Epiphany 8 / OT 8
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
-- Isaiah 49:15
When you live in the depth of despair, perhaps the most important fact to grasp is that you have not been forgotten. "See, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hand." Israel had been defeated as a nation and the people scattered among other nations. The possibility of them coming together again could only happen by the power of God. "Lo, these shall come from far away ... north ... west ... For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones." Hope requires a memory of God's past faithfulness, so the prophet recalled the early miracle of the Exodus. "... for he who has pity on them shall lead them ..." only this time would be even better than the last time. "They shall feed along the way, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture, they shall not hunger or thirst...." The primary question for a community of faith that suffers despair is always whether God might abandon them. The prophet broke the mold of a patriarchal faith and drew upon feminine imagery to speak of God's faithfulness. The most powerful image of human bonding was that of mother and infant. "Can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion for the child of her womb?" Even stronger, the prophet asserted, was God's bonding to his people. "Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." The essential core of our faith is not the outward appearance of prosperity but the key reality that God is so connected to us that all of reality can be reshaped for our sake. For Israel, that was experienced in the return from exile. For Christians, who see the life of Israel in the person of Jesus, the love of God reshapes our reality in the resurrection.
-- Isaiah 49:15
When you live in the depth of despair, perhaps the most important fact to grasp is that you have not been forgotten. "See, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hand." Israel had been defeated as a nation and the people scattered among other nations. The possibility of them coming together again could only happen by the power of God. "Lo, these shall come from far away ... north ... west ... For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones." Hope requires a memory of God's past faithfulness, so the prophet recalled the early miracle of the Exodus. "... for he who has pity on them shall lead them ..." only this time would be even better than the last time. "They shall feed along the way, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture, they shall not hunger or thirst...." The primary question for a community of faith that suffers despair is always whether God might abandon them. The prophet broke the mold of a patriarchal faith and drew upon feminine imagery to speak of God's faithfulness. The most powerful image of human bonding was that of mother and infant. "Can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion for the child of her womb?" Even stronger, the prophet asserted, was God's bonding to his people. "Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." The essential core of our faith is not the outward appearance of prosperity but the key reality that God is so connected to us that all of reality can be reshaped for our sake. For Israel, that was experienced in the return from exile. For Christians, who see the life of Israel in the person of Jesus, the love of God reshapes our reality in the resurrection.
