Sermon Tone Analysis
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When God Comes to Save, Everything Changes.
When God comes to save, everything changes in creation, in our lives, and on our way to God’s eternal presence.
God comes to save in Jesus long ago, in Word and Sacrament, and on the Last Day.
We travel on this highway of holiness together, as the pilgrim throng of the redeemed.
Sometimes, something happens, and it changes most everything.
A little over twenty years ago, I stood at an altar along with my soon-to-be-wife, Kristen.
We faced each other.
I said my vows and she said hers.
We exchanged rings.
The pastor pronounced us husband and wife.
Ever since, things have been different.
On that day, something happened, and everything changed.
A little over five years after that wedding, Kristen was at the hospital and our first child, Phedra, was born.
And ever since, our lives have been changed.
Everything changes when you have children.
Sometimes, something happens, and everything changes.
This reading from Isaiah 35 gets at this reality.
In a way, Isaiah says,
When God Comes to Save, Everything Changes.
I.
Creation changes.
Isaiah talks about the land.
It’s barren, a wilderness, a desert.
The land is inhospitable and dangerous.
It’s a place where things just don’t grow.
It’s brown and ugly.
But when God comes to save, creation will change.
It will be luxurious and green.
Grass will grow, and the ground will be covered with a carpet of flowers.
Isaiah compares it to Carmel, Sharon, and Lebanon, which are noted for their glorious vegetation, trees, and beauty.
I imagine it will be like the change from winter to spring.
At the end of February, everything is brown and there are no leaves on the trees.
Then April comes, and trees turn green, things are growing, birds are singing.
You just feel uplifted, joyous, and excited once again.
Isaiah pictures creation changing when God comes to save.
Then he talks about people who have weak hands, feeble knees, and anxious hearts.
They are dismayed and discouraged, disheartened, depressed, and despaired.
Others are blind and deaf.
Some can’t speak and are lame.
But when God comes to save, the weak, the discouraged, and the disheartened are suddenly strong and courageous once again.
And people see and hear and shout for joy and dance once again.
It reminds me of those medical stories in which a young child hears for the first time.
He has been deaf all his life.
Then doctors do surgery.
Perhaps they put an implant in the ear.
Suddenly, the child hears his mom’s voice.
And you see his face just light up in joy.
Or a woman who has been color blind all her life.
She puts on special glasses, and suddenly she can see a rainbow of colors.
Tears flow down her cheeks.
When God comes to save, everything changes in a person’s life.
Then Isaiah talks about a highway.
Back then, most highways were more like trails.
They were dangerous.
Wild animals could attack you, as well as thieves and robbers.
Then everything changes when God comes to save.
The road becomes a highway of holiness for the redeemed to travel on in safety.
Those who have been ransomed don’t have to fear anymore.
They are going to arrive at a destination, and they’re going to travel together.
Instead of fear and danger, they are going to be rejoicing with exuberant praise.
Isaiah simply says that when God comes to save, everything changes.
Joy will fill the land and people’s lives.
But when will this happen?
When does God come to save?
II.
I want you to picture a manger in a stable in Bethlehem.
No doubt, back at the time of Caesar Augustus, you’ll find a few of those in that small town.
Nothing out of the ordinary for a small village like Bethlehem.
But one evening, a child is born, and his name is Jesus.
When you translate the name Jesus, it means “he saves.”
So in that manger, which was once just an ordinary stable, everything changes because Jesus is born in it.
Immanuel . . .
God with us.
It’s a night of joy and praise in the world.
God has come to save.
When Jesus grows up, during his ministry, he meets people.
When he comes into their lives, everything changes.
A man who is born blind, who has never been able to see, meets Jesus, and he can see.
“Once I was blind,” he says, “but now I can see.”
And more.
He now worships Jesus.
Joy and thanksgiving fill his heart.
Or a tax collector.
Tax collectors were not particularly well-liked back then.
They could rip people off, get extra money by taxing them more than they should.
This tax collector was named Zacchaeus.
He climbed a tree because he wasn’t very tall and wanted to see Jesus.
Then Jesus saw him and told him he was coming to Zacchaeus’s house to eat.
That evening, everything changed.
Salvation came to that house, and the tax collector gave away money.
He made things right with those he cheated.
He followed Jesus with joy in his heart and praise on his lips.
A woman is caught in adultery, and another one is a prostitute.
Jesus comes into their lives, and everything changes.
The prostitute weeps at his feet, drying the tears with her hair.
The one caught in adultery goes away without condemnation.
She is told to sin no more.
A man is paralyzed and cannot walk.
He is let down through a roof into a house.
Jesus gives him his legs back, and he can run and jump once again.
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