“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me, because the Lord has appointed me!” I have said these words to you and NOW
I ask you this one question: Are you going to listen to me?! Are you going to
listen to every word I say? Are you going to hang onto my every syllable? I
would hope so because I have just spoken some of the most important words to
you in our faith life.
These words are not mine. They come
from the prophet Isaiah. This is one of my most favorite books of the bible.
There is so much that Isaiah has to say and he says it over some very important
parts of the history of the Jewish people. A little history lesson is needed
first. There are 66 chapters in this book and chapters 1- 39 (sometimes called
first Isaiah) happens in what we know as Israel. Chapters 40-55 (Sometimes
called second Isaiah) happens when the people are conquered and are forced into
exile to Babylonia (modern day Iraq). Then chapters 56-66 (sometimes called 3rd Isaiah) is
written when the exile is over and most of God’s people are returned to the
promised land.
So we find ourselves in chapter 61
where the people have returned. It is also important to note that this exile
didn’t mean that everyone got exiled. Only select people were exiled. There
were people left behind that had to fend for themselves in the land of being
conquered. So you can guess what happened: rules get changed, people who once
owned things didn’t own them any more. Land that had been handed down through
generations were now handed over to other people or families. So all the exiled
people came back and not all their stuff was theirs any more. That is a
problem, isn’t it? Imagine going away from your home or farm for a year—it had
been in your family for generations—only to come back and find out it is not
yours. It may now belong to someone from another country, or your next door
neighbor.
Either way you look at it, it is a
sad thing. This loss of whatever it is that they lost causes sadness, anger,
being a victim of a conqueror. That doesn’t seem to make sense and it does not
seem fair does it. They should have gotten what was theirs back. It makes
sense, doesn’t it?
That is why the words “The Spirit of
the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me!” are so important.
These are not Isaiah’s words that he chose to say at the time when people had
returned to this Promised Land. Isaiah was merely the mouthpiece for God,
almighty. Isaiah is telling the people that God is the one now speaking. He
(Isaiah) is telling the people that God sent him to bring Good News to the
oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and release
prisoners.
This news that Isaiah brings is Good
News to these people who have lost everything; even their homes. God is using
him to tell them that all is not lost, that there is a new day coming when
there is that one thing to hold onto that used to be so far off to those who
went into exile; and that one thing that they held onto is in the here and now
and that is hope. Isaiah tells them that the God is proclaiming the year of the
Lord’s favor. He is telling them that Hope has arrived because they ARE now
back in the place where God called them to be…the land that God gave to them.
Isaiah is telling the people of the
Promised Land that Mourners will be comforted, cities that lie in ruins will be
rebuilt, and they will be given a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
Throughout this scripture reading, the prophet Isaiah tells them that all
things will be made new. God is making that promise that God will return a
brokenhearted people, broken-spirited people, and a people who felt that there
was no hope…BUT all that will be made new because God promises to make all
things new.
God goes further in the promise of a
new and everlasting covenant. This promise brings a knowledge of these people
who endured all this and all the following generations will know that God
blessed them. This covenant that God promises will leave these new generations
clothed in salvation and wearing robes of righteousness. Isaiah uses the
picture of a wedding, this beautiful picture, to tell the people of how
precious this relationship will be; you know that time when all the bride and
the groom look their best, and everyone puts on their best attire to show the
importance of this relationship.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this
is a time when we can relate to this story. We are sitting in this advent time
and it seems like the world is turned upside down. People are angry everywhere,
from what I have noticed, I mean, I am not usually in the cheery Christmas
Spirit at this time of year but this year, I am feeling excited about things
wanting to be a little peppier than usual and the majority of the news is stories
of yelling, killing, unemployment, and it seems like you have to dig deep in
the most obscure places to find a good story. It is like the world is turned
upside down. Sometimes it feels like Hope, in this time and place, is lost.
But we can receive a lot from the
Words of Isaiah. I think we can look to this prophecy that God is bringing the
promise of Hope into our world. We know the Hope, we see it in the manger once
a year, don’t we? It is the Hopes and Fears of all the years, as the song says.
Isaiah tells us that this everlasting covenant that God brings is the same
blessings that are brought to these chosen people who have returned from exile.
God promises to bring Good News to the oppressed, binding up the
broken-hearted, liberty, and release. God will bring the year of the Lord’s
favor to where there will be hope and comfort to a people who need those
things.
The Lord’s favor is coming in the
form of a child. We are preparing for the hope that we are certain to see and
experience in this coming Christ child. We are waiting with anticipation in the
child that will bring comfort to a hurting world, a child that will bring Good
News to the poor, A child that will comfort our broken hearts, and a child that
will wear the garland instead of ashes and the Son of God who will be anointed
with the oil of gladness. We await this child who is our mantle of praise
instead of a faint spirit AND who brings the garment of salvation through his
baptism and the robe of righteousness for our sake…for us; so that we will know
that we have been blessed.
God’s everlasting covenant comes to
us in this little child and God promises that Jesus Christ will do all these
things for us and my prayer is that because of what God promises and what Jesus
does for us, we all say “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being
shall exult in my God! AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment