Comfort ye!
by Tom Brennen
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Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for (Isaiah 40:1,2).
Before I became a school teacher, I studied classical singing at university and was a professional singer for more than 10 years. One of the easy money-earning jobs that would come around every year was the invitation to sing the tenor role in George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
As a younger singer, I spent hours perfecting the role – the airs, the arias, the recitative. It took many years before my singing teacher would allow me to consider singing the role in public.
I vividly remember the first time I sang the role. It was in a beautiful old church in Adelaide on a hot December evening. We were lucky enough to have a full orchestra and a large choir. The sun was just setting, and a warm glow bathed the church through the windows.
At the end of the overture, I stood and walked to my mark on the stage and focused on the opening bars of the very first song of the piece, a tenor aria titled ‘Comfort Ye’.
As I looked out at the packed auditorium, I felt the privilege it was to share the first words of the masterful libretto that captures the passion of Christ so well. The opening line is simply the words of Isaiah 40:1–4, ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned’.
Lutherans, of all Christians, should deeply feel this pronouncement of God’s grace and be passionate about sharing this news with others. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God’.
Handel’s Messiah tells the entire passion of Christ – his birth, death and resurrection. It was no mistake that out of all of this, the librettist chose the text from Isaiah to be the first words. It is a powerful reminder that although we are born in sin, God brings us comfort in the physical act of the birth of Christ.
I may not be a singer anymore, but the words of Isaiah 40:1–4 continue to bring comfort and encouragement when I am oppressed by thoughts of self-condemnation. I pray that these words bring you the same comfort.
Lord, in our sinfulness, remind us of your forgiveness through the comforting knowledge of Jesus’ death and resurrection for our sake. Amen.
Tom Brennen is currently serving as principal of Lakeside College, a Prep to Year 12 Lutheran school located in Pakenham, Victoria. He has served as a missionary in the Middle East and has a passion for bringing Lutheran thinking to issues of social justice. As an educator, he is dedicated to ensuring a transformative Lutheran education is accessible to all families across Australia. Tom holds a Master of Education from Australian Lutheran College, a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from Australian Catholic University and undergraduate degrees in arts, music and education. As an active academic, Tom has written and presented on many diverse topics, such as worship in Christian schools, the interaction between social justice and Lutheran schools, leading staff professional development and cross-cultural schooling.
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