Isaiah 40:21-31

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, February 8, 2009

Pastor Troy Slater, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Herington, Kansas

It's really quite incredible, when you think about it, that is the size of the universe. It's really just beyond our comprehension. I was doing a little checking this week and it's estimated that the universe is at least 100 billion light years across. And with just a single light year being almost 6 trillion miles it means that the width of the universe in miles would be a number consisting of a 6 followed by 23 zeros. An incredible number. A number so incredible that if you put a dollar sign in front of it, it would even be greater than our national debt - at least for now - but I suppose that's getting off the point. The point is that it is an incredibly vast universe in which we live. An incredible universe that the Lord God created simply by speaking His Word. Simply by speaking. It really is just beyond our comprehension.

And actually even just our own galaxy - the Milky Way galaxy is beyond our comprehension. It's estimated that the Milky Way is a mere 100,000 light years across - or again, in number of miles, that would be a 6 followed by 17 zeros. And when you consider that the Milky Way contains an estimated 100 billion stars - similar to all the other 100 billion galaxies that are contained in the universe - it is truly mind-boggling. To call God "great" for His vast creation would be an understatement. To call Him incredible for all His power and might, it would be a tremendous understatement. …

But yet we do understate God, don't we? We do underestimate the power and might of God, probably more than we even realize. For consider, how many times it is that as individuals or as groups, how many times we think, or at least act as if God is not big enough to take care of our problems. How many times do we act as if God is too small, too powerless to do what needs to be done in our lives and in the world?

In fact that’s what Old Testament Israel was doing as the Lord spoke to them through the prophet Isaiah in our Old Testament reading for this morning. You see Israel was in a mess, a real mess. Think we have problems as a country? Well we've got nothing on God's Old Testament Israel. For this portion of Holy Scripture was originally directed towards a people whose lives - because of their own sin - were in ruins - both figuratively and literally. Their homes and place of worship have been demolished by an invading army; their fields are trampled, livestock butchered; many of their countrymen and even family members killed; and they, they're sitting in a foreign land - Babylon - having been taken captive by a nation that worshipped idols. All they can do is cry out to the Lord their God but all they hear back is silence. Yes they're in a mess and they're ready to throw in the towel. And so they conclude, "Maybe the God of our fathers - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - maybe He's not quite who we thought He was. Maybe He's not as powerful as we had hoped." .. And as a result, they are demoralized, they are depressed, they are hopeless. … Hopeless. …

We've been there, haven't we? We've been there as we watch a world become so confusing and cruel and destructive that we begin to think that maybe there is no order, maybe there is no one watching over it - at least no one who can do anything about it. We've been there with Israel as we see trouble come into our lives or into the lives of our friends or loved ones. We've been there as we grieve our pains, mourn over our losses. We've been there as we've shaken our fist at God wondering, "Why, God? How can you allow this to happen? If you're so powerful then use your power. Heal. Restore. Protect. Watch over. Bring justice. Fire up your omnipotence Lord and start straightening some things out." Yes we've been there.

We've been there and when we are, in effect you know what we're doing? Well, basically what we are doing is underestimating the God that we have. We underestimate the God of all power and might. That's what Israel was doing and that's what we do. That's what we do. …

In our reading from Isaiah, chapter 40, the Lord addresses this very situation. He addresses this situation as He says through the prophet Isaiah, as He points to His power and might and wisdom and He says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? The Lord sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." In other words, compared to the maker of heaven and earth, we're nothing, we're but inconsequential grasshoppers that are here today and gone tomorrow. We may think God is silent, we may act as if God is powerless to straighten things up, to heal, to restore, to protect, to watch over, to bring justice. We may fear that all of life is racing out of control. But there is someone. There is someone far, far greater than us; someone whose power and might and wisdom are light-years above ours.

"'To whom will you compare me?' the Holy One says, 'Or who is my equal?' Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." Looking to themselves, looking to their own situation, Israel was demoralized, they were hopeless. Underestimating who our God is and what He has done, we are left hopeless in a world of confusion and destruction. And so the Lord God says, "Look to me, know what I have done, know what I have made, know what I can do. Look to me." …

Now, I suppose we need to pause for a moment and consider the fact that there is a danger here. I mean anytime we look at the greatness of God, it's only natural to see our insignificance. When we consider the universe His hands have made, we see that we are but a speck of inconsequential dust on one small planet in this universe. We're not even a drop in a vast, deep ocean. And so in view of a God of all power and might we then say, "God would never concern himself with me. The God who made the stars, who stretched out the heavens, He doesn't care about me. It's up to me to make my way in this confusing and destructive world. It's up to me. A God of such power and might, He's not going to concern Himself with me." …

But let's consider the rest of our Old Testament reading for this morning. Before we fall off into an existence of nothingness and hopelessness, let's consider the rest of our reading for this morning. "Do you not know? Have you not heard?" Isaiah says. "The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." For indeed He is like nothing else in this world. But is is He who"gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

You see what Isaiah is saying here, what the Lord is saying here through Isaiah, is that yes the Lord is so much greater than us - in fact His understanding we cannot even begin to fathom. He is out of this world. But He is not just out of this world, He is also in this world. In fact He is in your very life. For He is the one who gives strength to the weary and power to the weak. He is the one who renews those who hope in Him. You see the God who made this incredible universe, the God who spoke every single star and galaxy into existence, the God of heaven is also here on earth with His people, with you and me, giving us strength for the day, giving us hope for the future, giving us comfort from all our past.

But how do you know that? How can you know that the Lord God is not just out there but is also right here with you and with me? How do you know? ... … The cross. It's the cross that tells you that the Maker of the universe is not just out there, but is also right here, intimately involved with you and me. The cross is where is proclaimed to us that the One through whom all things were made, the One who stretched out the heavens like a canopy, the One who calls each of the starry hosts by name, the cross is where He, the Lord of Life, Jesus the Christ was put to death for me, for you, for us. Yes that's right for us, otherwise inconsequential specks of dust that we are. For us God Himself took on our flesh, the Creator became a part of His creation so that He might die so that we might live. He's gone to the cross for you and you think that He's not going to use all His power, all His strength, all His wisdom to care for you now, O you of little faith? .. As St. Paul says in Romans, chapter 8, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" Yes the cross of Jesus proclaims to you, promises you that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you.

The cross promises you that the Lord of the universe is on Your side. The one who gives the stars their light and the universe it's might, He is the same one who comes to you and says, "I baptize you, you are mine, I am yours." The one whose Word created the universe is the same one whose word now declares to you, "I forgive you, I went to the cross for you, heaven is your eternal home." The one whose power the universe cannot contain is the same one who invites and says, "Take eat, this is my body given for you. Take and drink, this is my blood of the covenant shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. Be strengthened for all that this world throws at you." … Yes God is out there, the Triune God has created and sustains all things, even the furthest star, but He's also right here, having gone to the cross, He's right here with you, He's right here for you.

And so whatever troubles you face, whatever trials you will face, know that your God, know that your Savior is not only the one who spread out this vast universe we are in, setting the stars and the galaxies in their place, but He is also the one who is with you. Yes even with little ol' you and me working all things for our eternal good. Never will He leave you, never will He forsake you, He promises. Indeed, the Lord of the universe went all that way to the cross for you and so indeed, you can trust in Him, now and forever you can trust in Him. Amen.