As One Whom His Mother Comforts

See, the problem has never been that God was was unwilling to draw near to his people. The problem is that people resist being gathered. How's that land with you this morning? I think we still resist it in many ways. We would rather meet God and present ourselves to him as a tough guy. We would rather come to him once things are stable, after we've worked things out, once we don't have to be embarrassed about our circumstances, and only when we feel like we can stand on our own. The word of God doesn't allow that. God doesn't present himself here as the one who helps strong people get stronger. [01:04:00] (59 seconds)  #ComeAsYouAre

As a matter of fact, every single thing that gave them a sense of strength and identity had been shaken. And in that in that situation, there's a natural instinct that kicks in with people. Right? The natural instinct is, okay. Wait. We gotta circle the wagons and we have to recover control for ourselves. Let's stop. Let's pause. Let's get this thing together. Let's find a way to become strong again. That's the human impulse. But this is what God says to them. He says, you will not restore yourselves. You will be nourished by a restoring God. [00:53:16] (46 seconds)  #RestoredByGod

He presents himself, my friends, as a mother who draws near a child that cannot sustain themself. And so to know God is to know him in this way. To know god is to know him as the one who does not stand back from your weakness. But instead, he comes to you like a mother to her child. And to know yourself is to know this and to admit this, that you're not the one that's holding your life together. You need a mother's care. And God says, that is exactly how I'm going to deal with you. All God's people said, amen. Amen. Let's go now to the table of the Lord. [01:04:59] (61 seconds)  #MotheringGod

He choose this word choice is meant to communicate that this is not some a care that comes from a distance. It's not a care that comes after you recover. It's not a care that comes, like, once you get strong again. The care that's being spoken about is that in the place, right in the place where you are shaken and uncertain and worn down, I'm going to come to you and draw near to you and care for you with the heart of a mother. And what's the result? Well, the text says that the result is your heart shall rejoice and your bones shall flourish like the grass. [01:00:34] (46 seconds)  #ComfortInTheStorm

The invitation of the passage that we looked at, Isaiah 66, is to come near and to receive what God gives. And that is exactly what Christ invites us to do at the table of the Lord. In this place, at this table, with the bread and cup that will be placed into your hands, the Lord does not feed us with bread alone, but with true nourishment of Jesus Christ himself. This is a table where he reminds the weak, that's us. Where he reminds the weary, that's us, that life doesn't come from ourselves, but it comes from his mercy and his grace. [01:06:00] (52 seconds)  #TableOfGrace

This command is issued to the people who took the condition of Jerusalem seriously When it was brought low, these people didn't distance themselves. In fact, they mourned. They remained bound to Jerusalem even in their weakness. And now God is saying those are the people who are going to rejoice. And this is what this shows us. This shows us that joy is tied to belonging. Joy in the Lord and and restoration that we receive from God is not a private experience. We're talking about the joy of a people who are bound up together in what God is doing among them. [00:48:23] (55 seconds)  #JoyInBelonging

God does not deal with his people in isolation, And that's why it is a special thing and it is a blessed thing to come here and do this together. God binds people to himself. And when he does that, he binds them to one another. So this is what we learn about God. He restores that which has been brought low. He nourishes his people together. And he does not leave people to recover themselves as individuals, but he gives them life and nourishment within a people. He is renewing a people for himself and for his own purposes. [00:50:40] (57 seconds)  #UnitedInGrace

And that command comes at the end of what is a long story of judgment and loss. Isaiah has spent 66 chapters now exposing sin and announcing judgment and describing a people, Jerusalem, who would be brought low. Jerusalem is the city that once stood shining on a hill, shining as the center of the purposes of God. Jerusalem, Isaiah tells the people would be humbled and would be laid bare. But here at the very end of the book of Isaiah, God speaks a different word. And the word is not a denial of what has been pronounced so far. The word is a promise of restoration. [00:47:04] (54 seconds)  #PromiseOfRestoration

this word choice is meant to communicate that this is not some a care that comes from a distance. It's not a care that comes after you recover. It's not a care that comes, like, once you get strong again. The care that's being spoken about is that in the place, right in the place where you are shaken and uncertain and worn down, I'm going to come to you and draw near to you and care for you with the heart of a mother. And what's the result? Well, the text says that the result is your heart shall rejoice and your bones shall flourish like the grass. [01:00:35] (45 seconds)

Echoing Isaiah 66, Jesus reaches back into the Old Testament and he says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings? See, the problem has never been that God was was unwilling to draw near to his people. The problem is that people resist being gathered. How's that land with you this morning? I think we still resist it in many ways. We would rather meet God and present ourselves to him as a tough guy. We would rather come to him once things are stable, after we've worked things out, once we don't have to be embarrassed about our circumstances, and only when we feel like we can stand on our own. The word of God doesn't allow that. God doesn't present himself here as the one who helps strong people get stronger. He presents himself, my friends, as a mother who draws near a child that cannot sustain themself. [01:03:42] (85 seconds)