Third Sunday in Advent - December 14, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning is the Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 40.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

After hearing news that one of his children died in a car accident,

a father cries out, Lord have mercy.

Lord, where are you? I need you now more than ever. A young mother with three

children, upon learning that her cancer is terminal, prayed the same prayer.

When we endure trials and tribulations, when we suffer from sickness or an accident,

we cry out, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, where are you? I need you now more than ever.

Today we learn that even in our fallen world, God cares for us.

He comforts us with his gospel and with his healing balm of forgiveness.

Christ is present by means of his word and his supper.

And through them, he gives us a peace that the world can never give.

During the time of Isaiah, the people did not ask, Lord, where are you?

As a matter of fact, they cared very little about him. They did not think that they needed him.

They believed that they can survive on their own.

Where was God? He was in the temple. He heard their prayers.

He received their sacrifices and he forgave their sins.

Yet the people worship idol gods of the Canaanites and they built altars to

Baal and they turned away from the one true God.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned the people that if they do not turn from

their sin, then God will send Babylon to destroy Jerusalem.

Isaiah says in chapter 39, Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your

house and what your fathers have accumulated until this day shall be carried to Babylon.

Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.

And so Isaiah called them to repentance. He called them to turn from their sinful

ways and to trust in God's promises, especially the promise of a coming Savior.

And yet they refused to repent. They rejected God's word, and they continued in their wickedness.

Advent is a time of repentance.

It is a time to confess our sins of pride, anger, jealousy, and self-centeredness.

And to denounce the idols in our lives.

We are to confess our sins and to live by faith in the forgiveness of sins.

We repent because it was our sins which caused Jesus to come into our world

and to be born, but also our sins which caused him to die upon the cross.

And so repent and believe in the gospel, and then live out that life loving the neighbor.

In due time, God's warning came true. In 587 BC, the king of Babylon destroyed much of Jerusalem.

The temple was torn down, and the golden vessels were carried away to Babylon,

and the people were led into captivity.

They lived as exiles in a foreign land. In Babylon, God's people finally realized

that they were in the wrong and that God was in the right.

At last, they asked, Lord, where are you? They wondered, has God left us?

Will he pardon our iniquity? Will he forgive our sin?

Isaiah chapter 40 reads, Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

So while the people were in exile, a preacher spoke words of comfort.

He spoke tenderly to them, and God identified them as my people, and that he is their God.

The gospel came to them in words that the preacher spoke. Well, what was the message?

The preacher cried out that because of the coming Savior,

their warfare is ended, their iniquity is pardoned and that they had received

from the Lord's hand an abundant amount of grace for all their sins again on

account of the coming Savior.

These words were a source of deep, deep, deep comfort for the exiles in Babylon.

They were a message of consolation. God had not abandoned them.

He had pardoned their iniquity. He had forgiven them their sins.

And these words were pure gospel to their ears.

God's people in Babylon repented of their sin. They received God's forgiveness

and they trusted in the coming Savior.

And when their 70 years of captivity were ended, they returned to their homeland.

They rebuilt the temple and worshiped the true living God. Where was God?

He was there in the temple.

This shows us that God is not only a God of judgment, he's also a God of mercy.

He addresses his people with a law, but he also speaks words of gospel.

He exposes sin, but he also forgives it.

Isaiah 40 verse 3 says that, quote, A voice cries in the wilderness,

Isaiah 40:3

prepare the way of the Lord.

And Isaiah is saying that someday a prophet will come and will prepare the way for the Savior.

This voice, this prophet is John the Baptist.

He preached. He spoke words. He called the people to repent and to trust in

the forgiveness of sins.

And this is how God deals with us. There is judgment if we remain in unbelief,

and the call to repent goes out to us as well.

Yet there is mercy toward us on account of Jesus.

We confess our sins, and then there is absolution, which removes our sin as

far as the east is from the west.

The law shows us our sin, and then the gospel shows us our Savior.

There is death, and then there is resurrection. Our text reveals the reality of our sin and death.

It reminds us that just as the grass withers and the flower fades,

so also we are all mortal.

We are sinful by nature, and we live in a fallen world. Life is filled with its troubles.

We suffer from sickness and accidents and arthritis, from aging.

There is stress at work, especially at this time of year, preparing for Christmas and this and that.

The stress level is pretty high.

We endure family struggles and financial worries, and the list goes on and on.

Just as the grass withers and the flower fades, so also we wither and fade. Go to the nursing home.

You'll see that. Go to the hospital or the cemetery.

And this reality becomes clear. Look in the mirror. Add up your years.

We're not getting any younger.

The grass withers and the flower fades. And so do great civilizations of our time.

Such as Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. They've all come and gone.

The ruins remain for archaeologists and for people to make pictures of.

The great kings and kingdoms of history have faded away.

And so, too, your home and car will not last forever.

Like cut grass, we will someday wither and die. And like a fading flower,

we will return to the dust from where we came.

Yet, there is one thing that will last forever.

Isaiah 40 verse 8 says, The word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:8

It will never pass away. It is our guiding light.

The eternal word, the Son of God, entered our world.

He was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, and he became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus is both God and man.

Where is God? He is in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was present as a baby lying in the manger.

And he is the one whom John pointed to.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John is pointing to Jesus, the Lamb who has come to sacrifice himself on the

cross to take away our sins.

Jesus gave sight during his ministry. He gave sight to the blind.

He made the lame walk. He cleansed the lepers.

He opened the eyes of the blind, gave hearing to the deaf.

He raised the dead, and he preached good news to the poor.

His goal was the cross, and nothing was to hinder Jesus from going to the cross.

So the valleys were filled. The mountains and hills were made low.

The crooked places were straight, and the rough places were made smooth.

Nothing stood in the way of Jesus' journey to the cross, not the devil's temptations,

not the rejection of his own people, and not even the doubts of his own disciples.

And there at the cross, Jesus shed his blood as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

And there on the cross, Jesus bore the punishment that we deserve.

Where is God? He was on the cross as our Savior, carrying the valley of our sin upon his shoulders.

He took upon himself our mountain of pride and our self-centeredness.

Just as the grass withers and the flower fades, so also Jesus died and was buried.

But on the third day, he rose from the dead.

His resurrection brought life and light into our world of darkness and death.

God has given you a preacher to speak God's word, to call you to repentance,

to proclaim the gospel, and to show how to love the neighbor.

The preacher uses words. He speaks.

What is the message? Because of the cross and empty tomb, your iniquity is hardened.

You have received a double portion of forgiveness for all your sins.

And because of Christ's resurrection, your warfare with death is ended.

Because Jesus lives, you too shall live.

And when you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

you will fear no evil because you know that Christ will be with you.

The father who lost his child was comforted in knowing that because of Jesus,

because his child was baptized, the child lives.

And the mother suffering from cancer knows through faith in Christ that eternal life is hers.

And so also for you, the gospel changes you for the better.

You no longer live in fear, but with faith toward God.

You love and care for one another. Your faith is reflected in how you live.

You do good works for the sake of the family or neighbor. Where is God?

He is here in this place, this house of worship.

Here, God comforts you. Yes, comforts you with his gospel.

Through the voice of a preacher, God announces that your sins are forgiven in this place.

The good news of Christ's death and his resurrection is proclaimed,

and at this altar you will receive from the Lord's hand the body and blood of Christ.

You will receive comfort and strength you so desperately need.

Christ is your shepherd. He feeds you, he washes you, and he gathers you into his fold.

So if you lost a loved one in the faith, if you suffer from despair or hopelessness,

if death stands before you, if the devil troubles you, or if you suffer from

disease, God is your comfort.

His gospel gives you peace. He is your refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice because the Lord is at hand.

Christ is with you and he will never leave you nor forsake you. Amen.