COMFORT MY PEOPLE (2 OF 49)
Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11
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Comfort My People (2 of 49)
Series: Lectionary, Year B
Christopher B. Harbin
Isaiah 40:1-11
It is easy to portray the gospel and will of God as heavy burdens for us to bear. In so doing, we paint God as a cruel taskmaster, relentlessly expecting the impossible of us. We have long histories with that kind of thought process. We have many received traditions about people fearful of God due to concepts of God seeking to punish evildoers. Many have preached vivid descriptions of hellfire and damnation in a misdirected attempt to scare people into God's embrace. A quick read of the Hebrew Scriptures can take us to passages that seem to prop up those notions behind Jonathan Edward's famous portrayal of an ''angry God.'' What then, do we do with so many passages that speak of Yahweh as kind, merciful, long-suffering, patient, and slow to anger? Is God so angry, or do are we projecting our own characteristics onto God?
Today's Lectionary passage from Isaiah is one of Isaiah's most famous passages, thanks to Handel's Messiah. It strikes a very discordant note with so many characterizations of God as angry and quick to condemn. It also strikes a discordant note with much of Isaiah's first 39 chapters. In fact, this chapter marks a turning-point in Isaiah's message, shifting from announcing the calamity of exile coming upon Judah and looking forward to Yahweh restoring the nation to the Promised Land.
Life has always been more complex than either good or bad, positive or negative, black or white, difficult or easy. Never has life been all good or all bad. Never has calamity failed to have some silver lining, no matter how small. Never has victory been wholly good with no blemish. What brings us joy and what brings us pain may even be the very same event, such as the birth of a child or that same child making their own way into the world. Death can come to us as both a reason for grief and as a release from the anguish of suffering. This is the way of the world. ...
Series: Lectionary, Year B
Christopher B. Harbin
Isaiah 40:1-11
It is easy to portray the gospel and will of God as heavy burdens for us to bear. In so doing, we paint God as a cruel taskmaster, relentlessly expecting the impossible of us. We have long histories with that kind of thought process. We have many received traditions about people fearful of God due to concepts of God seeking to punish evildoers. Many have preached vivid descriptions of hellfire and damnation in a misdirected attempt to scare people into God's embrace. A quick read of the Hebrew Scriptures can take us to passages that seem to prop up those notions behind Jonathan Edward's famous portrayal of an ''angry God.'' What then, do we do with so many passages that speak of Yahweh as kind, merciful, long-suffering, patient, and slow to anger? Is God so angry, or do are we projecting our own characteristics onto God?
Today's Lectionary passage from Isaiah is one of Isaiah's most famous passages, thanks to Handel's Messiah. It strikes a very discordant note with so many characterizations of God as angry and quick to condemn. It also strikes a discordant note with much of Isaiah's first 39 chapters. In fact, this chapter marks a turning-point in Isaiah's message, shifting from announcing the calamity of exile coming upon Judah and looking forward to Yahweh restoring the nation to the Promised Land.
Life has always been more complex than either good or bad, positive or negative, black or white, difficult or easy. Never has life been all good or all bad. Never has calamity failed to have some silver lining, no matter how small. Never has victory been wholly good with no blemish. What brings us joy and what brings us pain may even be the very same event, such as the birth of a child or that same child making their own way into the world. Death can come to us as both a reason for grief and as a release from the anguish of suffering. This is the way of the world. ...
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