(prayer)
It is ironic that two of the
most anxiety-inducing words in the english language are “just relax".
I am sure that most of you have had some experience with hearing those
words: when you had to try and let your mind dominate over matter: take that
deep breath, say ‘okay’ and then try to distract yourself with the mental image
of some beach somewhere.
I love that scene in the 1986 film version of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors" when Bill Murray’s character visits the
sadistic dentist, played by Steve Martin.
Bill Murray relaxes (and distracts himself from any potential pain) by
looking forward to getting some chocolate after it is all done… ‘candy bar,
candy bar, candy bar’.
//
Now I am in my mid-50s, so it seems that I hear “just relax” (on an increasingly frequent basis) from medical
professionals performing routine procedures aimed at maintaining men’s health.
**grimace**
You can relax. I am not going to preach anymore about
colonoscopies... today, at least.
//
//
//
The prophetic book of Isaiah is a single text that is sixty-six chapters long, but it is fair to
think of it as three disctinct books. It
contains materials that come from three unique times in the History of Israel
and Judah.
Last week, our Hebrew Bible reading came from chapter 60 - the third
section (ch 56-66) - that spoke to the people who had returned to Jerusalem
after 70-plus years of living in exile by the Rivers of Babylon.
This week, we read from the middle section of Isaiah (ch 40-55), that
was written during the exile,
speaking to the people who had been defeated by an expanding empire, had their
sacred sites looted and, been forced to put down roots in the squalor of a
foreign refugee camp. In fact, our reading
today was the first words that this prophet had for these exiles.
Those words were “Your God says, take
comfort my people”.
The message acknowledge the pain of the people’s circumstance: they
cried for Jerusalem. Psalm 139 (from about the same time)
says “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion…
even too sad to sing.”
But, into that understandable sadness the prophet proclaims: The people are not forgotten. The Jerusalem Temple might lay in ruins, but
their God is still mighty and eternal.
Their God has not forgotten them.
And the promise: This exile will
not be permanent. A distant voice will
call them back through the desert. In
this… take comfort, O people of God.
//
As, we explored last week, the shifting sands of empires did eventually
allow for a new generation of judeans to return and do the hard work of
renewing their nation: forever changed by their experience in exile.
//
//
Move ahead another five centuries and the renewed Hebrew kingdom is now
subject to puppet governments of the Roman Empire. East of Jerusalem, a new voice speaks
prophetic words: Come and know the
cleansing renewal of God’s love and forgiveness.
John the Baptist spoke to people who knew an exile of sorts. They weren't force to physically move, but
they had witnessed their city, their nation, their institutions overrun by
forces beyond their control. Where was
their God in all of this?
Comfort O my people. This is not the end. More is coming. A physical baptism might be a powerful ritual
to acknowledge a commitment to God, but it is nothing compared to what is in
store for you. ‘One is coming whose
baptism is meta-physical (beyond the physical); it will refresh you down to the
very depths of your spirit’.
//
When we consider the similarities between the 6th century BCE Babylonian
exile and the 1st century CE Roman occupation of Judea, it makes sense why all of the New Testament gospel writers
used Isaiah 40 language as part of the John the Baptist narratives.
As the Jesus story begins in the gospels, people are invited to come out
of the wilderness of their despair and embrace the loving comfort of their God.
//
//
I am going to be bold enough to say that this opportunity of renewal
continues to endure even today.
Each of us has our own story, but I suspect we all have wilderness times
in our lives, where we feel cut off, facing difficult circumstances beyond our
control. Some of us have come through
such times; and others are in the midst of an unwelcomed exile of sorts right
now.
//
For me, when I am lost in my own exile, I try to follow Isaiah’s
advice. I am grateful for the poets who
penned the United Church Creed:
We are not alone.
We live in God's world.
In life, in
death, in life beyond death
God is with us.
These words and ancients words of faith like Isaiah 40 remind me that
today's wildernesses are passable.
I listen hard for divine comfort telling me to Be At Peace, and know that I are not alone in today’s exile.
//
It is an act of hopeful faith know peace even when life around us is
anything but peaceful.
//
That is a promise of God.
Comfort, O comfort, my people!
//
//
Let us
pray:
Help us
O God to relax into your comfort.
Amen.
#12MV
“Come Touch Our Hearts”
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