Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Isaiah 54:1-13

“…my steadfast love shall not depart from you...”

            In today’s text, the writer holds out hope to those in despair. Presumably written during the Babylonian Exile, this section of Isaiah reminds the people of God’s unconditional covenant love. Despite their outward circumstances (“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed,”) God’s presence is constant (“but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”)

As I meditate on this text, my mind runs to all those in the world who know no peace today. My heart runs to all those I know personally who desperately need this message. I think of those who, like the audience of Isaiah’s prophecy, are “afflicted,” “storm-tossed,” and “not comforted” (v. 11). I think of a friend whose wife and son left him at Christmas taking everything he had. I think of a friend who is underemployed, and the work he has lacks meaning and purpose. I think of someone whose new supervisor, a Scrooge of sorts, goes out of his way to make working conditions as difficult as possible. qtI think of a dear friend who, four months later, is still recovering from a debilitating accident she thought would heal in a few weeks.

            When I think of these people and the circumstances that surround them, I want to offer them Christmas hope. I have to be honest, though. If this text from Isaiah were all I had, I could not in good conscience offer it. At the end of the day, isn’t Isaiah saying, “Cheer up! Circumstances will improve! Today, you have no home, no security, no worldly blessings, and yet, tomorrow, you will have all this and more. ‘Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.” (vs. 2-3) God’s unconditional covenant love is measured, it seems, in terms of worldly success. 

            I can’t offer this kind of message to my friends. “Brighten up! Your life will improve!” is a message that rings hollow, and, in many cases is downright false. Sometimes circumstances don’t improve, a meaningful job does not appear, one’s spouse does not return, the outer healing does not come.

            Instead, I cling to the faith of the early Christians who wrestled with these prophecies through the lens of Jesus’ ministry, tragic death, and wholly unexpected resurrection. Despite outward circumstances, and, in fact, in the very midst of life-denying surroundings, the Christmas message of Incarnation reveals that God is with us each step of the way, offering us inner strength and peace.

            I keep coming back to a lesson I heard a few years ago. Parker Palmer, the educator and spiritual writer, describes his own soul-paralyzing depression. Looking back on that time, one friend stands out to him. It was a man who visited faithfully every week, but who never offered words of explanation or attempted solace. Instead, he gently massaged Palmer’s feet. That faithful presence and physical touch slowly, over time, offered him a genuine message of hope.

            Yes, of course, we do have control over some of our circumstances. We should resist unjust working conditions. We should seek more meaningful work for ourselves and for others. We should seek reconciliation with those estranged from us. We should rely on the expertise of medical professionals for outer healing. But we are mistaken, I think, when we believe God’s goodness is only present if external events are going our way.  

           

            My mind returns to my friends in great need. How can I can embody Christmas hope for them?

- David Shumaker