What Gives You Comfort

Text: Luke 12:22–40, Gen.15:1–6, Hebrews 11:1–16

In the name of Jesus, Amen!

When people make a decision, they may have to set aside other things and choose what they think gives them the most comfort. For example, when you choose between two different jobs, you may choose the one with higher wages that you think will give you comfort and delight in your heart, while others may choose the one that gives them longtime job security and career satisfaction. Furthermore, there are many decisions in life like a decision for your health, or for your marriage, erc. that are so big, so important that they will change your life forever. So, how you choose, and by which or for what reasons you make the decision will bring you everlasting consequences. Oftentimes, it’s the one that gives you comfort in your heart that eventually leads you to that decision.

Today’s Genesis text together with the whole eleventh chapter of Hebrews gives us a list of exemplary men and women of faith in ancient times when they made one of their biggest decisions in their lives that eventually gave them the utmost comfort. Abel chose to make a sacrifice acceptable to God that gave him the comfort of forgiveness of sins rather than a pride of labor that Cain offered. Noah chose to build an ark to give him hope and comfort of saving himself and his family despite hard labors and mockeries from the fellow men. When God called Abraham, he chose to go out of the sinful city of Ur even without knowing where to go but trusting God’s leading and His promises of an inheritance. Initially, Abraham thought that Eliezer of Damascus would be his only choice of heir for his house because Abraham continued childless. But when God promised him that he would have his own son and his offspring would be as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore, he chose to believe God. God’s Word and promises gave Abraham a comfort of peace of leaving behind sins and evils, a hope of the blessing of a son, and a delight of an inheritance of the promised land which foreshadows a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Men of faith make decisions according to God’s Word and His promises for true comfort and everlasting delight.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” When Jesus says this, some people mistakenly think that Jesus is warning against gluttony and vain glory. It’s similar to some Chinese sayings. For example, there is also a Chinese phrase that describes those girls wearing skirts in the winter as “beautifully frozen”. Well, this is certainly true in some sense, and points to what comforts you in your heaart. However, it is not exactly what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is challenging us to think about what is more important. Is it heavenly things, or eaarthly things? Is it life itself or things that support live? It’s life itself that we should desire. God in Christ Jesus is Life. God feeds the ravens even though they have neither storehouse nor barn. He clothes the lilies with glory that is more beautiful than any of king Solomon’s clothes. He loves you even more as to give you the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God is where your heart should be because that’s where your true treasure is. So, what does it comfort you more? A treasure in the heavens incorruptible? Or a treasure on earth that will perish, can be stolen, and eventually will be “burned up and dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10) when the Lord Jesus comes in His glory. So, be careful what you choose. The heavenly one should be your choice that comforts your heart.

When you choose heavenly treasure instead of earthly ones just as those men of faith who made decisions according to God’s Word and His promises, you won’t be disappointed, because the One who has promised is faithful. God will reward anyone who responds to Him in faith. Our Hebrews text says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” God was faithful to Abel for His promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in that Lamb: even though he died, he still speaks. God was faithful to Noah that He condemned the world of that generation and saved Noah’s household of eight by the ark. God was faithful to Abraham that he not only had his son Isaac born through Sarah but also all nations are blessed through the special descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ, Who faithfully went to the cross for the sins of the whole world and resurrected for our justification. Jesus Christ together with the salvation accomplished by His blood shed on the Cross was foreshadowed by the blood of Abel that is still speaking today, and by the sacrifice of Isaac on the mountain of Moriah. And the Baptism by which we enter into this salvation was foreshadowed by the flood water of Noah’s ark. God’s faithfulness in Jesus Christ has comforted the men and women of faith then. He still gives anyone comfort and delight, who put trust in His Word and Promises now.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That’s why when Abraham believed the LORD, He counted it to him as righteousness. The same thing happens to Abel when the sacrifice he offered “was commended as righteous”. The same thing happens to Noah. After the flood, he “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” Our Hebrews text continues to say, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” You may ask, “Why does the text describe these men of faith as ‘NOT having received the things promised’?” Didn’t Abraham receive the promised child, Isaac, and the promised land, Canaan? Didn’t Noah receive the saving promise of the ark when the flood finally came? Yes. But their eyesight of faith looks afar, even farther than what God promised them in the things on the earth that they can see. They believe heavenly things not seen and in God Himself, who “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Rom. 4:17)” Therefore, they seek a better promise than the earthly one and a better country—the heavenly homeland. For this, the text tells us “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He Has prepared a city for them.” Yes, God has prepared a heavenly city in Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God! This is really what comforts me, and I hope, is what comforts you too. How do you choose, what do you choose, and by which or for what reasons do you make a decision? Out of Faith in God and His salvation in Jesus Christ, what you choose will make a big difference in the end. You Will find out the value of your decision, whether it be incorruptible, or burned up in the end when the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. I pray that we be ready like “those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.” For God is faithful and has prepared everything for our heavenly home and for the feast of the Lamb to come.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!