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How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:7-10).

As Pastor Anthony mentioned in yesterday’s devotion, we cannot understand the fullness of Christmas without a rich understanding of sin. Whose fault is it, he asked? All the brokenness in the world, who is at fault? In some cases, me.  In other cases, you.  But in other cases, it’s simply ours, as sin-broken people in a sin-broken world—our inheritance from our mothers and fathers before us. A place where awful things like death, pain, loneliness, and other forms of tragedy live.

When we talk about sin and its effects on our lives, sometimes we forget that sin is always an affront to God. It breaks our relationship with him and distorts the goodness of his creation. Because we are sin-broken people in a sin-broken world, communing with God, worshipping him, having faith in him does not come naturally. We need to put effort into it and in the end discover that God himself makes it possible to do this unnatural thing: a gift of his Spirit

In our passage for today, Israel has been removed from God because of her sin. She is in exile, banished from the presence of God, his temple in ruins. Jerusalem is a ruin of rubble and weeds and wild animals. There was once a city here, but how big she was or how grand, is not visible anymore. God’s people had persisted in their sin against him, despite repeated warnings by the prophets. In the end, she was removed from the land.

But now, the prophet announces a new dawn; the sun is rising over Israel again. God has come. Feet that have tread the mountain pathways are not physically beautiful. They are calloused, dusty and most likely bloodied and blistered. They are only beautiful because they bring the message of salvation. To people long removed from God, having lived many years in the land of the deep darkness, these feet bring the good news of God’s coming.

The Lord has returned to his people, keeping his covenant, gathering his people together once more. As a shepherd cares for his flock, so our Lord is comforting his scattered people. When the world is dark with wars, natural disasters, looting and inept governments, violence in our streets and a crumbling health care system unable to care for our loved ones, we too need to hear this word of good news, “Your God reigns.”

We need someone to tell us this, to remind us, because it is not always evident. And God’s salvation is slow in coming. It’s been 2000 years since first John the baptizer and then Jesus himself, declared the ‘Kingdom of God’ was at hand. Often, we wonder, ‘Where is this kingdom? Why do we see so little of it?” Because of the darkness that can envelop us, we need someone to say, “Your God reigns.”

But we need more: we need to hear this invitation to celebration. For many reasons, we may not ‘feel’ like celebrating. Yet, the call remains, “Burst into songs of joy together”.  Soon, “The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” As we too anticipate that day, let us celebrate joyfully this Advent and Christmas season. As God came to Israel to end the exile, Jesus will return to this earth completing his work of salvation. Someday, we will see it. Creation will be restored, will be good once more. We will see it. Sin and all its effects will be wiped away.