Welcome to Lent!  This season, we’re blessed with a set of Lenten devotionals by contributing author Lee Hinkle.  Find out more about Lee at the bottom of this article, or at hinkledownunder.com.

Reading

John 1:19-34 (ESV)
Isaiah 40:1- 8 (ESV)

Meditation

John was not an “ear tickler”; he was not afraid to say hard things to those that were gathering around him. Check out Matthew 3:1-12; that is not someone who is trying to please men.

People wanted to know exactly who John was. They wanted to find a category for him so they could figure him and out and discount him. He was clearly making waves. Luke 3:1-20 lets us know that many people were coming to check him out; tax collectors, soldiers and others were coming to repent. The ruling religious class pressed John to know exactly who he thought he was and how he had the right to do what he was doing (if you had been called a “brood of vipers” you might feel the same way).

So when this seeming harsh man is pressed to reveal who he was he takes them to Isaiah 40. Go back and read the whole chapter. From the man who says, “The axe is laid to the root” and “His winnowing fork is in his hand…but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire,” he calls them to Isaiah 40. “Comfort, comfort my people…” How sweet those words are in comparison to what John is saying to the crowds.

Comfort. John is preparing a way of comfort. He is making straight the way of the Lord. We, like those standing on the shore, have a tendency to believe that we aren’t that far off from being a “good person,” someone that God would like to hang out with. Or, like some on the shore, we believe that there is no way we can get our act together and be accepted by God. John’s words remind those who know they are unworthy, just how unworthy they are to be in the kingdom. He also points, quite directly, to those who think they can achieve righteousness on their own that they cannot. Comfort. This is what John is proclaiming. That if you think you have it all together or if you believe that you never will have it together, God brings comfort. We repent. We, by God’s sweet care, have our eyes opened to our hopeless estate and receive His comfort.

We need people to still operate like John in our lives. We need to have people bring Comfort. We need someone who is unafraid to lead us to the place of repentance; who will call us out when we climb onto God’s throne in our hearts. And we need to be these type of people too. This is the reason God gives us to each other. We are to make straight the way of the Lord for one another. We are to shout “Comfort!” to one another.

This comfort will often times seem unpleasant. It will hurt us and cause us to want to run and hide in our shame. We will be afraid to step into each other’s lives and be broken and bold with one another. The Spirit will empower us to do this. The end of Isaiah 40:28-31 says,

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. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.

And John’s own words should give us comfort as well. We are not the end-all-be-all. There is someone who is greater than us. There is someone who has the power to remove our guilt and shame; someone who has redeemed us and conquered sin and death. There is Jesus, “whose sandal I am not worthy to untie,” but who submitted himself to death for us. He has come to bring Comfort.

Prayer

Father, you call us toward yourself with words that do not tickle our ears.  You reveal the depths of our hard and wicked hearts.  It frightens us and we desire you to stop but you keep pursuing us.  You know that your way brings comfort for us.  You know that your path is the path of righteousness.  You want us as your people.  Thank you for pursuing us.  Teach us to grieve our sin and celebrate when it is reveal to us.  Grieve it for the darkness and evil it is.  Grieve for the pain and slavery it brings.  Grieve it for the hurt is causes those around us.  Grieve us for how it removes you in our hearts for your rightful place.  Celebrate that you have already conquered it.  Celebrate that you have already overcome its evil.  Celebrate that you have already made a way for healing and freedom.  Celebrate that you have taken our darkness and made it light.

Jesus, we praise you for being the way, truth and life.  We praise you for being submissive to the Father.  We praise you for lowering yourself even unto death for our sin.  You are holy and pure and you give us your righteousness so we can be comforted. Thank you for being the Head of your body and placing within it.  Thank you for our fellow siblings, the Sons and Daughters of the Most High, who step into our lives and call us back to you.  Empower us to proclaim your comfort to each other. Amen.

Lenten Action

Think about those people who God has brought into your life to speak comfort.  Remember that their words might not have seemed like comfort at the time.  They may have seemed harsh and challenging.  They may have caused you to want to run away.  You might have ended the relationship because of the words but later realized that they were leading you toward repentance and comfort.  When you have this person in mind, write them a note or an email to thank them for taking a risk to be bold with you.  Thank them for stepping in with comfort.

Bonus!

My friend Bruce Benedict, over at Cardiphonia, released a new album today called “Hollow Square Hymnal.” It is awesome. Follow this link to buy the album, and worship the Lord during this Lenten season.

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Lee Hinkle is an American pastor who, with his family of 7, felt God’s call to pack up and plant a church in Fremantle, a town in Perth, Western Australia.  Last Summer, the Hinkles left Indianapolis and arrived in Oz to begin their work.  You can follow their adventures at hinkledownunder.com.