Hope
Isaiah 40:1-11
Rev. Patricia Barth
December 4, 2005
"O that you would tear open the heavens and come down..."
Just come down here, God! We need you! We're in trouble! Fix it!
The people who heard Isaiah's prophecy lived in the midst of ruin and rubble. The Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians, and the people of Jerusalem taken away in bondage. Now they have returned to their homeland, but it has not yet been rebuilt. The Temple and the city are still in ruins.
There is rubble and ruin in many places of the world today. Think of Iraq; buildings crushed because of our bombing; facilities and vehicles exploded by suicide bombers. Suicide bombings in Israel. The houses of Palestinians bulldozed by Israel.
Or what about natural disasters? Pakistan's earthquake; Kashmir; Thai and Indonesian communities in the tsunami's path; our own gulf coast, and the city of New Orleans, flattened by hurricane Katrina and broken levees. Some are truly natural disasters, but because of poverty and racism, the devastation is much greater. And some are un-natural events, enhanced by global warming, the result of our greedy over-use of natural resources.
And of course it's not just buildings that are in ruins, but human beings and the lives they had before-gone now-whether in Iraq, Sudan, Mississippi or ancient Judah.
"O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence." God, save us! Save us from ourselves! Come and act in our broken world. Don't leave us alone! You are up there, aren't you, God?
Isaiah's words have meaning for us now just as they did hundreds of years before Jesus' birth. Instead of his usual prophecy, that great preacher Isaiah has given us a beautiful prayer of lament, similar to many of the psalms of lament that our adult Sunday School class studied earlier this year. Woven throughout this passage are themes of praise, complaint, confession, petition and trust in God. It begins back in chapter 63 at verse 7 and continues to the end of our reading for today.
It begins with praise of God, and talks of God's kindness and mercy. Isaiah reminds the people that God heard their cries when they were slaves in Egypt and rescued them, bringing them to the Promised Land. God was trustworthy then, and God can be trusted now.
At verse 15, Isaiah pleads with God, reminding God that he and his people feel rejected by their ancestors, even Abraham and Jacob. That's lower than low, to feel rejected by your ancestors. The prophet asks God, "Have you lost interest in us? Where is your power? Show that you care about us! Please change your mind!"
The next section begins the reading for today. Isaiah asks God to act. But he acknowledges that the people have turned away from God, and sinned. And sin makes God angry. God wasn't happy that the people of Israel had begun to worship other gods; and God isn't happy today-the difference is instead of worshipping Ba'al or other pagan gods, we worship the almighty dollar, or our automobiles; or ourselves; or simply ignore God. In the words of Isaiah, "We have all become like one who is unclean; and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth."
But God forgives our sins because God is faithful and loving. Isaiah reminds us, and God, that God is our loving parent; we are clay, and God is the potter; we are all the work of God's hand. Isn't that a beautiful, intimate image? So personal compared to the God of mountain quake and fire!
There is hope! God will provide! God does act in the world, but not as we expect. God acts in all the quiet, intimate person to person touches, just like the intimacy between the potter and the clay.
God was present in the acts of heroism that saved lives during Hurricane Katrina. The stranded people who told rescuers, "Get my neighbors first, they have more needs than me." God was with the doctors and nurses who worked around the clock with no food or electrical power, pumping peoples' hearts manually and forcing air into their lungs. God brought hope to Pakistani earthquake victims in the presence of search and rescue teams from all over the world. God inspired the hearts of all who volunteer to clean up and rebuild; and those who share their homes and resources with evacuees and those made homeless.
Prophetic witness can also be a sign of hope: I believe that God is in protests and soul-searching- whenever we try to call ourselves and our leaders to account for racism, elitism, economic injustices, war- God is there, too, waiting to lead and accompany us. We just sometimes forget to seek his guidance or thank her for her presence!
Perhaps the greatest hope of all is found in a little baby. Whenever a child is born, there is hope in the future.
We are all God's people. God is listening! God does act on earth, through us, in ways that we might never notice. God is faithful; by God we have been called into the fellowship of God's son Jesus. Jesus Christ gives us the hope of new life on earth; if we repent, he forgives us our sins and washes us clean as snow.
And yet there is still more hope! "Hope springs eternal in the human breast! Man never is but always to be blest." When Alexander Pope wrote those words in 18th century England, he was, as a Roman Catholic, forbidden from attending a university, voting, or holding public office. He was stunted and deformed from a spinal birth defect and subject to frequent violent headaches. Yet, despite all that, he wrote beautiful poetry that spoke of God's goodness and wisdom in creating this world, and in the world to come.
It is that world to come that we will be pondering in the upcoming four weeks of advent. There is hope of new life in heaven and in earth. What are your hopes this advent season? What do you wish for? What gives you hope? What do you pin your hopes on? Please spend a few minutes in silence writing your hope on a star. When the music begins to play, please come forward and pin your star on the Christmas tree. Amen.
Lord,
We deck our days
with wishes,
hang them in our hearts
like ornaments
glittering, shining.
We wish on stars,
make Christmas wish lists,
blow out birthday candles--
making wishes for health and happiness,
for riches, for peace, for love.
Lord,
make a place in our hearts
where we may keep
one candle burning
for the hope beyond all wishes,
for the grace we cannot expect,
for surprises in the darkness.
Let this be the light of
the deepest and most mysterious hope,
the light to welcome you.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Amen.
c. Timothy Haut, Deep River, CT
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