Threshing and Winnowing

Isaiah 41:14-20 (NRSV) Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you insect Israel! I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Now, I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. Then you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, so that all may see and know, all may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. We just heard from John the Baptist on Sunday and saw how he was in essence the last of the old style Hebrew prophets.  And the imagery he used - of threshing floors and winnowing forks - we find today in the great Hebrew prophet, Isaiah. I admit that I had to look up "threshing" and "winnowing."  I've always had a sense of what they were - separating the grain from the chaff (the outer husks of the grain), but wanted to know the process.  First comes the threshing.  A threshing sledge, or board, was pulled by oxen over the threshing floor in circles, until the grain was separated - without damaging the kernel.  Then the grain was "winnowed," - using either a fork or simply a basket where the kernels were thrown in the air to completely separate the grain from the chaff, as well as any weevils. It sounds like quite a cumbersome process.  But then Isaiah tantalizes with what comes out of this activity in the language I've come to love from him: pools of water, cedar and cypress, acacia, myrtle and olive trees and I realize that what sounded in John's language to be fearful and harsh sounding judgment, is cleaning and purifying grace. I've come to see over the years that this process of being a "new creation" in Christ Jesus from baptism on is indeed just that - a process.  For all the times I expect that I need to have the right answers, do the right thing, be the right person - be perfect - I realize that I am still going through the winnowing.  Luther said we die daily to sin.  Our old "self" or our old "Adam" is in its death throes, but is still very much a part of us and when we expect differently, we are usually put in our place by a gracious God who knows otherwise. The imagery of Isaiah is often difficult to make sense of in our 21st century lives.  But despite that it sheds light on the very real activity that God is still producing in us.  Activity that reminds us that God claims us and calls us as God's own and works in us a new creation with life giving Spirit. Creative and active God, thank you for your patience and the work you do to bring us ever closer to you.  Remind us not to depend on our own righteousness, and to approach each day with humility and hope, leaning always on your grace to push us onward. Amen.