Today's sermon was centred on Isaiah 40:1 - 11 (Lectionary OT reading), and as a way in we did a little bit of Biblical studies type stuff noting the generally accepted hypothesis that there at least two and probably three books combined end-to-end to make up what we know as Isaiah.

Recognising that Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah are exilic/post-exilic whereas as Proto-Isaiah was penned around 200 years earlier, and pre-exilic, was key to our approach.

We tried to imagine ourselves into a place of 'exile' - a literal or metaphorical place or state of being that felt dark, hopeless, unending... and then to imagine that someone handed us a book to read.  Great, we might think, sacrcastically, just what I need - how to pray harder, or sin less, or believe better, or, or... but then we opened it up and there it was, page 1, line 1

Comfort my people

The role of the prophet(ess) here is denounce the sorrow, sadness, regret, loss, grief, exile as the "wrong thing" sorrow, sadness, regret, loss, grief, exile, etc. and instead to speak a word of hope... God wants to embrace these broken-hearted people...

Ending with the image of the shepherd, the rough semi-outcast peasant worker, scooping up the frightened lost lamb and carrying it safely home in his arms, this is a passage of surprising tenderness and hope.

Shout it from the roof tops: "Comfort" this is Good News indeed