CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Rev. Fred Weimert
December
7, 2008
"Getting
Centered"
Last
week Dan Moore
sang a beautiful introit,
which began with the words
“Comfort, Comfort. ye my people.”
The music was part of the Messiah,
by Handel…
But the words were from Isaiah…
Second Isaiah to be exact…
The first writer
who we know as Isaiah
wrote in
the 8th century,
and
his concern was
as
well as
Most of the first
39 chapters of Isaiah
are a
product of that first Isaiah.
But second Isaiah wrote in
the 6th century…
and he wrote to the
nation of
which was
captive in
He even mentions
Cyrus the Persian by name.
This Isaiah’s audience was in
captivity in
and he wrote to
call and coax the Israelites
out of
The poems he wrote are
beautiful
and they are found
in the
main,
between
Isaiah chapter 40 and chapter 55.
They speak in brilliant and glowing
terms
of what God is
going to do for those captives
who would chose to
return from
To help prepare in the desert
a highway for our God.
And the promises needed to be
fantastic…
Because
and many
of the exiles chose not to return…
Even though Isaiah
made extraordinary promises
valleys
would be lifted up…
mountains
smoothed into plains…
God would
be doing new things…
good
things, all the time.
The
promises of Second Isaiah
were wonderful to
hear…
But on Wednesday night
I talked in the Bible study
about Third Isaiah
And how third
Isaiah’s poems
weren’t as
grand…
Third Isaiah which is found
in chapters 56-66…
was written from
the perspective of people
who chose
to return from
only
to find
only
to discover a land
which experienced
droughts...
and famine.
You
can read what it was like back in
in
the days of Third Isaiah.
in
the historic books of Ezra, and Nehemiah
and
the prophetic books
of Haggai and Zechariah.
The book I
use to guide me on Wednesday nights
asked
an important question
about Second Isaiah’s
optimistic words:
“Are we dealing with a failed prophecy?”
You
listen to the beginning of Second Isaiah
and tell me what you think about it as
prophetic truth.
Isaiah 40: 1-11
Comfort, O comfort
my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to
and cry to her
that she has served
her term,
that her penalty is
paid,
that she has
received from the Lord's hand
double for all her
sins.
A voice cries out:
"In the
wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in
the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall
be lifted up,
and every mountain
and hill be made low;
the uneven ground
shall become level,
and the rough places
a plain.
Then the glory of
the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people
shall see it together,
for the mouth of
the LORD has spoken."
A voice says,
"Cry
out!"
And I said,
"What shall I cry?"
All people are
grass,
their constancy is
like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
the flower fades,
when the breath of
the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people
are grass.
The grass withers,
the flower fades;
but the word of our
God will stand forever.
Get you up to a
high mountain, O
herald of good
tidings;
lift up your voice
with strength, O
herald of good
tidings,
lift it up, do not
fear;
say to the cities
of
"Here is your
God!"
See, the Lord GOD
comes with might,
and his arm rules
for him;
his reward is with
him,
and his recompense
before him.
He will feed his
flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the
lambs in his arms,
and carry them in
his bosom,
and gently lead the
mother sheep.
Here ends the reading.
Well
what do you think?
Did this all come true
back then in
in the 6th
century…
valleys lifted up, Mountains
flattened?
Was the glory of the Lord revealed?
Did all people seen it together?
In
a way the statement which probably rings most true
in today’s reading
are the words:
All
people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The
grass withers,
the flower fades,
when
the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The
grass withers, the flower fades;
So,
answer the question:
“Are
we dealing with a failed prophecy?” pg. 187
Did it come true back then…
or has it come true since?
Paul Hanson, who wrote the book which
I use on Wednesdays
Paul Hanson who asked
the question about failed prophecy…
Also answered the question in two ways:
“Are we dealing with a failed prophecy?”
“The answer is yes
if one equates the function of prophecy
with prediction in the strict sense. pg. 189
but then he answered it again:
We grasp Second Isaiah’s prophecy aright
when we recognize its dynamic witness
to the
creative, redemptive activity
of
God
that occurs within the real stuff of human experience
and world
history.” pg. 190
I like the fact that Dr.
Hanson uses the word creative here.
That matters because
in these 16 chapters called II Isaiah
the word
create is used 12 times…
In the book of
Genesis it is used only 11 times.
II Isaiah uses the word
create and creator…
more than any other
author in the Bible.
I would say that it is the center of
his theology…
or it might be more proper to
say
that Isaiah is
using creation
to center the
thought of his readers.
Years ago a theologian from the
wrote a book critiquing the
literature of the early 20th century
the title of the
book was The Broken Center,
and it
discussed the lack of the sense of God
in
modern literature…
The title of the
book came from William Butler Yeats’ poem
“Second
Coming” and the line:
“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere
anarchy is loosed upon the world;”
When you look at modern
writing…
When you look at our modern
world…
It would appear
that we have indeed lost our center…
at least a
center
with the potential
of holding us together.
We do not appear to
have that today…
and neither did the
children of
those who
found themselves living in
that
very successful
and
self centered society.
But
a society centered on itself
really
has no meaningful center…
because all
flesh withers.
So Isaiah wrote to re-center
this Babylonian Jewish community,
and to do this he
focused on this God
Who speaks
words of comfort
and
consolation to this captive people…
our
God…
the
God of creation…
the God
who still is able to do new things.
This
is what II Isaiah wrote about.
But the problem of
talking about the Creator God
In Judaism and Christianity
can probably be summed up in some words
which are also the
title of a theological work
by a
Jewish theologian from Harvard:
Creation and the Persistence of Evil:
the
Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence.
The problem for many when one
talks about God as creator…
is the existence or
persistence of evil in creation…
why isn’t
it perfect…
why
does Second Isaiah
have
to be followed by Third Isaiah…
Why isn’t
the whole thing more simple
more
consistent?
Why do we
have to live with paradox?
I could say it was
because of free will…
I could say it was
a product of divine freedom…
Some might say it
is Demonic…
But
for me the existence of evil and suffering
does not eclipse my need for a center
in life…
or for me to find that center
in the creator God…
It helps me deal
with life’s paradox...
and gives
me hope that the paradox
will
ultimately be resolved.
If
you would like to see that same hope in the early church…
The Church living through difficult
times…
The Church living through
persecution.
you have no further to look than the
Apostles Creed
which begins…
I believe in God
the Father almighty
the Maker… in other words Creator… of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from
the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father
Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the
dead.
A
paradox
God the creator
Crucified in Christ…
who in John’s
Gospel is also the one
without him not one thing came into being.
(Jn. 1:2)
It
is in this that we find hope…
and at the same time we find ourselves
at this table…
with symbols of the
simplicity of creation…
and faith’s paradox
as well.
let us
sing together before we share.
Amen.