Isaiah 43:8-13 (NRSV)
Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?
Sometimes there isn't anything I need to hear more than "I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior."
Because it seems that after all this time, we keep trying to save ourselves and failing miserably at it. We have eyes, but are blind. Have ears but are deaf.
It's been a terrible couple of months with the news, and each time I read it, the blindness seems stark. We don't "see" each other. We don't see ourselves in our African American neighbor, or the child from Honduras, or the Palestinian family who has lost a loved one.
We don't hear the cries of protestors asking for justice, or mothers begging for mercy for their children on the border.
Or we do hear, and we just are so overwhelmed and tired and frustrated and we don't know what to do about it.
We need a savior. And so comes these words of hope. Our God is still in charge. Our God gathers the nations together and gives us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to bear the pain of our sister and brother in need.
We can't deliver ourselves. We keep trying, but it just doesn't work. But God delivers. God saves. God proclaims and declares.
God gives hope to Ferguson, and the Texas border, and El Salvador, and the house torn by divorce or violence or addiction, and to the heart consumed by loneliness.
I am the Lord, says God. Besides me there is no savior. In those words we rest our hope. And in those words we find the strength we need to move out of frustrated silence and grief with eyes, ears, hearts, and hands opened.
God of all creation, open my eyes. Open my ears and fill my heart with hope in dark times. And open my hands and my heart that I may serve as you would have me serve. Amen.
Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?
Sometimes there isn't anything I need to hear more than "I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior."
Because it seems that after all this time, we keep trying to save ourselves and failing miserably at it. We have eyes, but are blind. Have ears but are deaf.
It's been a terrible couple of months with the news, and each time I read it, the blindness seems stark. We don't "see" each other. We don't see ourselves in our African American neighbor, or the child from Honduras, or the Palestinian family who has lost a loved one.
We don't hear the cries of protestors asking for justice, or mothers begging for mercy for their children on the border.
Or we do hear, and we just are so overwhelmed and tired and frustrated and we don't know what to do about it.
We need a savior. And so comes these words of hope. Our God is still in charge. Our God gathers the nations together and gives us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to bear the pain of our sister and brother in need.
We can't deliver ourselves. We keep trying, but it just doesn't work. But God delivers. God saves. God proclaims and declares.
God gives hope to Ferguson, and the Texas border, and El Salvador, and the house torn by divorce or violence or addiction, and to the heart consumed by loneliness.
I am the Lord, says God. Besides me there is no savior. In those words we rest our hope. And in those words we find the strength we need to move out of frustrated silence and grief with eyes, ears, hearts, and hands opened.
God of all creation, open my eyes. Open my ears and fill my heart with hope in dark times. And open my hands and my heart that I may serve as you would have me serve. Amen.
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