A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. The text for today is our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 62:1–5:   1   For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,      until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2     The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory,      and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 3     You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord , and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4     You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,      but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married;      for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5     For as a young man ma...

Click this link to hear an audio version of this sermon The text for today is our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 62:1-5, which has already been read. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine a prisoner, sitting chained in a dark dungeon for years.   The hopelessness, the loneliness, the desolation, the feeling of being totally forsaken by everyone, including God.   Nothing could be sadder, could it? Actually, it could be sadder.   It is sadder.   Because what this prisoner doesn’t realize is that she is not alone.   The darkness has kept her from seeing that there are many other sisters and brothers right there all around her.   The silence—hers and that of her fellow captives—has kept her from realizing that she is not alone.   Many others are held in the same chains.   And to make matters even worse, the darkness and silence have kept all of them from realizing that the doors to their prison were...