November 14, 2010 - Proper 28, Year C (RCL)
Today
is the last in our series of Old Testament readings from the prophets. Next week, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King,
and after that, the church's year begins all over again with Advent, as we begin the countdown o the birth of our Savior.
But today we are still in the prophets, and we’re returning to Isaiah
who we first read in the height of the summer.
The book of Isaiah is the longest among the prophets,
and his preaching about justice and prophecies of a messiah
have made him the best known.
Most of what is in the book of Isaiah
was written before the people of God
were taken into exile in Babylon.
But it seems like the last few chapters
were written later, tacked on to the end,
and spoke to those who returned from exile.
the same people whom we heard Haggai speaking to
last week.
This time
they’re back in Jerusalem.
The temple has been rebuilt, and everything should be wonderful. After all, they’ve got what they were praying for, those long years in exile.
They’re home, they’ve reclaimed their land, rebuilt their homes
and even finally completed the new temple.
But it’s not what they imagined.
Because while they were away, they changed.
Three generations
living in one of the greatest cities in the world,
and they’ve become accustomed to the cultural life;
they’re used to being at the heart of things.
They’ve become bilingual, have taken to eating new foods,
even wearing different styles of clothes.
So when they get back home to Jerusalem, the Jerusalem they’ve longed for, it all seems...
well, so provincial.
The people who stayed behind -
and you know, they weren’t the best sort,
after all, the elite were the ones who had been carried in exile -
the people who stayed behind are so crude.
No taste in food, no interest in music,
in fact, they’re constantly complaining
about the noise of the returnees instruments
and the spices in their cooking.
They’re poor,
uneducated.
They have nothing in common.
And the city itself,
the one their grandparents had been so proud of,
well, it’s nothing to boast about.
Some of the new building are okay, the temple at least, but for the rest?
they look like something a child could build with legos.
It’s all beginning to look
as if they might have been better off
staying in exile.
But at the same time,
it seems like exile
has taught them nothing.
In the first part of chapter 65,
this is what God says:
“I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
to a nation that did not call on my name.
I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices.”
For all the warnings before they were taken into exile,
for all the experience of exile,
the people haven't learned their lesson.
They still
ignore God;
they still
disobey God’s commands.
They’ve taken to eating food
that is forbidden them;
they offer incense to idols;
they think they are holier
than God.
And you can hear the disappointment in God’s voice.
“I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
to a nation that did not call on my name.”
But even so,
God has decided
to give the people
yet another chance.
To let bygones
be bygones,
if they will only
choose to serve and honor
God.
Because God is doing something new. God is doing something new and wonderful.
God will recreate
creation itself,
and Jerusalem, the holy city of God,
along with it.
Life will be long,
resources will be bountiful,
there will be peace, not just among people,
but among all of creation.
It’s a promise that is echoed in the book of Revelation.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
That’s what God invites us to.
To trust in God, to be faithful,
to live according to God’s standards.
And we may even taste some of this new creation
right here and now.
Because as Jesus said,
yes, the kingdom of God is in the future.
That’s when this new creation will come in all its fullness and glory.
But the kingdom of God
is also now.
We count our years
beginning with Christ.
Because with Jesus,
the clock began over,
the new creation
began to happen.
And we are invited to live
as if.
As if creation is already fully renewed.
As if justice and peace
are already present in their entirety.
And in so doing, we will join in the work of God
in renewing
the whole of creation.
The words of the prophets.
Five months of reminders
to focus our lives on God,
to trust in him,
to live obediently,
to do justice and love mercy,
and to experience the promised
renewal all of creation, and with it,
the renewal of our lives.
Yesterday at Diocesan Convention
we finished our deliberation with evening prayer. And I was struck by the second reading, from Romans chapter 12,
which seemed to be as good a summary as any
of what we’ve been hearing these five or so months from the prophets.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship...
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but give yourselves to humble tasks; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
© Raewynne J. Whiteley 2010