Sermon: “Here Is Your God”

Text: Isaiah 35:4-7a

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 6, 2009

Scripture introduction. 

• Five important dates in OT history  (Remember: in BC time, years get smaller as time moves forward to the year 0.)

o       1000 B.C.      King David, then King Solomon, then division of the Kingdom into north and south.

o       721 B.C.        Northern Kingdom (Samaria) defeated by Assyria—“lost tribes”

o       587 B.C.        Southern Kingdom (Jerusalem), mainly the tribe of Judah, defeated by Babylonians.  Large part of population, especially the religious and civic leaders, taken captive to Babylon.  The “Exile.”

o       538 B.C.        (a generation later), Persians conquer Babylonians and allow the captives to return to Jerusalem.

o       333 B.C.        The Greek king, Alexander the Great, begins his conquests.  Although some OT books were written during this period, the history told in the OT largely concludes before the beginning of the Greek period.

• Most scholars believe that the Book of Isaiah was composed by multiple authors over several hundred years.  The first part, attributed to the prophet Isaiah of Jerusalem, was written in the 700s, about the time that the Northern Kingdom was falling to the Assyrians.  It warns of God’s judgment on the Southern Kingdom, too. 
• The second part, by an unknown author or authors, is believed to have been written in the 500s, during the Southern Kingdom’s Exile in Babylon.  It is mainly hopeful in tone, prophesying that the exiled people of God would one day return to their homeland. 
• The last part, again by unnamed persons and editors, was probably written soon afterward, during the period of Persian influence, after the exiles returned from Babylon.  Its prophecies recognize that it was tougher than they thought to rebuild a nation, and it often looks far forward in history to the time when God’s reign on earth would arrive in its fullness.
• Our passage today is something of a mystery because, although it appears in the first portion of Isaiah, its tone is much closer to the second or third parts of Isaiah.  The prophet announces that God’s presence will be revealed as the dry places of the earth spring to life and as the suffering of the people is reversed.  I’ve decided to expand the lectionary passage, so I’ll be reading all of chapter 35.

Sermon. 

• All of chapter 35, it seems to me, is an answer to the question, “Where is God?”
• If written during the Babylonian Exile, . . . .
• If written during the period after the people returned, . . . .
• Chapter 35 can also be an answer when we ask the question, “Where is God?”
• One of the “stock” questions they always ask in seminary—no matter what the situation—is, “Where is God in the midst of all this?”
• We all ask that question, don’t we?
• Times of trouble
• In our devotional and prayer life
• Even in the life of the church, as we seek God’s guidance about our particular mission here on North 7^th Street
• We ask the question, “Where is God?,” not because we wonder whether God is there.  (Although sometimes we may wonder.)  For we know that God is always present, always creating, always redeeming.  What we really mean when we ask the question is “How can I see what God is doing?” 
• In a sense it’s a matter of our attempting to be attentive, to be mindful, of what God is doing.
• Our text today suggests where we can look.
• Where is the desert turning into flower?  That is, where are deathly conditions giving way to life?  God is there.  Can we see it?  When we walk into Union or Regional hospitals, we know God is at work because life-threatening conditions are being relieved.
• In the science labs, in the halls of enlightened commerce, in the hearts of our best legislators and governmental leaders, we see a growing concern for the health of the earth.  Ever so gradually, we are beginning to understand our planetary home as a resource to be nurtured and protected, rather than as a storehouse to be plundered.  God is there.  Can we see it?
• In the midst of some of our fiercest conflicts, there are courageous people who are saying “no” to violence and destruction in whatever ways they are able.  In the aftermath of Rwandan genocide there are leaders and families and communities working to reconcile Hutu and Tutsi so that the murdering will never again break out.  In the symbolic and poetic words of Isaiah, they work so that the ravenous beast and the lion will never again prowl in their hearts.  Life is coming out of death.  The work is not done, but it has begun.  God is there.  Can we see it?
• In our own lives, as we yearn for communion and friendship with God—for a real personal relationship—we should ask ourselves, “Where is there life in my life?”  “What gives me joy?”  “What is it about life that makes me want to stop and just have a big laugh?”  Maybe we are working in our gardens.  Maybe we are taking a walk.  Maybe we are reading the Bible.  Maybe we are simply enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.  Maybe we develop an unexpected and renewed sense of hope in the face of life’s challenges.  Can we see that God is working in all of these?  God is there.  Can we see it?
• Luke (7:22) tells us that near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist sent his followers to Jesus to ask the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”  Perhaps with Isaiah 35 in his mind, Jesus replied, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.”  In other words, when these things are happening, God is here.  Can we see it?
• If you want to see God, look for life.  Study life.  Follow life.  You will see God in each strand of DNA, in each green shoot that pushes through the sidewalk crack.  Look for 30 seconds without flinching into the eyes of a baby, and you will see God.
• And once you have begun to recognize God’s handiwork in life, then it is time to become God’s partner in promoting life.  Be the kind of person in whom others see life.  Even if we are weighed down with the troubles of the world, especially if we are thirsty for spiritual refreshment and hungry of heart, our struggles toward life will be even more obvious and meaningful to ourselves and to others.  Take the first step, even if you aren’t sure it’s going to work.  Don’t worry; you are not alone.  As Isaiah said, “Be strong and do not fear!  Here is your God.” 
• Jesus calls us to his table; and as he does so, he also invites us to be his partners in bringing life to the world.  He, the one who gave his life for our life, knows how hard this can be.  But he promises to be present with us all the way along.  He promises to satisfy our spiritual thirst and the feed the hungry heart.  If we are discouraged by how many times in the past we have resolved to do better, but have failed, there is grace at this Table—grace that will forgive and grace that will empower. 
• At this Table, in this place, in this community, in the common life that we all share, in the life of the world, God is here.  I think we can see it. 
• Here is our God!