Songs and a Timely Image

Great God of all,

We turn to you and ask you for mercy, grace and peace. If we can, we also ask you to flex your muscles against all that is corrupt and wrong with our society and world. We pray for an end to the pandemic. Guide us to participate and engage more fully in your good work. In your unequaled Name, we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 42:10-18- New Revised Standard Version
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier,
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor,
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know,
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”

18 Listen, you that are deaf;
and you that are blind, look up and see!

Reflection

     I was caught by the call to sing and create a new song for God. Writing new songs is hard, time consuming and energy sapping. That is, unless, we hear this as more of a call to be current and free with what God is doing in the world. I have to admit that I only really write new songs for my dogs..."puppers and duppers are what you are..." No, they aren't very high quality, but they work well for feeding time or just being goofy and free. I think this is part of what Isaiah captures here is that spontaneous and creatively loving part of our heart that turns away from predictability, habits and just relishes in God's presence. This is more powerful than we give it credit. It seems, dear church, like we need more workshops on creative song-writing to God!

     I was also caught by the descriptions of the Warrior God who was done waiting. Wow and ouch. I
am sure that this is where a vivid understanding of the "fear of the Lord" comes from. I suppose that this reading was selected more for the image of when God stops waiting, then where my mind went. I know it is almost Christmas, but I thought of the crucifixion of the Warrior God (the book and the reality). This is a great insight into the distinct difference of tone and message from Old Testament to New Testament. God chose to end the warring with our rebellion and disobedience so that we all might be saved. So, the battle for eternal peace is over, but we are all called into the battle work of spreading love and hope! This is noticeably non-violent, all-negativities-absorbing and truth-telling.

Are you done waiting to make hope happen and love spread around you?

Word Pictures

Great God, speak to us through your Sacred Pages. Let us take in the richness of your being in our lives. While our spirit is aware of your presence, make us more aware of your work around us and enable us to be a frutiful and effective conduit of your Way. In Christ, we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 12:2-6
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 

 And you will say in that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

     It is a well known saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. A word picture in Scripture is worth an unknown number of words. It is perhaps a great deal more, particularly given the number of books written on various passages. Sometimes, though, it is a lot less because the mind and hands are not able to easily write what the spirit quickly perceives. 

     The skeptic might hear a passage like "draw water from the well of salvation..." and ask how are you drawing the water, and what is the water--a portion of salvation? This poetic prophecy defies straightforward logic. Yet, in faith, it makes perfect sense to our heart, soul, spirit, inner being and well drawer.

     We also can connect through time with those in the majority of Isaiah's original audience that would have had many reasons for sensing a tremendous hope in this whole text. We know what it feels like when everything seems dry, cracked and broken without much life. This word picture pulls us up out of our dry place and tells our heart to turn to praise and thanksgiving. God draws us into the recognition of a whole rich reality beyond our current condition. The Creator splashes us with a great and long holy recall of promises kept and many more still waiting to erupt against a time of great need.  Lift up your head! Lift up your voice! Praise God!