My soul rejoices in my God for he has saved me from despair!

Lots of acorns drop to the ground each year. For lots of kids, acorns are collected as if they were treasure. Some kids might even keep them in their mom’s old wicker basket behind the chicken coop, which is what I did. Other acorns get crushed by feet, hooves or tires. Others are eaten by squirrels, deer and other animals. Even people can eat acorns by leaching out the tannins to make acorn flour to make bread, tortillas and even Christmas cookies. All these possibilities for acorns bring at best a little sustenance and short-lived happiness, but an acorn brings long-lasting effects when it is planted.

Many things last longer when they are planted. When an acorn is planted, it grows into an oak tree, of which many varieties live longer than people. It takes the right soil, sun light, temperature and water for an acorn to become an oak tree. Yet, the number one contributor to the acorn growing into a tree is God who designed and made the acorn, soil, sun light, temperature and water to all work together. Then next time you enjoy an oak tree, give thanks to God. Many gospel seeds were planted by John the Baptist as we read in our Gospel reading from John 1, 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. John the Baptist was a witness to the light, Jesus. He testified to Jesus as the source of everlasting life. John the Baptist’s proclaiming was meant to bring many to rejoice in Jesus.

Despite the easy of planting a message today, despair grows more than rejoicing. With a few taps on a screen or pushes on a remote, we can access so many messages from individual influencers all the way up to national media organizations. Unfortunately, there are many messages of negativity, loss, death, war, sickness and conflict. And the positive messages like a new guaranteed health plan or pill, the appointment of the politician you wanted, an economic effort and Christmas card highlights from friends and family only bring short lived happiness; these all get replaced. So many hearts are filled with cynicism, pessimism, distrust, doubt, betrayal, worry, guilt and anxiety among other things because our eyes and ears are not immune to these messages and our hearts are not immune to the despair they bring. We work so hard to filter out the bad messages and hold on to the good, but despair still grows more than rejoicing. Sin has so corrupted our world that we cannot find long lasting joy in it.

Your source for joy is not from the world; he came to the world. In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 61, the prophet Isaiah announced a messenger who would take away despair, 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. This announced Jesus. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. He was anointed as the chosen one, the Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek. After his baptism, he began his public ministry. It was public for all the world to hear and a ministry or service that provided the world with the authentic, genuine, transparent truth. Despair was over for the afflicted, troubled, sinful, sick of and from negative messages poor in spirit. Jesus proclaimed, preached and taught with the authority of God. His message was not flowery good news like flowers in a field whose beauty is short lived, but firm good news like an oak tree standing strong and green season after season through drought and storm. Jesus continued to preview his mission in Isaiah 61, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Again, Jesus proclaimed. His work was getting his message across that healing, freedom and release were reality through him. Jesus did not back down from proclaiming his message even when it would have saved him from his captivity as we hear in Mark 14, Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. It was his proclamation before and during his trial that he was the Messiah, the chosen one, the Son of God and fulfillment of Isaiah 61 along with all of the Old Testament that put him on the cross. Then we hear in Isaiah 61, Jesus came 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion. Jesus was not silenced by his death. To all who saw Jesus nailed to the cross, their despair, mourning and grieving was answered with the words of the resurrected Jesus as we hear in John 20, 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” And these words are for you too as your sins were paid for on the cross and forgiveness, the gift of Jesus’ righteousness and eternal life were guaranteed for you in Jesus’ resurrection. And at your baptism, peace was made between you and God; you were washed clean of your sins and these words from Isaiah 61 describe you, 3 … to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. You were dressed in the dark funeral clothes of mourning, but God has dressed you like a bride on her wedding day in bright light filled with joy and praise. And this rejoicing will be long lived as we hear in Isaiah 61, They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. You joy will endure. You have been planted by God and will stand firm like a strong oak tree. On Judgment Day and for eternity, you will shine displaying the gracious, glorious work of the Lord to save his people.

When we describe ourselves with God’s words, we rejoice. Our hearts, minds and mouths are too often influence by worldly messages. They do not satisfy you for the long term; no human message brings light into the darkness. Instead, Jesus brought light into the world. Jesus himself used the spoken word, the same words of Scripture you and I get to read, hear, sing and speak, trusting its power that is described in Isaiah 55, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. God’s word has taken root in you so that the words we hear in our New Testament reading from 1 Thessalonians 5, are not a string of positive words spoken as a mantra or daily affirmation with no real force behind them to accomplish anything, but instead true encouragement backed up with the power of the Lord God Almighty in Christ Jesus, 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Here in this world, we do not experience the full rejoicing that will be ours in heaven. For now, God’s Word gives us joy and lists the many things we have that cannot be taken from us and are not diminished by our present circumstances. Jesus’ words are not the only ones announced in Isaiah 61, your words, the words of believers, of our congregation and the Church throughout the world and time are recorded, 10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness. Our souls rejoice in God for what he has done, not that we must always be shouting for joy or putting on a public display, but in our hearts, there is lasting joy. As Isaiah 61 ends, the Lord speaks leaving us with the assurance that just as certain as God’s laws of nature work, God saves us, 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Lots of acorns drop to the ground each year. Some are collected, some crushed and some eaten, but some get planted and grow into a strong oak tree. Lots of people are born each year, some collect empty messages as if they were treasure, some are crushed by despair, and some have fleeting happiness until death takes them, but some experience long-lasting joy. Isaiah, John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descending from heaven along with many others pointed to Jesus as the chosen one. Jesus proclaimed himself the bringer of good news, and backed it up with his suffering, death and resurrection. He is the messenger and the message that gives you the reason to join with Isaiah and all God’s people to say, “My soul rejoices in my God for he has saved me from despair”. Amen.