Readings and reflection Wednesday the 16^th December 2020

Isaiah 45:6-26,      Luke 7:19-………..

Have you ever been passionate about a subject that no one else seemed to get?  If so, you may have found yourself trying to explain the subject and saying more or less the same thing in many different ways, in the hope that at some point the penny will drop and others will understand.

Isaiah had a lot to say.  If we can grasp the mood of the reading we notice that it is not unlike how we might get if we are passionate about a subject and trying hard to make someone understand.  There are some points that Isaiah repeats over and over, and there is a good chance that these repeated things are the main point of his message.  What did you pick up from it?  Do you recall?  “Thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), …. I am the Lord and there is no other…. “ Over and over, as if to say, “How can you not understand this?”

The people were acquainted with talk of God but who is this God and what is he like?  The reading tells us that he made the heavens, formed the earth and created human kind.  In poetic language we read that He commands the skies to shower righteousness that salvation might spring up. 

There are many things going on at the time of Isaiah, and this word was a declaration of good things, of which God wanted them to know that HE was the author.  Just as it was a word for the people of God at that time, it is an eternal truth that God is the author of the blessings of righteousness… and the fruit of that blessing is salvation.

 

Righteousness being dropped on earth like showers is like heaven coming down; the answered prayer, just as we pray the Lord’s prayer, “May your kingdom, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven”.  Salvation is the fruit that springs, and righteousness is also the fruit.  Salvation and righteousness we find in Jesus.

 

John’s disciples came to Jesus, basically asking for confirmation about what John had declared.  John, inspired by the Spirit of God, had declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God, but then, very humanly, and also wisely, asked for confirmation….

Previously, the people had asked John who he was and he answered honestly that he wasn’t the Messiah.  There was a sense of genuine inquiry and excited expectancy with the questioning of John, but with this questioning of Jesus there seems to be a sense of doubt.  Perhaps they expected something different.

Unfortunately, this is a fact of life.  We often expect something different.  The expectations that people had of the Messiah proved to be vastly different to the person that Jesus was, and this became a huge offense and a stumbling block to many.  Is God doing something now which we can’t see as being from God because it doesn’t meet our expectations.  What does our reading tell us?  “Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker; Wil you question me about my children?”

 

God is God and we have no place as the “clay” to say, “What are you making”?  We are living in such an intense time where so many things are questioned.  Even our traditional right and wrong is on trial, so how can we navigate to stay on the path of truth?  Perhaps by keeping God as God.

 

Recently I have had the opportunity to speak to children about what Christmas really means.  When they want to know how long ago it was when Jesus was born, I ask them, what year is it?   2020.  

While some theologians might quibble about the actual year, there was a time in the history of the world when people thought this event to be so significant that we needed to mark the birth of Christ by counting our years from the time of his birth.  What saddens me, is that the majority of society today don’t realize that the person, Jesus, called the Christ, is a real person.  We beg permission to teach religious instruction in state schools, seemingly forgetting that our faith is built on historical facts with eternal significance.  To omit the truth of these facts is a travesty.   No wonder we struggle to navigate the path of truth when we fail to declare facts of faith and fail to remember that God is God.

 

To answer John’s disciples, Jesus answers by pointing out the facts that were plainly seen.  He reminds them the blind see and deaf hear etc…  Jesus is pointing out that the fulfilment of the prophet’s writing is taking place.  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.  He sent me to preach good news to the poor.  He sent me to give sight to the blind etc…  In other words, “It is obvious… why do you doubt?” 

 

If we look at the miracles of Jesus, then carefully examine Jesus, who is the visible expression of our God in heaven, we will see that the miracles come out of a heart of compassion and love.  It isn’t to prove that he is who he says he is that he performs miracles, but because of his mercy, his compassion and his very great love.  The miraculous healings were the fruit of Jesus Love and mercy.  However…. by this fruit we know the nature of Jesus is God.

 

In Jesus, righteousness has dropped from heaven.  Heaven has come down – the kingdom of God is on earth as it is in heaven… and the fruit of this is righteousness and salvation.

 

As Isaiah tells us, God did not speak in secret.  He has made himself abundantly clear, so why do we have so much trouble in knowing the truth? 

Is it that we are blinded by our expectations?  Is it that we are offended by the truth?  Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind.  And with the declaration of Isaiah saying, “For I am God and there is no other”, ringing in our ears we realize the deity of Christ.

 

Is our Christianity just a belief which we can adapt as it suits us ?– If so, we make God into our own image.  God is God and not our wild imaginings.  God’s word has been clearly spoken… His name is Jesus.

May we ever have our eyes opened to see beyond our expectations.  Our God is love and the fruit of his love is salvation and righteousness – all things good.  May we always know that God is God. 

Lord may your word (our Lord Jesus Christ) dwell in us and bare much fruit to your Glory.  AMEN.