But care enough to learn about people’s lives, about their needs, their joys, their hurts, their interests, their family. This opens the door to share the caring gospel with them.

In our Bible Study today, we’re going to learn more about this as we hear the story of person who was an avid atheist but became a caring Christian.

As we mentioned earlier in our sermon, Paul ends our Epistle with the analogy of an athlete, a marathon runner. He says, “run to obtain the prize”, but he’s talking about the walk of faith and godliness. He said, “I discipline my body; I don’t just give in to every sinful impulse.”.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us with self-control. When we fall short and sin, he forgives us. And he helps us to learn from our mistakes, so that we grow as Christ-like people.

Although we’re called to be like Christ, in another sense it might be said that none can compare to Him; He’s the one and only.

Which brings us back to our Old Testament, and the picture it gives us of our one and only God.

Isaiah says, “Have you not heard? Have you not seen? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”

There’s none like him; none can compare; no one has done what he has done, and no one can do what he can do.  And that’s why we, as the meaning of the 1^st Commandment says, “fear, love, and trust in Him above all things.”

He does not faint or grow weary, Isaiah  says, and his understanding is unsearchable.

His energy and power never fade. We can get tired in a day, and we surely get tired and fade as we age. God is eternal, he’s lived a long time, forever, yet he hasn’t lost a speck of His energy or power.

What that means is that He continues to rule the universe without fading or failing. His continues to give us the power we need for our souls by His Spirit, through Baptism, and through His Word, and through Christ’s body and blood for us.

Isaiah says that even young people can get weary and physically exhausted, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength… their inner strength of heart and soul… they shall mount up with wings like Eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Our God is incomparable in his power for us; he cares for our bodies now, even though they eventually fail; but he regenerates our souls so that they never fail.

And someday he will raise our bodies, so that body and soul together, we will be forever young and strong in heaven, especially strong in love, and in joy, and in peace of heart.

None can compare with our mighty God; none can compare to His Gospel; and none can compare to the peace He gives, which passes our understanding. May it always guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.