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Thursday, January 14, 2010
God of Good Surprises
Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
"God, you are the one who gave me life. Why are we suffering?" -- lines to a hymn sung by survivors in Plaza St. Pierre, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. All I can say is, God is suffering too -- and working through you and me to alleviate the suffering. That's what my friend and fellow minister Don Ashburn posted on Facebook two days after the horrendous earthquake in Haiti flattened buildings all across the island nation and snuffed out as many as 50,000 human lives.
His comment echoes the amazing promise of Isaiah 43:1-7, delivered by the prophet to the Jews during their long lonely exile in Babylonia thousands of miles from their "promised land."
It was only natural that they would wonder "Where is God in all of this? Why would God let us suffer this way? When and how can it ever come to an end?"
It was not so natural, though, that Isaiah would quote God solemnly pledging that, even when the "chosen people" had to walk through flooding waters and scorching flames, their God would be right there with them. Absolutely nothing in this world would be able to separate them from the God who knew their circumstances, understood their needs, and felt their every pain.
Above and beyond all that, Isaiah said, God had chosen them of all people, had called them by name, and loved them with an everlasting love!
The Jews had a tribal memory of God doing just what this prophecy promised, several centuries earlier. For example, when Moses led the Hebrews out of Egyptian slavery only to run up against the Red Sea, God separated the water so they could hurry to the other side and escape the soldiers rushing up to capture them.
For the next forty years they traveled across desert wastelands, protected from daytime heat by a pillar of cloud and from nighttime cold by a pillar of fire -- those pillars the visible sign that God walked with them every single step of their meandering journey.
Finally, at the edge of the promised land, the pilgrims had to cross the Jordan River, and once again God parted the rushing water and they crossed as if on dry ground.
And now, here their descendants were, hoping against hope that they could cross the Fertile Crescent and resettle back where they belonged. Even if they had to leave the trade routes and cut across deserts and through rivers, their God was guaranteeing they would never have to do it on their own.
My friend Don was in our congregation last Sunday when Isaiah 43 was read along with the story of Jesus' baptism in Luke 3. It was at the bank of the Jordan River that John the Baptizer ceremonially cleansed the bodies of sinners to symbolize that God was purifying their souls. And it was there that Jesus, whom John identified as the promised Messiah, God-With-Us, took his place in line to be washed along with all the sinners.
Absolutely amazing grace! Great surprise gift of God! Our Christian understanding of Jesus says he had no sins of his own to repent of or be forgiven for. Even so, he identified completely with us in our humanity, imperfect and problematic as it is, but never once sold out to sin himself. And that fact gives flesh and blood to Isaiah's promise of God with us and, much more, God for us -- through even the worst kind of trouble life might throw down to block our path. (See Hebrews 4:14-16)
That was the gist of Sunday's sermon, just two days before the Haitian earthquake hit with such devastating force.
Now, after two days of heroic efforts there to rescue, heal, and salvage somehow, I'm reflecting on that hymn and those who joined to sing it in the heart of Haiti's capital.
And I wonder, when the big quake we know is coming to the Bay Area finally breaks apart the earth beneath our feet, will we gather in the public squares and sing our hymns to God? If so, please God, what exactly will we sing? And why?
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
3:23 PM
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