In 1976 when our nation was celebrating its bicentennial, there was a delightful musical produced about those uneasy weeks in Philadelphia more than 200 years ago when our Declaration of Independence was being written and signed. Throughout the whole production of "1776," a courier from General Washington keeps breaking in on the proceedings of the Continental Congress with increasingly disheartening news from the New Jersey encampments. The seemingly endless debate drags on ... 85 changes are made in the document ... and 400 words are deleted. Suddenly the courier arrives with the terrible news that General Washington and his troops are in full retreat from New York. The General has but 5,000 volunteers while the British Regulars number more than 25,000 seasoned veterans. The production is so powerful that even sitting in the audience, you begin to feel the loneliness of Washington and his rag-tag army in the field, fighting for a cause in which no one seems to care. On goes the endless debate in Philadelphia while men are dying of exposure and disease.

Finally, the character who portrays John Adams, sings a song. It is a song that arises from the depths of his own heart, but it speaks for those in any age who question the ways of God as it asks, "Is Anybody There? Does Anybody Care?" How often even those with the strongest of faith have uttered that same cry! Recall the prophet Elijah crying out in despair, "But now I only am left, for the children of Israel have forsaken their covenant, thrown down God's altars, and slain his prophets. O wretched man that I am!"

Jeremiah was a great believer in God, but in the midst of a bad time in his life, he felt God was nowhere to be found. "O God, art thou to me like a dried up brook when the waters fail?" Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Martin Luther, certainly no cynic, and surely a believer in God's mercy, nevertheless once cried out in rage, "My God, art thou dead?" Thomas Carlyle looked over the slums of London and groaned in disgust, "God sits in his heaven and does nothing." Is anybody there? Does anybody care?

Even the strongest people of faith wonder in those terrible moments when it seems as if God is silent, "Does this God really exist?" There is a story about a long-winded preacher, a short-winded preacher and the Easter Bunny who all entered a restaurant one evening and sat down together at a table. There was a $5 bill on the table, left as a tip for the waitress by the last customer. Suddenly all the lights went out. When the lights came back on, the $5 bill was missing. The question is which one of the three took the $5. The answer is the long-winded preacher, because everyone knows the other two don't really exist.

Is anybody there? Does anybody care? How often the Hebrew people had asked that same question during the nightmare of the Babylonian captivity. But now Babylon has fallen, and a return to their homeland is at least a possibility! But without the confident words of faith spoken by Isaiah in our reading for today, it is doubtful whether the downhearted exiles would ever have plucked up enough courage to return. Second Isaiah is addressing people who are so used to bondage, they lack the initiative to venture forth, now that the prison gates are thrown open. But in words that speak about God's providential care to despairing and questioning hearts in any age, Isaiah gives a triumphant "Yes" to the question, "Is there anybody there? Does anybody care?"

1. God Does Have A Plan

The prophet first reminds his people that the Living God has a plan for this world and that our lives are ruled, not by chance, or coincidence, or fate, but by the gracious providence of God. Wrote Isaiah, "Thus says the Lord, 'In a time of favor I have answered you, and in a day of salvation, I have helped you.' " God's apparent silence in our lives ought never to be mistaken for indifference.

Some years ago, Americans were humming a tune titled, "Que Sera, Sera" ... Whatever will be, will be. It was a lovely song, but so far as the Word of God is concerned, it just is not true! Ours is not a God who, like some clockmaker, constructs some intricate mechanism, winds it up, sets it on the shelf, and then, just lets it tick, while God goes off to do something else. That is a situation where nobody's there and nobody cares.

Neither does the Bible picture a God who controls every detail of our lives, or one who puts a protective cocoon around us to keep us from bad things. That is a case where not only is somebody there, but that somebody "over cares" to the point where we would be little more than puppets on a string. Instead the Bible describes a Living God who has a plan for this world, and for our lives, but who works out that plan in such a marvelous way that our human freedom is preserved.

Back in the 1930s there was a Scottish golfer by the name of Bobby Cruikshank who played the game with glorious zest. During the Open of 1934, Bobby pitched to the green, and then watched anxiously as his ball fell short and landed in a brook. Suddenly, there was a shriek of joy from the assembled gallery. The ball had prankishly struck a rock in the brook, and bounced onto the green about a foot from the pin. The overjoyed Scot flung his club high in the air, doffed his cap to the crowd, and bowed low saying, "Thank you, God!" Suddenly the golf club came down and conked the zealous Scot right on the top of his head.

Now the Bible would say that God did not cause that golf ball to hit the rock, or the club to come down on the Scot's head. Those things are part of the good and the bad which God allows us as free children to experience in life. Nor does God cause cancer for some people, or earthquakes and plane crashes for others. Those are all realities of life in this risky world. Rather, the Word of God tells us, as Isaiah does, that God is a Shepherd leading the way for the sheep. God is a loving parent who shares our joys and heartaches in Jesus Christ, but does not manipulate or control all that happens to us.

Think about these matters on the human level. A little girl has a doll she loves. One day, however, the doll is broken, and the little girl weeps with a broken heart. At first as a parent, you want to run out and replace the broken doll with another, but somehow we know that life is not like that. The little girl must learn that some things break which can never be repaired or replaced. So as a loving parent, we hold her close, dry her tears, and assure her of our love and care.

Or, a little boy gets his first two-wheeler. But before long, he is on the ground with a scraped knee and a cut arm. Part of us wants to hold him close and never let him ride again, so he will never get hurt. But life is not like that, and if he would ever know the joy of riding a bike, then he must learn to live with bumps and bruises and we must let him go.

Those are very human pictures, but that is exactly how the Bible describes a God who has a plan to work out in this world. Like a wise and loving parent, God shares our falling and rising, our weeping and our laughter, and somehow God weaves it all into a grand design.

2. God Is At Work In Everything

Isaiah continues his encouragement to his people by insisting that God is at work for good in everything that happens to them. Picturing God as a shepherd, the prophet says, "They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind or sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them by springs of water." God not only has a plan for his people, but as they go forth, they know that in everything that happens to them, good or bad, God is at work. I recall a man who once said to me in a moment of great despair, "God moves in a mischievous way, his blunders to perform." But that is not the God Isaiah describes, or the God whom we know in Jesus Christ! We may not understand why sickness comes, or accidents happen, or why we sometimes fail in spite of our best efforts. But the Bible is unanimous in its conviction that God is at work for good in everything that happens to us.

The apostle Paul certainly came to believe this after many long dark nights for his soul when he questioned God's ways. Writing from a Roman prison cell, Paul finally was able to catch a glimpse of God at work in his imprisonment, giving him the opportunity to write letters of faith that still change human hearts today. Another great missionary of the church, David Livingstone, had his heart set on going to China for the Lord. But his way was blocked. Yet, trusting that God was at work even in his disappointment, Livingstone went to Africa, the last place on earth he ever dreamed of living. But it was David Livingstone's ministry that first introduced Africans to the love of Jesus Christ, and today, Africa is the fastest growing Christian continent in the world. In everything, God is at work for good!

3. God Is The Sole And Sufficient Resource

Isaiah concludes this stirring message with the reminder that God is the sole and sufficient resource that his people need as they venture forth back to their homeland. The prophet says, "For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted." Those words were echoed many years later by William Bradford as he recorded the struggle of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony. "They had no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies, no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor. What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and his grace (History of Plymouth Plantation)?"

Sometimes it is only in our brokenness and utter desolation that we remember that God is our sole and sufficient resource. That great missionary David Livingstone, may have been God's vehicle for opening up the continent of Africa to the Christian gospel, but never forget that his success story began back in Scotland where a humble pastor was so discouraged, he was tempted to give up the ministry altogether. In one whole year's work in his parish, this poor pastor had brought only one person to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that person was a mere boy. What possible good could a young boy make in the kingdom of God? The pastor judged his life a failure, but the God who is our sole and sufficient resource used that pastor's ministry to touch the heart of the young David Livingstone, who in turn, touched the lives of thousands for Jesus Christ! As Paul so aptly wrote to the Corinthian church, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the transcendent power belongs to God."

Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Isaiah and the other writers of the Bible answer that question with a triumphant "Yes!" There may be many times in our human experience where we question where God is in all that happens to us. But this much is certain: We can always rejoice, because in the end, our God will be triumphant.

When actress Deborah Kerr was involved in the making of the epic motion picture, Quo Vadis, an interviewer reminded her that at one point in the film, she is tied to a stake in the Roman Coliseum with savage lions rushing at her. The interviewer asked, "Weren't you afraid at that moment?" The actress laughingly replied, "Not at all! You see, I had read the script to the end, and I knew that Robert Taylor would rush in to rescue me!"

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been privileged to read the script of God's plan on this earth, and we know that it ends with the triumphant promise of our Risen Lord: "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world!"