Comfort Comfort

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What does comfort food look like to you?  Coming off of a Thanksgiving week, it’s easy to think about pie, mashed potatoes and gravy – lots of gravy…

Before we fall back into a food coma, let’s talk about a few things that make us uncomfortable.  Our text from Isaiah was talking about comfort to people who needed it.  When the psalmist talked about sitting by the river and weeping, he was talking about the exiles in Babylon.  Their homes had been destroyed.  There was no going back.

I don’t know that too many of us fit the refugee status of Isaiah’s first audience, but there are plenty of things that can make us uncomfortable this time of year.  When else during the year can you be forced to spend time with people that you… love.  For many this is difficult.  Have words been spoken in haste or anger that you can’t take back?  Time doesn’t heal all wounds.  How many years have you become comfortable with a grudge?  Does it make you feel right?  That doesn’t really matter if it has destroyed a relationship with a family member and possibly put a barrier between you and your God.

The comfort God offered to Israel is the same for you.  Dump your guilt and your shame. Wipe the tears and the lost time away.  God’s comfort isn’t based on your level of performance this year.  He isn’t interested in your Christmas spirit.  God loves you for Jesus’ sake.  Jesus is the one who kept all of his relationships perfectly.  He never said the wrong things.  He lived in your place so that he could die in your place.

Your comfort isn’t based on Cyber Monday sales or the size of your tree.  It’s based on the unchanging word of the Lord.  “Comfort, Comfort, my people!” says the Lord.

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