Baptism of our Lord (LCMS Readings)
Saturday, January 8, and Sunday, January 9, 2005
The coastlands wait. From the Indian Ocean to Lake Michigan, the coastlands wait.
On the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean, the people wait for relief and aid after the devastation of the tsunami. The people wait for helicopters to arrive with food and water. The people wait to find out if their loved ones are just missing or have they died. The people wait for new homes, new roads, new ways to make a living. The people wait, hoping that another wave doesn’t smash into the coast.
In those pictures and stories of the people of Southeast Asia, we can see that the people are waiting for God, waiting for God to bring justice, to right the wrongs, to fix the broken land, to remove fear and danger and sickness and death from their lives. The coastlands wait expectantly for God’s instruction, for His Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation. When you see the children on the television staring with lost and wondering eyes, when you see the parents overcome with grief, when you see hundreds of people clamoring for what little food has arrived, you can see how these people need God. They need His hope, love, peace, and salvation. They need to know that beyond their daily struggles that God is with them.
Yet, they’re not the only ones who wait. You don’t have to travel halfway around the world to see these images. People in remote parts of the world aren’t the only ones who are overcome by grief, are struggling to find food and shelter, are searching with lost and wondering eyes, are waiting expectantly for God’s Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation. On the shores of Lake Michigan, people wait.
As we look around us, we can see that the people on the coastlands of Lake Michigan are waiting for God, waiting for God to bring justice, to right the wrongs, to remove fear and danger and sickness and death from their lives. People wait for new jobs, wait to get help from Peter’s Pantry and Lakeshore CAP and the Domestic Violence Center, wait to register for WIC and medical assistance. This week people waited for help when their cars got stuck in a ditch, banged up in a crash because of the snow. Everyday people wait in the hospitals to know whether their loved ones will be healthy again, will be free from cancer, will survive their injuries. People wait in the bars with broken hearts and troubled lives; they sit at the bars with pain in their eyes. People wait in their homes, lonely, not having any family or friends, spending their days wondering what life has to offer.
So it isn’t just in Southeast Asia that you can see how people need God. Look around us, we’ll easily see how many people here on the coastlands of Lake Michigan wait expectantly for God’s instruction, for His Word of love, hope, peace, and salvation.
And when you see how the people in India, Indonesia, or Thailand need hope and peace, and when you see how the people in Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Mishicot, or Valders need love and salvation, when you see all of these people waiting for God, do you see yourself waiting? Do you see how you need God? Do you see that you’re also on the coastlands, you’re also waiting expectantly for God’s instruction? Do you see that you’re not just here in church today because it’s the right thing to do? Do you see that you’re here today because your heart is crying out, your life hits a brick wall sometimes, you’re very aware of being alone or scared or sad or tired or sick or dying or sinful?
Look on TV at the pictures of the victims of the tsunami; they’re waiting for God’s hope. Look around you at the people in our community hurting and struggling; they’re waiting for God’s hope. Look at yourself, you who is also going through tough times; you’re waiting for God’s hope.
And so the coastlands wait. From the Indian Ocean to Lake Michigan, the coastlands wait. The coastlands wait expectantly for God’s instruction, for His Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation. From the Indian Ocean to Lake Michigan, we stand looking into the sky wondering how God will bring any relief.
In those pictures of the tsunami devastated areas, you can see how difficult it is to wait for relief. Waiting for relief, waiting for help, that causes some people to cry uncontrollably. Others yell in anger. Some cower in fear. Some run through the streets, shoving and grabbing. Some get to work, trying to fix it all. Others are in shock, just standing and staring.
Knowing that the people who wait for help are often fragile, in pain, having trouble getting through the next hour, let alone the next day, knowing all of this, our God comes to hurting people with tenderness. As Isaiah says, God sends His Servant to save us, He sends the Messiah, He sends the One we know to be Jesus Christ, and this Servant will not “break a bruised reed; And He will not extinguish a dimly burning wick.”
The people in Southeast Asia are like bruised reeds, bent stalks of wheat. They’re still alive, but they’re barely clinging to life and hope. They haven’t been completely pulled out by the roots, but they’re like damaged plants, struggling to keep growing. The people in Southeast Asia are like dimly burning wicks, candles that are about to go out. They’re still alive, but they’re just barely keeping going. They haven’t been completely blown out, but they’re like a dying fire, struggling to keep burning.
God comes to these bruised reeds, to these dimly burning wicks, and He doesn’t crush them. His Servant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ comes with compassion and love, comes to lift up the broken stalks of wheat, comes to breathe new life into the dying fires. Jesus doesn’t come to tell the strong to get stronger, that only those who find power within themselves will find salvation. Jesus comes to tell the weak that He will make them strong, that only those who find power and strength in Him will find salvation.
But again, you don’t have to look halfway around the world to Southeast Asia to find bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks. The people on the coastlands of Lake Michigan wait for God’s instruction, His Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation, because they too are bruised and hurting, are dimly burning and struggling to find the will to keep living.
For all of those in this community who are watching loved ones dying, who are watching their marriages fall apart, who are tired of their terrible diseases, who are filled with pain and remorse about their lives, who are in jail, for all of those in this community who wait for God’s Word of hope, God sends His Servant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ who brings the Word of salvation. Jesus comes to lift up the people of this community. He tells the hurting, “I will carry your pain.” He tells the sinners, “I will forgive your sins.” He tells the forgotten, “I will not forget you.”
You see, the message of Christ to the people of this community isn’t a message that comes to crush, punish, humiliate, damage, hurt, or make life worse. The message of Christ to the people of this community ultimately, in the end is a message that brings new hope, new life, new direction, a new vision for what their lives can be like.
And so again, when you see how the people in India, Indonesia, or Thailand are like bruised reeds, and when you see how the people in Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Mishicot, or Valders are like dimly burning wicks, when you see all of these people clinging to hope, do you see yourself? Do you see how you are a bruised reed, a broken stalk of wheat? Do you see that you’re also a dimly burning wick, a dying fire? Do you see that you’re not just here in church today because it’s the right thing to do? Do you see that you’re here today because you need to be lifted up, you need a God who will not crush you, you need a God who will give you strength for life, for eternal life?
Look on TV at the pictures of the victims of the tsunami; the Word of God doesn’t come to crush them and condemn them. Jesus comes to tell them that there’s hope beyond the despair and destruction. Look around you at the people in our community who are hurting and struggling; the Word of God doesn’t come to laugh at them, tell them how wrong they are and then walk away. Jesus comes to tell them that there’s forgiveness, that even when they’re wrong, God will never leave them. Look at yourself, you who is also going tough times; the Word of God doesn’t come to cut you off, to kick you out, to take away all of your hope. Jesus comes to support you, lift you up, forgive you, walk with you, stay with you, love you, save you from death.
I think one of the hardest things for me is to see how many of you want to deny your hurts, want to deny that you need God, want to deny that you are the people of the coastlands, the bruised reeds, the dimly burning wicks, the ones who are waiting expectantly for the Word of God.
You tell me you’re in church for your kids, not admitting that you also need to hear about God’s love. You tell me that you just don’t have time for Bible study right now, not admitting that you know you’re struggling to believe. You need to hear God’s Word to find strength. You tell me that pastors should just mind their own business, not ask about your personal life, not admitting that you can’t handle the stress and sadness on your own. You need to know that Jesus comes to take that stress and sadness for you.
Standing here, I can see how you hurt. I can see how you’re waiting for God’s Word of hope. But standing here, I can also see how you squirm and fidget, yawn and look the other way. I can see that you don’t want to admit that you’re hurting. I can see that you want to hide.
We all at times struggle to be honest about what we’re going through. We all at times want to act like we can do it on our own—we don’t need anyone’s help, not even God’s. We all at times have trouble admitting that we’re like the hurting people we see in our community or on TV.
But if you’ll just admit it for a moment, just admit it for the next couple of minutes that you’re hurting or broken or tired or sinful or desperate or depressed or lonely, if you’ll just admit that you’re waiting for God, that you need His Word, then I promise you that what you’ll find in Jesus Christ will not attack you or crush you or break you or drive you into the ground.
If you’ll admit that you’re waiting for God, you will see that God comes to us through His Word today. If you’ll admit that you’re a bruised reed, you will see that Jesus comes to mend your heart, to lift you up, to gently help to keep growing. If you’ll admit that you’re a dimly burning wick, you will see that Jesus comes to breathe new life into your fire, to give you new hope in your soul. If you’ll admit that you need God, you will see that God is here for you, and He knows exactly what you need. You need a Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation, while all around you there is despair, hatred, war, and death.
Here is the Word of hope, love, peace, and salvation that we all need: Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Newborn King, the Promised Savior of God. He came to save us from sin and death. He came to die in our place. He came to bring eternal life to all people. He came to bring the hope, love, peace, and salvation that the whole world is waiting for, from the Indian Ocean to Lake Michigan. He came to bring the hope, love, peace, and salvation, that you are waiting for. And now, Jesus is born; Jesus is here; Jesus has come to save you.