What Difference Does a Savior Make?

3rd Sunday in Advent, 12/17/23 Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11 What Difference Does a Savior Make? I. He brings us the salvation we desperately need. II. He makes us his holy people. To quote a familiar Christmas song, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” And I’m guessing you’d all agree. Every day of the month of December is unlike the days of any other month on the calendar. As soon as Thanksgiving is ended, we begin to see fantastic displays of Christmas lights both inside and outside of homes. We look forward to spending time with family, eating Christmas cookies and other Christmas baked goods, buying, wrapping, and unwrapping Christmas presents. Right now, Christmas is only a week away, and we can’t wait. But it’s also the season of indifference. Indifference?! How? Watch what happens starting December 26. It will mark the beginning of the season for returns. Another record dollar amount of returns will be set this year. Countless gifts which seemed to be just the right thing from the perspective of the giver will be met with indifference by the receiver. And it’s no wonder why. It’s easy to purchase a gift for a young child. Their Christmas wish lists are as long as an adult’s arm. But the older we get, the harder it becomes to receive a gift that is really and truly needed and wanted. Think about it. For the majority of us, if we need or want something, we click on a web site, click on the item we want, click another button next to our credit card number, and it miraculously shows up at our door as soon as the next day. The point is, what we receive at Christmas is likely not needed or even wanted. So, from that vantage point, we might be indifferent, at least a little. But that outlook on Christmas misses the point, doesn’t it? As Christians, we know that the point of Christmas is not the gifts we receive that are carefully wrapped and placed under a tree, whether we need them or not. The point of Christmas is the Gift our God gave us when he sent his Son into the world as the Child of Bethlehem. That Gift is for all people of all time. And yet, countless people will celebrate Christmas with a shocking indifference to that Gift. And Satan would like nothing more for Christmas than to smite your heart and mind with even just a smidge of that indifference. But that won’t happen if we take to heart our God’s words to us this morning from Isaiah. In these words, he reminds us what a difference a Savior makes. As we prepare our hearts for our Savior’s arrival, let’s focus on these words before us. I. Over the years, I’ve spoken with a few people who make it their practice not to see a family practice physician, no matter what. And their reasoning? If there’s something wrong with them, they don’t want to know about it. They’re afraid that, if they know about it, there won’t be anything they can do about it, so they’d rather not know. It saves them all sorts of concern and worry. I’m guessing most of you don’t think that way. Most of you would rather know. That way, if something can be done to resolve the issue now, you won’t have to face it later when it could become so much worse that nothing can be done about it. To ward off indifference to God’s Gift of a Savior, the Lord shares divine truth with us in these opening words—truth about him and truth about ourselves. Our text opens with these words, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me.” At first, those words might not seem all that significant. We might hear them with slight indifference, but we couldn’t be more mistaken. This is not Isaiah speaking. This is the Servant of the Lord whom Isaiah introduces to us. That Servant of the Lord is none other than the Promised Savior. This is Jesus speaking here. And he tells us that the Spirit has anointed him. Do you realize how important that is? Of all the people in the world, only one Person was anointed with the Holy Spirit to be the world’s Savior. That person is Jesus, and he was anointed with the Spirit at his baptism when the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. Of all the important people in the history of the world, there is none that comes close to this One. He is the One chosen by God to do this: “The LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—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.” Jesus is the Word of God in human flesh and blood. As such, his word of salvation is what we desperately need. We live in a broken world full of broken people. What’s the solution? The good news of Jesus. We live in a world full of people shackled by sin, and most of them don’t even know it. What’s the solution? The good news of Jesus. We live in a world in which people live in the darkness of spiritual falsehood, of lies, of deceptions. What’s the solution? The good news of Jesus. What our world so desperately needs—what you and I so desperately need—is to know the favor, the grace, of the Lord. And that solution comes to us through Christ alone. He comforts those who are pounded with guilt. He changes our death-march to hell covered with ashes into a glorious journey to heaven. He empties the mourning that fills our hearts and replaces it with his eternal gladness. Instead of dreading the future we face, he fills our hearts with his certain hope and our mouths with his eternal praise. Bottom line—this is the difference a Savior makes for a people beaten down by our own sins and the evil that engulfs us: “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” What difference does a Savior make? He brings the salvation we desperately need. What difference can a medical doctor make? It’s possible they can save you from an untimely death. What difference does a Savior make? It’s certain that he does save us from eternal death. Sometimes we’re accurately aware of that. When guilt crushes us, when the pangs of conscience drive us nearly insane, then to hear the comforting news of forgiveness through a Savior is just what we need. But at other times, it’s simply too easy to whistle sinfully through life without knowing what we’re facing. That’s when we need God’s law to crush our self-righteousness and reveal the evil within: our critical thoughts about others, our vengefulness, our lusts, our materialism, our sinful pretenses. As we take to heart the truth about our sinful selves, the indifference to a Savior evaporates into thin air, and our daily need for a Savior settles in. And that’s the promise our God made to us. That’s the promise he fulfilled. That’s the eternal difference a Savior makes. II. When a need is uncovered, a common way to address it is to form a plan, and then allocate resources such as time, effort, and money to resolve the issue. But the final step is assessment. Did the planning and efforts pay off? Did they produce the desired results? If not, it was a waste of time and effort. The account of Christmas which we’ll hear and celebrate a week from today, gives us the details of how our God addressed the problem every sinful person faces, which Isaiah detailed in the first half of our text. But did it make a difference? What were the results? In one word—you! You are the results of all God’s efforts. You are the difference a Savior makes. Listen once more to Isaiah, “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, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 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.” “I delight greatly.” Who’s speaking? This time it's not the Savior, as it was in the last section of this text. This time it’s you. It’s you and every other person who has ever and will ever trust in Jesus as the Savior. Have you ever felt ashamed, guilty, grossly disappointed in what you said or did? Been there. Felt that. What a difference your Savior makes! He has clothed you with garments of salvation and robed you in his righteousness or holiness. Amazing! Ever felt depressed, worried, sad about your current situation? Look at the difference your Savior makes! He makes you feel like a bride or a groom on your wedding day! And this isn’t simply a fairy tale meant to cheer you up. This is your spiritual reality. In other parts of his word, your Savior, Jesus Christ, calls you his bride. He has done everything to make you beautiful and glorious in his sight. What difference does a Savior make? He makes us his holy people. I’ve heard the criticism that some people don’t simply want a guaranteed opportunity; they want guaranteed results, no matter how little they try to make it happen. But that goes contrary to the way most of us think. You’re responsible for the outcome, so make the effort. But that’s not the way it works in your spiritual life. What we don’t deserve, our God gives us—life with him. And while it cost us nothing, it cost him everything—his Son. And the results aren’t simply desired; they’re guaranteed. His efforts result in you being the holy person he wants you to be. Amazing! That’s the difference a Savior makes. As you head into what will likely be a very busy week, find your comfort and strength in this great truth: Jesus is exactly the Gift you need, and he makes all the difference in your life. Amen.