28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Bound up in a flesh that craves the desires of the heart is a will that seeks the joys of youth, of foolishness, joys that fade away faster than the joy of a two-year-old who tosses one gift aside for the next. Sinners grow faint, and are weary, no matter what their age, when they feel the weight of the law. The end of the rope. Nowhere to turn. Broken. Helpless. And for the first time, seeing life in its reality.
Broken by the law, the sinner cries out:
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes- it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD!
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation! (Psalm 38:1-3, 9-11, 21-22)
And the Father hears the cry of His child. No, better than that, even before the cry is heard, the Father is sprinting to His child, for he knows the brokenness deep in the depth of the heart. Like the Father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), waiting, hoping, longing for his son to return, the heavenly Father sprints to His children, eager to celebrate their return.
And the Father hears the cry of His child. No, better than that, even before the cry is heard, the Father is sprinting to His child, for he knows the brokenness deep in the depth of the heart. Like the Father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), waiting, hoping, longing for his son to return, the heavenly Father sprints to His children, eager to celebrate their return.
And while the son understands that things have changed, that he is no longer worthy of even a servant's role, the Father will hear none of it. What was lost, is now found. Where brokenness chewed away at what life remained, now they will celebrate with a feast that will fill their bellies with life and love.
This is the love of the Father, a love that knows no bounds. A love that awakens life within even the darkest of pits, a love that frees the bound will and renews the strength of God's child. This is the love that greets a confession of sins with the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a kingdom like no other. This is the kingdom of God, where foolish sinners are greeted with the joy due a righteous son or daughter. For in Christ, that is what we are. Amen.
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