Light For Beauty
Sermon
The Presence In The Promise
First Lesson Sermons For Advent/Christmas/Epiphany Cycle C
David Donald's biography of Abraham Lincoln is a special effort to help us feel along with Mr. Lincoln the thoughts of his heart and mind as he aspired to the presidency. Mr. Lincoln had an earnest desire to be of special service to the nation he knew was in deep trouble. One senses the compassion he had for all the people. He also recognized that the people could survive only as one nation. No one knew better than he that not everyone would agree with his purpose and will in leading the people. He also knew the terrible price that would have to be paid by people of both the North and the South. He was convinced that the whole matter rested in the hands of God, and prayed God's will would be done in the matter. In due time, Lincoln felt the compelling need to be on the fields with the northern troops to consult with and advise his generals. He wanted to be sure that no one created impediments to achieving peace with mercy and effecting reconciliation between the northern and southern states.
Reconciliation was uppermost in Lincoln's intentions. The reason for ending the war was to restore unity and return to the wholeness that had inspired the creation of the United States. Mr. Lincoln was deeply aware of how differently people in both the North and the South felt about the matter of reconciliation. Mr. Long does not add postlude to his insightful observations of the presidency of Mr. Lincoln. He closes his account with the assassination of Lincoln, which occurred after Lincoln's all too brief enjoyment of the peace. However, it is certain that his death prevented harsher settlements of the peace which would have been more difficult for him to prevent had he lived. In testing these inner thoughts of Lincoln in restoring our nation, one sees parallels in the manner in which the Prophet Isaiah wrote about God's reconciliation with Israel. In the First Lesson appointed for today the prophet describes what was involved in the reconciliation with Israel.
The Context
In this Epiphanytide we have taken note of the fact that the Church has included readings from the Prophet Isaiah to illustrate how profusely the prophet wrote about God's revelation of the divine will as an epiphany of light. At first, before the Babylonian exile, the Prophet Isaiah could reveal how God would remain faithful to the people in redeeming them in spite of apostasy that precipitated the exile. However, at the close of the exile a Second Prophet Isaiah could herald the good news to these people that God was going to restore this people and return them to their homeland. It is that message about restoration that is the subject of the reading we have before us today. What the prophet wrestled with is how the people could understand the nature of their reconciliation with God. This was no easy task. A nation destroyed, taken into exile, and disgraced as being a nation no more would find it difficult to think of the possibility of being restored as a people.
One does not have to be very old to recognize how often the maps of Europe, Asia, and Africa are changed by military and political conflict. Those of us who are older can speak of change to the names on the face of the globe even more. However, for Israel the disgrace of losing homeland territory was far more devastating. They believed the possession of the land to be part and parcel of the covenant God had made with them beginning with the patriarchs. That they had no land presented particular pain for them, because it meant they no longer were on good terms with Yahweh, their God who had promised that the land God gave them was a sign of the good will with which God had laced the covenant with them.
No Longer Forsaken
As the prophet makes the effort to stir the people to faith again he writes, "You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate." People who can remember the late 1960s and early 1970s in America can identify with the feelings of desolation and forsakenness as a pall appeared to fall over us as a people. The civil rights movement had seared the social conscience of the nation, flower children had called into question time-honored institutions throughout the nation, the war in Vietnam had gobbled up economic and human resources over an eighteen-year stretch. The common word was that America had had it. The nation doubted itself, its purpose, and aims. The enterprise of democracy was failing. If you can recall those days or you read about them, you have some sensitivity to what Israel had experienced in exile. Their plight exaggerates the pain that comes to any nation that has undergone the trauma of losing its identity.
What the prophet was saying to the Israelites is that they did not have to languish any longer in their self-doubt and their feelings of desolation and forsakenness. In his book about the collapse of Russian communism, Down with Big Brother, Michael Boggs tells about the success of Ronald Reagan. When Robert McFarlaine, one of Reagan's foreign affairs advisers, resigned, he said of Reagan, "He knows so little but he gets so much done." Mr. Reagan's success was attributable to the fact that he believed so firmly in America. He made Americans feel good again about being American. That was the prophet's task. To make the people feel good again about being God's people. It was not how much they knew or could do, but they were to have an implicit faith in the fact that God would restore them.
Vindicated
The restoration which God afforded the people of Israel, however, was more than a bold form of nationalism. This restoration was to produce more than a flag-waving kind of patriotism. This restoration was to be a vindication. The prophet says, "The nations shall see your vindication." The vindication did not consist in a declaration of their innocence for not having erred or sinned. Rather the vindication was to be a holy absolution for the manner in which they had dishonored God, but at the same time their God had not given up on them. In that sense their faith was vindicated or defended.
Scott Turow's novel The Laws of our Fathers is a helpful account of how we perceive ourselves as a nation. The characters of this story were initially drawn together by the events of the chaotic '60s. They were caught up in the protests of that era on an explosive campus of a California university. The culture was coming apart at the seams. The peace of the Eisenhower years was disrupted by organized life of all forms. Mr. Turow's characters who questioned democracy in the 1960s found themselves united by a criminal law case that raised democratic issues anew for them. Now they found themselves on the other side of the issues. All of us have been affected by what happened in the '60s. Some will say Woodstock won out, and America can never be the same. We have seen the erosion of the really important values and traditions of our society. Others will strongly argue that our American system has been vindicated once again. We survived the '60s. We may modify our lifestyles, but as a people we affirm our democratic ways. If you can understand that argument, you can appreciate how the prophet was trying to awaken the people to what God was doing for them. Israel could be sure they were vindicated by their continuing faith in God. As God's people we know also that in spite of the challenges to our faith, our faith is always vindicated.
A Special Delight
What the prophet was trying to instill in the people of Israel was an awareness of the possibilities that were in store for them as the people of God. Returning from the exile in Babylon they should think of themselves as being totally renewed. God would give them a new name to go along with the new status they should enjoy as this redeemed people. They should no longer think of themselves as the forsaken people of God, the desolate people of God, or a people forsaken by God. That was all behind them now. That was in the past. Their future was assured as the people whom God had chosen and rescued once more. The old names of "Forsaken and Desolate" would give way to the new name given by God, "My Delight is in Her." As you have undoubtedly heard many times before, the Hebrew noun not only describes or names something, but it is lively and active. When God calls Israel his delight, that suggests to us that God is actively acting on behalf of Israel in a special way. That is how God thinks about us as the people of God.
When we think we have reason to feel abandoned by God or forsaken by God we can stop being concerned. God has given us every reason to think about ourselves as people in whom God takes special interest and delight. That is what this Epiphany Season is all about. The Epiphany texts are selected to help us see how God reveals himself with special concern in the Person of Jesus. Everything that God did to restore ancient Israel in reclaiming them is the same way God continues to reach out to us. Epiphany is a good time for us to review how God makes special efforts to unfold in fresh and unique ways the nature of God's love and mercy and love for us. The basic conditions are always the same, because people are always the same.
A Marriage
The language that the prophet employs to describe the earnest effort God makes to impress us with the assurance of love is consistent with the language of apostles and evangelists. Christians are guilty of thinking of themselves as being in a better position than ancient Israel, or they think God behaves better today than in ancient Israel. We do have the advantage of a longer history or having the message packaged better today. However, human nature is just as flawed now as then, and people are as spiritually stupid and indifferent as then. God worked just as hard then as now. The prophet demonstrates that by using an analogy that Jesus used frequently during his ministry. Jesus referred to himself often as a bridegroom coming to take his followers as his bride. The prophet uses the same kind of language. God calls Israel "Married." The prophet goes on, "For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
We know how the Apostle Paul picked up on marriage as an analogy to describe in a beautiful way the relationship of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Church. Martin Luther picked up on that analogy and compared it to the rich and influential man who woos the poor and destitute lady to make her his bride. In doing so he confers upon the poor darling all of his wealth and all the assets of his holdings. In doing so he becomes not only her lover but her shield and protection. She is blessed in that she can claim all the holdings and blessings of her husband as her own. Just so in this Epiphanytide we are reminded that our dear Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to reveal that love for us whereby we are married to him and by faith to be advantaged in that he makes his kingdom our own. For us the blessing is not only that we gain in this relationship, but the prophet makes it clear that the delight and joy is just as much for God as it is for us.
For Or Against The Marriage?
Edward Koch, former mayor of New York City, confesses to a nostalgia and lingering love for the office he held for a number of terms. To nurse his continuing affection for the job, he wrote a novel, Murder in City Hall. He spins a mystery tale about his willingness to perform a marriage ceremony for the daughter of a friend. He does this against his better judgment because of the political implications and usual criticisms of favoritism. True to his fears one guest who appears is loathed by all the other guests. Because everyone loathes the unpopular guest, all are held as suspects when the man is killed during the ceremony. The novel revives memories of times when we have been invited to a wedding we did not appreciate. Often we do ask, "Do we have to go?" We might ask the question because someone will be there we do not care to see. We may not have murder in mind, but we might just prefer not having to see certain people. Or it could be that the wedding date falls on a date we have a ticket to an NBA game, the symphony, or a repertoire theater.
The invitation the prophet places before his people is the invitation to their own wedding, the opportunity to permit our relationship with God to enjoy the same intimacy as the relationship of a young couple who are united in marriage. The same holds true for us. In our Lord Jesus Christ, God has given us every reason to believe that we can be on the same intimate terms with God as honeymooners discovering the depth of their relationship of love. Tragically, many good people who want to establish some kind of relationship with God never understand that God has already taken the initiative to make our relationship with him intimate and secure. The promise of God is absolutely sure and true.
Like A Burning Torch
The prophet uses the most heightened language he can in order to impress upon his people in their exile how attractive God's offer of restoration should be for them. He began this section by writing that God calls out, "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch." In other words, the prophet envisions that when his people return to their hometown, Zion or Jerusalem, everyone will know about it. This remarkable event will be the return of an exiled people to their home under no duress or force. The return should be the obvious and concrete evidence that God had redeemed and vindicated God's people. The people themselves should radiate this in the very manner in which they return. The joy and peace of that moment should be as bright and glorious as the dawn. The people's sense of being saved would be "like a burning torch."
The people did return as promised, but they did not seem to be as aglow as the prophet had hoped. We can understand that. There are times when no one would have the slightest clue that we enjoy the privilege of being the people nearest and dearest to God's heart. Epiphany is designed to help us understand that God has rescued us from the guilt and shame of being nobodies who have deserved to be outcasts from God's attention. Instead, our Lord Jesus Christ had to die and be risen from the dead for us so that God's love might be revealed in us. We are to be epiphanies of God's love by the way in which we radiate our awareness of God's special love for us. God's love is meant to shine in us like the dawn, and the salvation which is ours by faith should be like a burning torch. God wants the revelation of his love and mercy to continue in the world. That can only happen when the people who are God's delight and joy can reveal it.
Reconciliation was uppermost in Lincoln's intentions. The reason for ending the war was to restore unity and return to the wholeness that had inspired the creation of the United States. Mr. Lincoln was deeply aware of how differently people in both the North and the South felt about the matter of reconciliation. Mr. Long does not add postlude to his insightful observations of the presidency of Mr. Lincoln. He closes his account with the assassination of Lincoln, which occurred after Lincoln's all too brief enjoyment of the peace. However, it is certain that his death prevented harsher settlements of the peace which would have been more difficult for him to prevent had he lived. In testing these inner thoughts of Lincoln in restoring our nation, one sees parallels in the manner in which the Prophet Isaiah wrote about God's reconciliation with Israel. In the First Lesson appointed for today the prophet describes what was involved in the reconciliation with Israel.
The Context
In this Epiphanytide we have taken note of the fact that the Church has included readings from the Prophet Isaiah to illustrate how profusely the prophet wrote about God's revelation of the divine will as an epiphany of light. At first, before the Babylonian exile, the Prophet Isaiah could reveal how God would remain faithful to the people in redeeming them in spite of apostasy that precipitated the exile. However, at the close of the exile a Second Prophet Isaiah could herald the good news to these people that God was going to restore this people and return them to their homeland. It is that message about restoration that is the subject of the reading we have before us today. What the prophet wrestled with is how the people could understand the nature of their reconciliation with God. This was no easy task. A nation destroyed, taken into exile, and disgraced as being a nation no more would find it difficult to think of the possibility of being restored as a people.
One does not have to be very old to recognize how often the maps of Europe, Asia, and Africa are changed by military and political conflict. Those of us who are older can speak of change to the names on the face of the globe even more. However, for Israel the disgrace of losing homeland territory was far more devastating. They believed the possession of the land to be part and parcel of the covenant God had made with them beginning with the patriarchs. That they had no land presented particular pain for them, because it meant they no longer were on good terms with Yahweh, their God who had promised that the land God gave them was a sign of the good will with which God had laced the covenant with them.
No Longer Forsaken
As the prophet makes the effort to stir the people to faith again he writes, "You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate." People who can remember the late 1960s and early 1970s in America can identify with the feelings of desolation and forsakenness as a pall appeared to fall over us as a people. The civil rights movement had seared the social conscience of the nation, flower children had called into question time-honored institutions throughout the nation, the war in Vietnam had gobbled up economic and human resources over an eighteen-year stretch. The common word was that America had had it. The nation doubted itself, its purpose, and aims. The enterprise of democracy was failing. If you can recall those days or you read about them, you have some sensitivity to what Israel had experienced in exile. Their plight exaggerates the pain that comes to any nation that has undergone the trauma of losing its identity.
What the prophet was saying to the Israelites is that they did not have to languish any longer in their self-doubt and their feelings of desolation and forsakenness. In his book about the collapse of Russian communism, Down with Big Brother, Michael Boggs tells about the success of Ronald Reagan. When Robert McFarlaine, one of Reagan's foreign affairs advisers, resigned, he said of Reagan, "He knows so little but he gets so much done." Mr. Reagan's success was attributable to the fact that he believed so firmly in America. He made Americans feel good again about being American. That was the prophet's task. To make the people feel good again about being God's people. It was not how much they knew or could do, but they were to have an implicit faith in the fact that God would restore them.
Vindicated
The restoration which God afforded the people of Israel, however, was more than a bold form of nationalism. This restoration was to produce more than a flag-waving kind of patriotism. This restoration was to be a vindication. The prophet says, "The nations shall see your vindication." The vindication did not consist in a declaration of their innocence for not having erred or sinned. Rather the vindication was to be a holy absolution for the manner in which they had dishonored God, but at the same time their God had not given up on them. In that sense their faith was vindicated or defended.
Scott Turow's novel The Laws of our Fathers is a helpful account of how we perceive ourselves as a nation. The characters of this story were initially drawn together by the events of the chaotic '60s. They were caught up in the protests of that era on an explosive campus of a California university. The culture was coming apart at the seams. The peace of the Eisenhower years was disrupted by organized life of all forms. Mr. Turow's characters who questioned democracy in the 1960s found themselves united by a criminal law case that raised democratic issues anew for them. Now they found themselves on the other side of the issues. All of us have been affected by what happened in the '60s. Some will say Woodstock won out, and America can never be the same. We have seen the erosion of the really important values and traditions of our society. Others will strongly argue that our American system has been vindicated once again. We survived the '60s. We may modify our lifestyles, but as a people we affirm our democratic ways. If you can understand that argument, you can appreciate how the prophet was trying to awaken the people to what God was doing for them. Israel could be sure they were vindicated by their continuing faith in God. As God's people we know also that in spite of the challenges to our faith, our faith is always vindicated.
A Special Delight
What the prophet was trying to instill in the people of Israel was an awareness of the possibilities that were in store for them as the people of God. Returning from the exile in Babylon they should think of themselves as being totally renewed. God would give them a new name to go along with the new status they should enjoy as this redeemed people. They should no longer think of themselves as the forsaken people of God, the desolate people of God, or a people forsaken by God. That was all behind them now. That was in the past. Their future was assured as the people whom God had chosen and rescued once more. The old names of "Forsaken and Desolate" would give way to the new name given by God, "My Delight is in Her." As you have undoubtedly heard many times before, the Hebrew noun not only describes or names something, but it is lively and active. When God calls Israel his delight, that suggests to us that God is actively acting on behalf of Israel in a special way. That is how God thinks about us as the people of God.
When we think we have reason to feel abandoned by God or forsaken by God we can stop being concerned. God has given us every reason to think about ourselves as people in whom God takes special interest and delight. That is what this Epiphany Season is all about. The Epiphany texts are selected to help us see how God reveals himself with special concern in the Person of Jesus. Everything that God did to restore ancient Israel in reclaiming them is the same way God continues to reach out to us. Epiphany is a good time for us to review how God makes special efforts to unfold in fresh and unique ways the nature of God's love and mercy and love for us. The basic conditions are always the same, because people are always the same.
A Marriage
The language that the prophet employs to describe the earnest effort God makes to impress us with the assurance of love is consistent with the language of apostles and evangelists. Christians are guilty of thinking of themselves as being in a better position than ancient Israel, or they think God behaves better today than in ancient Israel. We do have the advantage of a longer history or having the message packaged better today. However, human nature is just as flawed now as then, and people are as spiritually stupid and indifferent as then. God worked just as hard then as now. The prophet demonstrates that by using an analogy that Jesus used frequently during his ministry. Jesus referred to himself often as a bridegroom coming to take his followers as his bride. The prophet uses the same kind of language. God calls Israel "Married." The prophet goes on, "For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."
We know how the Apostle Paul picked up on marriage as an analogy to describe in a beautiful way the relationship of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Church. Martin Luther picked up on that analogy and compared it to the rich and influential man who woos the poor and destitute lady to make her his bride. In doing so he confers upon the poor darling all of his wealth and all the assets of his holdings. In doing so he becomes not only her lover but her shield and protection. She is blessed in that she can claim all the holdings and blessings of her husband as her own. Just so in this Epiphanytide we are reminded that our dear Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to reveal that love for us whereby we are married to him and by faith to be advantaged in that he makes his kingdom our own. For us the blessing is not only that we gain in this relationship, but the prophet makes it clear that the delight and joy is just as much for God as it is for us.
For Or Against The Marriage?
Edward Koch, former mayor of New York City, confesses to a nostalgia and lingering love for the office he held for a number of terms. To nurse his continuing affection for the job, he wrote a novel, Murder in City Hall. He spins a mystery tale about his willingness to perform a marriage ceremony for the daughter of a friend. He does this against his better judgment because of the political implications and usual criticisms of favoritism. True to his fears one guest who appears is loathed by all the other guests. Because everyone loathes the unpopular guest, all are held as suspects when the man is killed during the ceremony. The novel revives memories of times when we have been invited to a wedding we did not appreciate. Often we do ask, "Do we have to go?" We might ask the question because someone will be there we do not care to see. We may not have murder in mind, but we might just prefer not having to see certain people. Or it could be that the wedding date falls on a date we have a ticket to an NBA game, the symphony, or a repertoire theater.
The invitation the prophet places before his people is the invitation to their own wedding, the opportunity to permit our relationship with God to enjoy the same intimacy as the relationship of a young couple who are united in marriage. The same holds true for us. In our Lord Jesus Christ, God has given us every reason to believe that we can be on the same intimate terms with God as honeymooners discovering the depth of their relationship of love. Tragically, many good people who want to establish some kind of relationship with God never understand that God has already taken the initiative to make our relationship with him intimate and secure. The promise of God is absolutely sure and true.
Like A Burning Torch
The prophet uses the most heightened language he can in order to impress upon his people in their exile how attractive God's offer of restoration should be for them. He began this section by writing that God calls out, "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch." In other words, the prophet envisions that when his people return to their hometown, Zion or Jerusalem, everyone will know about it. This remarkable event will be the return of an exiled people to their home under no duress or force. The return should be the obvious and concrete evidence that God had redeemed and vindicated God's people. The people themselves should radiate this in the very manner in which they return. The joy and peace of that moment should be as bright and glorious as the dawn. The people's sense of being saved would be "like a burning torch."
The people did return as promised, but they did not seem to be as aglow as the prophet had hoped. We can understand that. There are times when no one would have the slightest clue that we enjoy the privilege of being the people nearest and dearest to God's heart. Epiphany is designed to help us understand that God has rescued us from the guilt and shame of being nobodies who have deserved to be outcasts from God's attention. Instead, our Lord Jesus Christ had to die and be risen from the dead for us so that God's love might be revealed in us. We are to be epiphanies of God's love by the way in which we radiate our awareness of God's special love for us. God's love is meant to shine in us like the dawn, and the salvation which is ours by faith should be like a burning torch. God wants the revelation of his love and mercy to continue in the world. That can only happen when the people who are God's delight and joy can reveal it.
