Bible Passage: Isaiah 40:27-31
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: February 4, 2024

Bulletin February 4, 2024

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

What were Adam and Eve’s physical capabilities before the Fall into sin?  It’s an intriguing question.  What was the human body capable of before sin?  Theories abound.  There is one theory that holds that before the Fall into sin our world had a hyperbaric atmosphere.  That means the air pressure would have been higher.  This would mean that Adam would have had super-oxygenated blood.  One result of this would be that Adam could have run great distances without getting tired.  That is only speculation!  But it is fun to think about.  Wouldn’t it be fun to run and run and run and never get winded?

That would be fun for sure!  But maybe you think it would be funner still to be able to fly!  Have you ever had a dream where you can fly?  I had one the other night.  I don’t know why.  But for some reason we long to fly; we dream of flying.  Maybe that is because, compared to walking, flying just seems so easy, so effortless.  Even relaxing.

These are pictures contained in our text today.  This is the language God uses to describe the person who trusts in him.  Using these pictures, God promises New Strength for the Weary.

Our text begins with some people who are weary.  They are sick and tired of what’s going on.  They are saying, My way is hidden from the Lord, and justice for me is ignored by my God. (v. 27)  They are saying the Lord can’t see what’s going on with them.  There’s more to it.  They feel like God is ignoring justice.  They feel that they are getting a raw deal.  They are feeling that things are all “wrong.”  They want justice!  They want God to step in and “set things right.”  Yet God doesn’t seem to care!  They are tired of the whole business.

Are you tired of the whole business?  Life is exhausting.  And it’s not just that we need to do more cardio training.  Sin has made life wearisome.  Sin has made life tiring for both body and soul.  Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to deal with what sin does to us physically?  Because of sin, we lose our strength, we lose our vigor.  We get old.  Our bodies get tired.  Our brains get tired.  Our heart.  Our lungs.  Our senses.  It all gets tired!  We wear out.  It’s exhausting!

Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to deal with what sin has done to us spiritually?  Life is spiritually exhausting!  Everywhere we go, everywhere we turn, there is sin, and there are the constant, non-stop temptations for us to sin.  It’s hard to fight temptation day in, day out.  It’s tiring fighting against the devil every day.  It’s exhausting resisting the invitation of the sinful world to join in all the “fun.”  It’s fatiguing to live with this guy, to have to be on guard against the worst part of me EVERY, single moment.  To grab that old sinner by the throat and drown him in the water of baptism today, and then tomorrow, and then the next day.  Like a song on “replay”, I must confess about myself each day what Paul confessed about himself:  The good I want to do, I don’t do.  The evil that I don’t want to do, THIS I keep on doing!  (Romans 7)  “I’m tired now.”

It’s okay to admit fatigue.  It’s not okay to accuse God of not caring.  That is why the Lord begins our text by asking, Why do you speak, O Jacob?  O Israel, why do you say…(v. 27)  Why are you talking that way?  You are wallowing!  You are accusing God!  Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  That is, haven’t you forgotten something…or someone? The LORD reminds them who he is.  He is eternal (v. 28).  He is the Creator (v. 28).  He will not grow tired, and he will not become weary. (v. 28)  We might be tired, but God isn’t!  And then we are told, He is the one who gives strength to the weak, and he increases the strength of those who lack power. (v. 29)

You say, “Do tell where we might get this strength!”  God does not give it in the weightroom or the gymnasium.  In fact, our text tells us, Young men grow tired and become weary.  Even strong men stumble and fall. (v. 30)  Even elite athletes reach their limits.  Even Olympic athletes can reach a point of exhaustion.  So where, how does God give this strength?  But those who wait for the LORD will receive new strength. (v. 31)

We wait for the Lord.  And he comes and gives new strength.  But he doesn’t come with steroids and caffeine to make us strong and awake.  He comes with death and resurrection.  You don’t believe Jesus’ death and resurrection can give you the strength you need?  Listen to Paul:  We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus [there is Jesus’ death and resurrection]…Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:14, 16-18).  And later, Paul would write from prison:  I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. (Philippians 4:13)  When Paul was ultimately  imprisoned some years later for the last time and put on trial, he wrote to Timothy, At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me… But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. (2 Timothy 4:16-17)  The Lord…the once-dead, now-risen Lord Jesus! 

Is that not remarkable?  Paul is incarcerated, yet he writes as a man who is soaring on eagles’ wings!  Paul’s feet are in chains, yet he writes as a man who is running strong!  They will finally walk Paul out to the executioner, yet he does not stumble and shrink from the moment.  He walks, and does not faint!  Because his strength was in Jesus and his cross!

That makes me think of one of the little prayers in the altar book.  It is a prayer for those who are suffering.  “Let them find strength in Jesus and his cross at this time.”  When we are weary, may we always find renewed strength in Jesus and his cross.  There we find a gracious God.  There we find a strong God.  There we find our strength.

Amen.