Our Mighty, Gentle Leader Isaiah 40:10-11; Isaiah 40:1–11; 2 Peter 3:8–14; Mark 1:1–8 

Grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God, our mighty Father, and Jesus Christ, our gentle leader.

Our mighty, gentle leader, is our sermon title today. It’s based on our Old Testament lesson, especially verses 9 and 10: 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might… 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

We’re going to talk about how because our Lord is both mighty and gentle, He is able to comfort and help us, and we are to help and comfort others.

Isaiah begins our reading with words of comfort: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

Isaiah speaks these words of comfort before the fact; that is before the warfare had even started, before Judah and it’s capital city, Jerusalem, had even been invaded and conquered by the Babylonian army, and before the people were taken into exile to live as slaves in Babylon.

This tells us that even before our hardship begins, God sees an end to it. 

When we’re in the midst of heartache or trouble, it might seem like it’ll never end. But God knows it will.

As we go through troubled times, remembering that God has set a limit on them, put a boundary around them, it makes things more bearable.

Many of us had hoped that this pandemic would be largely over by now, that it wouldn’t have survived the summer. Sadly, it did. 

But now we’re getting good news of vaccines to be available soon, and doctors are learning how to better treat those infected with the virus. 

We thank God for the gift of medical technology that makes this possible. And we ask God to give us the endurance and strength we finish these challenging times, and them finish well, with faith and love. 

Hebrews 12 encourages us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus endured the endured His time on the cross for us. His time of suffering and trouble ended, as he died in faith and rose in glory. 

He endured and triumphed over sin and death, that we might endure, and live triumphantly in His grace now, and in His glory forever.

Romans 5 says tells us, More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

To rejoice in our sufferings isn’t an easy thing to do, but faith in Christ has that power. 

When we see our sufferings through the life and love of Christ, and through His mighty victory over sin and death, then we see our suffering differently: not as punishment, but as the stuff from which hearts are made stronger to the glory of God.

Cori Ten Boom, who was imprisoned in Germany during World War 2, tells the story of how, in their daily devotions, they would intentionally thank God for everything, even their suffering. 

During their prayers, her sister refused to give thanks for the fleas that had infested their barracks. But finally, she relented, and gave thanks for the fleas.

Later they found out that the prison guards refused to go into their barracks because of the fleas. That allowed them to lead Bible Studies, through which some were led to Christ. 

I’m not sure about giving thanks for viruses, but I thank God for good He might be doing that we can’t see now, but might see later.

And I give thanks that our mighty Lord is greater than any virus. Like the COVID-19 acronymn: COVID19, Christ Over Viruses, Infections and Diseases. Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God knows how these next months will play out, and He knows how He will help us through the days and weeks ahead. Because He is not only mighty, but also gentle and loving, He will supply all the comfort we need.

He knows how he will make you strong through His Word to endure, and how He will comfort you through His Gospel. He knows the blessings He has for you on the other side of this pandemic.

As He promises in our Testament, we will receive double for all our trouble. When we face our troubles with the power and mercy of God, then we find blessings in our lives that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. 

Back to our Old Testament, the people of God taken away into slavery had to endure it for genrations. In the book of Esther we’re told that they even needed to endure genocide, the attempt to wipe them out as a people.

But through Queen Esther, and her uncle. Mordecai, God worked to save His people from genocide, and then after a time, He fulfilled this promise of a double blessing, as He brought them back home to Jerusalem to be free people again.

In Heaven we’ll be free from all suffering and injury and disease; we’ll be infinitely blessed, far more than we can imagine now.

Our Epistle tells us, But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

Where there is perfect righteousness, there is no sin; where there is no sin, there is no suffering, nor grieving, nor fear, nor dying. No masks will be needed there; no vaccinations; no hospitals, no ICUs, no nursing homes.

Thanks be to God that He gives us those things we need here; but praise be to God for the things that won’t be needed there: no prisons will be needed, no cemeteries, no armies, no laws, no law enforcement, for all will gladly live by the law of love.

Until then our mighty God gives us the strength we need for every day on earth, and the mercy we need for every hour in this world.

Isaiah tells us that our iniquity, our guilt, is pardoned. When we live in Christ, His forgiveness goes before us. Knowing that gives us the power to repent daily. 

Because Jesus was powerful to overcome sin for us, and because He is gentle to have compassion on us, we can face every trouble with courage and love. As Paul reminded Timothy, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of courage and love.

Because our God’s power is never abusive, like worldly power can be, we can always look to Him for help. Because He is gentle to love us unconditionally, we can always look to Him for comfort.

Because our Lord is mighty and gentle for us, we can be strong for others; and we can be gentle to comfort them. We can have the strength we need to show mercy, as Jesus shows to us every day. And we can have compassion to help others in their times of need. 

These are trying times, but God’s mighty power for us brings us through the worst of times. His gentle comfort turns a bad day, or a bad week, or a bad year, into blessed day, and a blessed week, and a blessed year. 

2020 might be a year we’d rather forget, but don’t forget that God has been blessing you in many ways this year. And He will continue to bless you until the year ends, and He will bless you as the next year begins.

May God bless you every day with His mighty power, and His gentle mercy, until Christ comes again and turns every day into glory. 

Until that glorious day, may God’s peace, which passes understanding, guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our mighty Lord, and our gentle Shepherd. Amen.