“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” – Isaiah 57:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 31, 2013): Isaiah 57

There are some things that chase us through life. One of them is the things that we have left undone. There are few pains that rank higher than leaving a dream unpursued. Often it is fear that keeps us from chasing after our dreams, but at the time that we allowed fear to win, we often miss the future pain that will hunt us because of the things that we did not do.

Our second pursuers are the mistakes that we have made - missteps in judgment, or accidents, actions that we have committed that we may not have chosen to do, but we did them anyway. One would think that the things that we did not mean to do would not hurt us as much as time progresses, but we are wrong. Intent does not really seem to matter. We can tell ourselves repeatedly that we didn’t mean to do it, but the pain does not seem to answer that kind of logic. No matter what our motives, the pain is still there.

The third thing that chases us are our own wrong actions that we purposed to do. The pain usually lasts much longer than the benefits of the actual act. And the resulting pain often makes peace impossible. We wake up every day and we want peace, sometimes we can even lie and pretend that we are at peace, but if we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that our past has chased us – haunted us – driving any chance for peace away. And in our darker moments, the pain almost seems ready to overwhelm us.

It is this phenomenon that God seems to speak to through Isaiah. These are the things that interfere with our peace; that make peace impossible for the wicked. And, unfortunately, we are all wicked in some way – the proof of our wickedness is found in the things that continually chase us. But God had an answer for the things that haunt us. And his answer was to repeatedly point us toward the present – and his future. God maintains that he is the God of the past, present and the future. But we are not God. We have absolutely no ability to change the shadows of the past, and the future is the domain of only God. Our reality is that the present is the only thing that we have any control over.

So God does the unthinkable. He offers us full forgiveness for the shadows chasing us in the past. He promises that he will not bring these things up again. We get the pass with him that we have always deep down believed was impossible. And then God assures us that he will take care of the future – it is solidly in his hands. But then he challenges us to act in the present in a way that honors him, because the present is the only thing we have any control over. And God’s promise is that if we do this, then we can find peace.

Tonight we traditionally stand on a threshold. Today is New Year’s Eve – a day to look back. Tomorrow is New Year’s Day, a day when we traditionally look forward. But the truth that we need to understand is that it is only the in between time that we need to concentrate on – the present. And there, forgiven and confident in the God of the future – there we can find peace.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 58

… to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. – Isaiah 56:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 30, 2013): Isaiah 56

I think that the arrogance of the Christian Church is often more of an enemy to Christian belief than anything that Satan might be trying to do in our culture. I find it every time I admit that I want to confront a problem that the Church thinks it has handled. Arrogance is involved every time we say that we know things that we just can’t know. I believe that God has left us with some puzzles that we, as Christians, are intended to grow through. The list of things that I can say that I know absolutely is actually fairly short. I know that God loves me, I don’t understand why. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that for reasons that are beyond my comprehension he decided to leave all of the comforts of heaven to be born and live on earth like me. I know that I would not have made that decision, I prove it every day when I choose my own comfort over that of others. I know that I am a sinner, I have failed. I find no insult in John Newton’s terminology of “wretch.” That is exactly what I am. And yet, I also know that Jesus died for me. This, and maybe a few other things, I know. These things make up the core of my belief. There are other things that I believe, but they are not central to me. And part of my spiritual health is dependent on my ability to keep the central things – well, central.

But there are other things that I admit I believe, but they are just not central to my salvation, and so I hold onto these things very lightly. And there are some things that I do not understand, they are puzzles that God seems to have left for me. And Isaiah 56 presents me with one of those puzzles. God, speaking through Isaiah, says that he will give within the walls of the Temple of the God of Israel a memorial and a name that is better than sons and daughters to the eunuchs that are willing to follow him. But that seems to stand in direct opposition to the instructions of Moses (and God) in Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 23:1, eunuchs are specifically excluded from temple. And then in Acts 8 it is the Ethiopian Eunuch that asks Philip why he can’t be baptized (which would indicate inclusion in the church.) And at the time of Acts 8, the Christian Church was still very Jewish. To be excluded from the temple would seem to also indicate exclusion from the church (at this point circumcision was still required for Christians.) And yet, Philip baptizes him. For me, this is puzzle.

And it also a warning. It is like a message from God cautioning me that I do not have everything figured out. I am not even supposed to have everything figured out. I am not God, and there are some things that I need to leave to him. Because I am not God, there is no room in my life for arrogance. In fact, arrogance is a sin that I need to do my best to avoid.

For the church, passages like this should stand as a warning against peripheral dogmas. There are many things that should be topics of discussion in the Christian church – subjects that are open to respectful debate – and even differences in opinion between believers. But none of these issues are barriers to salvation – because these are the things that we cannot know.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 57

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. – Isaiah 55:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 29, 2013): Isaiah 55

On Sunday, December 15, 2013, Joan Fontaine died. But in the days following her death, the headlines did not talk about all of the great things that the actress had accomplished during her life. I did not see one headline that said “Oscar Winning Actress from ‘Suspicion” Dies.” Instead, the headlines chose instead to proclaim the end of a life-long feud between Fontaine and her older sister, Olivia de Havilland. And I couldn’t seem to help but feel sad about the headlines, and also to think that the headlines were wrong. The truth is that the feud between the two sisters didn’t stop because one of them died. In fact, the reverse is true. Because the feud was never settled during the lives of the sisters, when Fontaine died it just cemented the feud as a permanent feature of history – forever. Death never solves a feud – it actually does the exact reverse, death makes a feud unsolvable.

Isaiah’s tells his readers to seek the Lord while he may be found; we need to call on him while he is near. And sometimes the pushback is that don’t we believe that God is always near and that he always wants to be found. And the answer is yes, but there are limitations on that belief, not because of God – because he is unlimited – but rather because of us – because we are limited. And one of the barriers for us is death. We cannot change the way life is lived after life is done. In many ways, everything that we have believed and the acts that we have committed ourselves to simply becomes permanent after death. Hitler is not remembered for his generous spirit, because at the moment that he died the cause that he had committed himself to was one of hate. And there is absolutely nothing that can be done now to change that. When you die, everything about you becomes permanent; none of it can be changed.

But there is another reality, and that is that sometimes we die early. No, it is not that we stop breathing and life ends – life actually goes on, but we are dead because we have become unchangeable. The Bible sometimes speaks of this as the “hardening of our hearts.” We come to believe so strongly that we are right in the various aspects of our lives that it is impossible to consider change. I know people who are so wrapped up in hate; they have worked so hard at making that hate a part of their lives, that they no longer believe that there is any reason to change. For Fontaine and de Havilland, their feud was like that. Both sisters were right and so it is quite possible that change had become simply unattainable. Isaiah is saying that our spiritual lives are the same way – yes, God is near and he wants to be found, but we have convinced ourselves that that is not true and so we stop reaching out toward him – not because God is no longer there, but because we no longer believe that God is there.

Reaching that point in our lives is tragic – the inability to repent and change is death before the end of life. Bitterness rages and there is nothing available to us to try and tame it. So Isaiah’s instruction is this, if you are experiencing God now, make the most of this moment. Because if you don’t, you might find that you have trained yourself not to experience him in the next.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 56

For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. – Isaiah 54:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 28, 2013): Isaiah 54

I remember standing outside the door of the room of one of my children listening to the sobs happening on just the other side of the door. They were being punished for something, but in those moments it seemed that I was being punished as well. Sometimes as a parent, we have to do the things that we don’t want to do. To be honest, that is probably the part about being an adult that we like the least. But we recognize that saying no and listening to the crying is part of the task of being a parent, even if we don’t like playing the part of the bad guy.

Isaiah again seems to be returning to the circumstances surrounding the Babylonian exile of Judah as he writes these words. It is doubtful that the meaning of the verse is exactly as we have it in our English Bibles. This passage probably should be interpreted the way that we should also interpret Jesus words from the cross – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)? I believe that we are committing error if we are allowed to see Jesus as really being forsaken by God on the Cross. But Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, and the reality was that in that moment the human side of Jesus was unable to feel the love of God. It is sometimes a circumstance in our own lives – sometimes it is quite possible for us to know of God’s love intellectually, but because of the pain that we are in, we cannot feel that same love emotionally. And whether we want to admit it or not, we are emotional beings. In this moment Jesus could not feel the love of God, therefore the sentiment that he expressed was true only according to how he felt. In the same way, Isaiah is speaking to the outcasts of Judah and he says that “for a moment I allowed you to feel like I had abandoned you – for a moment I allowed you to believe the unbelievable, that I had left you to fend off the world with your strategies, but the truth is that I was standing outside the door the whole time.” And when the moment has passed, with great compassion I am going to open the door and invite you back in to my purpose.

For Israel, this time of feigned abandonment by God would produce a change in character. That is exactly what any good parent hopes for. That this time alone would allow the child to grow into a better person. For seventy years God would leave Israel in Babylon, but after the seventy years were over, God’s compassion would compel him to open the door and bring Judah home.

We all go through times of pain when it seems like God is far away. But that is only our emotional understanding. The truth is that he has never been far. He is listening just outside the door, and at any moment his compassion will compel him to come rushing in to bring us home.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55

By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. – Isaiah 53:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 27, 2013): Isaiah 53

I recently read a bit of a history on the subject of the church and slavery. What amazed me was that the universal church really did not take a stand on the issue of slavery until very late in the process. Part of the history included a story of two pastors from the same denomination, men who would have had to stand on the same platform at any of the major functions of the denomination. The two men, on a superficial level, were friends, but there was a deep divide in their relationship. One of the pastors was a slave owner, while the other was an abolitionist. And in the book these two men were held up as an ideal of how people of good character can form a friendship in spite of some very significant differences.

But as I read the story, I began to see something different. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that slavery is wrong. There is also no doubt in my mind that the church did not take a stand against slavery as early as it should. Our story has been the story of the abolitionist pastor standing on the platform with the slave owner. The only way I can imagine this relationship working is if both pastors put away their personal beliefs about slavery. And in some areas that is indeed a laudable occurrence. But there are a few issues where we deserve to be chastised for not standing up against the evils of this world – even when it comes in the disguise of religious belief. And, according to the Bible, one of those areas where we are action is required of us would be in any circumstance where someone is oppressed. We stand for those who can’t.

The Bible, for the most part, is God’s instructions to the oppressed of the world. This might be one of the reasons that the affluent sometimes seem to struggle with biblical meaning. If there is one constant, it would seem to be that God stands with the oppressed – and God stands with those that are judged. And I realize that often the oppression and judgment of policies in the past often seem to be clearer to us than any current oppression, but I also believe that we need to work at recognizing the oppression in our current beliefs. We need to stand up for those who suffer under judgment in our world – no matter where it is that we might find them.

Isaiah describes the Suffering Servant, who the Christian Church recognizes as Jesus, as being carried away by both oppression and judgment. And yet no one of his generation stood up in his defence. For Isaiah, this would seem to be the greatest of sins. That we would be unwilling to care for those who need someone to stand in their stead – even if that action carries us into uncomfortable territory. For Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, the result of this oppression and the inaction of his generation, was that he would be separated from life. What made this even worse was that the Suffering Servant was being judged for sins that were not his own. The sins he suffered for belonged to the people who were willing to stand by and let him die.

Oppression is a constant in our world. But the church’s reality is that we need to stand against oppression, no matter where it is that it is found and who it is that we stand against. And we need to be repentant about the people that we oppress, all so that we might be considered part of the movement of the Kingdom of God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 54

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. – Isaiah 52:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 26, 2013): Isaiah 52

On November 11, 1843, Danish poet and author Hans Christian Anderson first published his fairy tale – The Ugly Duckling. The tale is a barnyard story of a misfit bird who is like none of the other birds in the barnyard. Because of the differences between this bird and all of the other birds, the misfit is abused by the other animals in the barnyard. In the story, the bird is chased from the barnyard and decides to live with the wild ducks and geese. But, even here in the forest, the torment that started in the barnyard continued. So the Ugly Duckling moves on to find a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen continue the merciless teasing. So, once more, the duckling leaves. The duckling is confronted with a migrating flock of swans and is impressed by their beauty and majesty, but the duckling is too small and too young to fly with the swans and so he wanders off again. A farmer finally finds the ducking cold and dying and brings it to his home, but the children of the house are noisy and the duckling is easily frightened and so he runs away once again. That winter was a miserable winter for the duckling, but he survives on what he can find to eat and hiding for most of the winter in a cave. When spring arrives once more he finds himself confronted with the returning flock of swans. Lonely and tired the ducking decides to try to join the swans, thinking to himself that it would be better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to be forced to live out the rest of his days in loneliness. But, much to his surprise, the swans do not kill him, but rather accept him without question into their group. The duckling is bewildered until he looks at his own reflection in the water of the pond and realizes that he has matured into a beautiful swan. The story is often used to encourage children who are teased by their peers as a reminder that there is something special in them as well. Each one of us harbors a swan inside of us just waiting to be released.

This verse starts a new prophecy for Isaiah. It is a prophecy that we know of as “The Suffering Servant” passage. Composed about 500 years before the birth of Christ, it is a passage that has been almost universally accepted as telling the story of Jesus. The passage talks about Jesus being beaten and mocked. It talks about the homeliness of Jesus; that there was nothing in his appearance to commend him to us. But the prophecy starts off with this reminder. The Suffering Servant would do all that was asked of him, and in the end he would not just be lifted up, but he would be highly exalted. The one that, for a while, we would be able to find no beauty in, would one day be the most beautiful sight that the world could imagine seeing.

The Baby, born in a manger, born to die for the sins of the world, is also the one that would one day be placed back on the throne of heaven to reign over all of creation. In the end, the Bible says that the story of Jesus is the real tale of the Ugly Duckling – the Savior of the world who became like us, and was abused by us, all in order to save us. And that is the real mystery of Christmas.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 53

… and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. – Luke 2:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 25, 2013): Luke 2

I love Craig Groeschel’s idea of ‘it.’ He applies the idea of it – an intangible that some organizations have and some don’t – to his understanding of the church. He says that some churches have it and some don’t. Craig insists that it can’t be described – and that he really doesn’t know how to get it, although there are things that we can do to increase or decrease the possibilities of having it.

It seems obvious – but on top of the list has to be that the church must make room for Jesus. He can’t be just a concept or an idea. We have to know him and the reality of his presence. Jesus is the only one whose person is more important than his ideas. Jesus is real and we have to understand that. If he is anything less, we won’t have it. And since the church is – well us – he has to be real in our lives.

If we want it – there has to be room for him in our lives. There might have been no room at the inn for Jesus, but for life to go the way it was designed to, we have to make room for him in our lives. Is there room for Jesus in your life, or have you put up the no vacancy sign? The choice is ours. Why not make room for Jesus today – and have a Merry Christmas.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 52

This post was originally published on December 25, 2009

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” – Luke 1:34

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 24, 2013): Luke 1

How often do you talk about someday? It is so easy and pervasive. Someday – when we get our life together – we will …  I have a lot of things on my Someday list. Someday I want to write a novel – or maybe a book on worship. I have a great idea for a musical that I want to work on. And there is the more mundane. Someday I am really going to give my garage a good cleaning – or put away all the items that I moved out of my office recently. Someday.

And I add items to the list easily. When I discuss projects with the people I minister with – often the projects get added to the someday pile. I mean – you don’t expect that this is something that is going to happen now?

Maybe that is what makes this verse a little surprising. The angel comes to Mary with this great message – you are going to become pregnant and the child that you will have will be the Messiah. And it might have been natural for Mary to add that little message to the someday pile. I mean – she knew that someday she would become pregnant. She was engaged to Joseph and they had every intention of bringing up a family. And now the angel was saying that one of her children would be the Messiah – someday.

But Mary didn’t hear the angel that way. She didn’t hear someday – she heard now. And now it was impossible because she was a virgin. But what Mary hears was exactly the message that the angel had intended to convey to her. This is not about someday – it is about now.

Christmas always is. This isn’t about adding something to your someday list. Jesus stepped down from heaven into our now. He didn’t come for your someday – his sacrifice was to impact who you are right now. He came to change this world for the better – now. This isn’t a pie in the sky, someday thing. It is now!

Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of Christ. Make sure that Christmas doesn’t impact your someday – let it impact your now.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 2

This post was originally published on December 24, 2009

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) message "Four Corners" from the series "Christ and Culture" is now available on the VantagePoint website. You can find it here.

“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? – Isaiah 51:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 23, 2013): Isaiah 51

Kings die and empires die. It is simply a fact of life. I have to admit that sometimes I wonder why kings do not ask themselves one simple question – how will I be remembered when I am gone? What is the lasting legacy that I will leave to my people – and to my family, the ones that carry my name? But instead of asking that question, the more common question that seems to be asked is how do I get what I want out of this life? And it is not just emperors that are asking the question – that is the question that is on our lips as well.

I admit that there are things that I have done during my life time that have hurt my legacy. It would seem that even I am not immune to the deficit of simply wanting what I want. Sometimes, as Christians, we need to be reminded that the beginnings of our faith were humble ones. A baby born in a manger, a people who only seemed to only want to serve the culture in which it lived. In the very beginning, Christianity was the anti-empire, it had no way to achieve power, and in the beginning no ambition to be in power. Christians were aliens – strangers in a strange land. Christians were persecuted, but that did not seem to change their outlook – after all, their founder had been executed on a cross. For Aristotle, to die in battle in defense of the king and empire was the greatest example of courage and honor. For the early Christian, to die in non-violent service to Christ the King – to be executed because of the Jesus message was the path of real courage and honor. And in the early days of our faith, many Christians ended their lives on precisely that path. But with the rise of Constantine to Emperor in the Rome, all of that changed. The strangers living in a strange land became the chosen and honored residents – and in a strange twist of history, the persecuted became the persecutors. In that moment, we lost the legacy that we had been intended for (and many would argue we lost our soul as well). And it may be that the Christian church has never regained the legacy that we lost back in the early moments of the fourth century.

And that might be one of the reasons that Jesus was born in a manger instead of in a warm room in the inn - to serve as a reminder of what our legacy was always intended to be. We are aliens – strangers in a strange land. We were never intended to be the law makers, we follow the law of Christ which makes us servants to those around us. We are salt and light, members of the anti-empire or ant-kingdom, a countercultural force in the darkness of this world. We recognize that the only thing of permanence is our God. Kings and empires will always rise and fall (as much as some of us do not want to believe it that would include the Christian Empire which rose in the fourth century and has been slowly diminishing for the last few generations.) All the things of man are like grass, they are here today and gone tomorrow. But the Christ, born in a manger and executed on a cross, rising again on the third day, is the only thing of permanence that we have. And if he is for us, “then who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 1

I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. – Isaiah 50:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 22, 2013): Isaiah 50

In the movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” there is a great scene of the family around the dinner table. They are ready to eat, but before they eat, they pray. And Ricky Bobby begins the mealtime prayer by addressing it to Baby Jesus. He is reminded by various family members that Jesus grew up, but that fact has little effect on Ricky who starts his prayer over again. “Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled up little fists pawin’ at the air …” Ricky is pressed by the other characters that Jesus was a man and that he had a beard, but Ricky Bobby is undeterred. After all, Ricky likes the baby version of Jesus the best. 

As I write this, Christmas is only a few days away. It is a joyful time of year, and there are probably a lot of us that would admit that we like the baby version of Jesus the best. At its best, Christmas is a happy time of year. At least, that is what we want it to be. The Christmas story itself is filled with comforting images; a baby in a manger surrounded by love, angels that come down from heaven to bring the good news to shepherds, and even wise men bringing gifts to the child that they believe will one day be “The King of the Jews.” But along with the comforting images, there are also disquieting ones, including a prophecy from an old priest by the name of Simeon – “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:34-35). They were probably not exactly the words that Mary was waiting to her.

Yet from some of the earliest writings about the Messiah, the suffering of the one who would be the Christ is also a common thread. We can’t speak of the birth of Jesus, without being reminded of the death that he was being born for. As much as we might be comforted by the birth of Christ, his purpose is fulfilled in only in his death. And that is one of the reasons why the death and resurrection of Jesus was immediately recognized, while it was centuries before anyone thought of celebrating the birth.

This passage is messianic (meaning that it is written about Jesus) in its nature. And that fact is attested to by Jesus. As he was getting ready for his last journey into Jerusalem, “Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. …” (Luke 18:31-33). The scene that Jesus had in mind would seem to come directly from this passage in Isaiah. There is no mention of the beard of Jesus being pulled out by his tormentors (it is mentioned by Isaiah), but it would also not be a surprise if they were – that painful act would have been a common torture of the day.

So our reality is that even in the joy of our Christmas celebrations, we are also reminded of the death of Christ. In many ways the two events cannot be separated. As much as we may want to pray at Christmas time to Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus – the Baby grew up, and he had a beard that could be pulled out and a back that would be laid open to the whip of the flogger – and a death so that we might live.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51

Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. – Isaiah 49:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 21, 2013): Isaiah 49

A number of years ago I watched a drama that tried to tell the stories of those who were touched by the ministry of Jesus. The story centered on the lives of these people after Jesus crucifixion. Filled with imagination, the author tried desperately to tell the story of those who had been left behind to live out their own lives in the shadow of the cross. It was a mix of people who had absolutely nothing in common, other than that they knew and were touched by the life and death of Jesus Christ of Galilee. And one of the characters in the drama was a man named Barabbas. It is interesting that the name Barabbas really means “Son of the Father.” It was a name that Jesus, by his words and actions, claimed for himself. Jesus was the ultimate Barabbas – the ultimate “Son of the Father.” But in the biblical story, Barabbas is also the name of the murderer who was set free as a Passover Gift to the people at the time of Jesus death. Both Jesus and Barabbas were offered to the people as that gift, but the people chose the one who was “Son of the Father” by name rather than Jesus, the one who was “Son of the Father” in deed.

During the drama, Barabbas struggles with the idea that Jesus died in his stead. He was ready to die, proud to die and feed the anti-Roman revolution with his last breath, but instead he was allowed to live and Jesus was chosen to die. The Barabbas of the drama talked about that day, of following Jesus up the hill, watching the nails being hammered into his hands, seeing the cross being lifted up and watching this man hanging very literally in his place. Barabbas struggled to hear the words that Jesus would utter, he hoped to hear Jesus curse the Romans with his last breath, but that never happened. Barabbas was looking for the nearest Roman guard intent on stealing his weapons and killing him and as many others as he could before they finally killed him. He was ready to do it when he heard the words “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Barabbas turned to look at the man dying on the cross. The words were addressed to the Father, but Jesus was looking at the man called the “Son of the Father.” The words pierced him. And in that moment everything changed. Maybe for the first time the one called Barabbas realized his own identity – that he was the “Son of the Father.”

Barabbas left the hill that day along with his former life. He decided to follow the one who lived out his name better than he had ever lived it – the one who was really the “Son of the Father.” Not only did he follow him spiritually, but on that day Barabbas became a carpenter. He admits that he is not much of one, still learning the trade as it were, but he was content simply being a carpenter and leaving the world of revolution.

And as Barabbas works, he sings a song. The words for the song on Barabbas’s lips are from Isaiah 49 - Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. The tune isn’t much, but the words speak it all.

Isaiah couldn’t imagine a person who had been comforted and redeemed not wanting to sing – to burst into song – about the one that had redeemed them; had literally paid a price to buy them back. And neither could Barabbas. He had been bought for a price, the man that had hung on the cross that day had paid for his life with his own. And now all Barabbas wanted to do was to shout for joy.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50

  

Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.” – Isaiah 48:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 20, 2013): Isaiah 48

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Infinite Regress,” Seven of Nine is confronted with a Borg version of a Multiple Personality Disorder. Voices begin to speak to Seven, and at times the voices threaten to overwhelm her. And she begins to respond to stimuli that are simply not present. The result is confusing – Seven simply is unable to understand all that is happening to her. It might be the most terrifying condition that a person may have to suffer through – finding yourself in a place where you can no longer even trust your own senses and yet knowing that you need to take some kind of actions.

We have discussed earlier in this blog the theory the chapters starting with Isaiah forty were written later than the first thirty-nine chapters of the book. There are a few reasons, and a few passages that seem to stick out as being written later. And again, part of the issue is with verses like this one. This command makes absolutely no sense if it was written to the pre-exilic Judean community who had no idea that they are going to spend 70 years in exile in Babylon. The passage in itself is a reaction to a stimulus that just is not there – yet. But it was a badly needed message for those who were taken to Babylon – a reminder that they would one day be redeemed by God and returned home.

But there would be another problem. After 70 years in Babylon, Babylon had become the only home that many of the exiled Jews knew. So when the moment of release came, many seemed to have no desire to return to Jerusalem and Judea. It was like they were suffering from a personality disorder – in this moment they identified more with Babylon than they did with their homeland – and more with the gods of Babylon than with the God who had promised to them the very land they were being invited back into.

So Isaiah instructs the people to scream the news from the rooftops. God has redeemed the descendants of Jacob, and he is calling them home. It was a message that needed to be continually repeated, as far as the Babylonian empire extended, until the children of Jacob heard the message and returned to their land, their homes, and their inheritance.

Sometimes we miss the obvious. Like a person who can no longer trust our own senses, we have tendency to forget who it is that we are – and that our Father loves us. And that he is still calling us to make a difference. And sometimes we need to find someone who is willing to remind us of what should be obvious – someone who is willing to shout the message from the rooftops on the hope that we will hear the message and be able to understand. We are the loved and valued of God – and God is calling us to a purpose, a purpose that can only be fulfilled by us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49

All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. – Isaiah 47:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 19, 2013): Isaiah 47

I don’t like horoscopes. I know quite a few people that seem to never leave the house without checking their stars, but it has never made a whole lot of sense to me. I am also not big on fortune tellers – or fortune cookies for that matter. My problem with all of this is that it feels a little too much like I am waiting for life to happen to me. Either I have a tall, dark, and handsome stranger in my future or not (being a guy I am not sure what I would do with one of those – but ladies, maybe you can tell me why you are all meeting the same guy), but either way I am just not convinced that any of it is written in the stars. My desire is to pursue life and chase it down, not to passively wait for life to happen to me.

The real message of Isaiah seems to be that Babylon has become complacent. There seems to have been a change in the way that the Empire is being run from the days of the proactive Nebuchadnezzar. The current method of defending the empire seems to have been to depend on the magicians of the nation to search out the stars and predict the moves of the enemy, and then further depending on their magic to defeat the attacking enemy. All without having to expend any other kind of physical energy in their own defence.

But Isaiah reminds Israel that the strategy is not going to work. Babylon’s practice of depending on their stargazers to tell them what was going to happen in the future and a magical defence of the empire was about to fail. All of their chasing after astrologers, and stargazers, and all of their readings of the monthly reports of their fortune tellers was going to accomplish nothing except to make them tired. In the end, Babylon was still going to fall.

But all of this might add a bit of an explanation concerning the strange night that Babylon did fall. On that night, Belshazzar, the prince who had been left in charge of the city, would be enjoying himself at a drunken feast with his friends while the gates of the city were left undefended. And the reason for the city’s lack of preparedness might simply be that the prince had placed a higher trust in his magicians and astrologers than he had in his advisors. Even though we know that Belshazzer had received numerous reports concerning the advancing Persian army, he chose to ignore them placing his trust in the stars instead of in his military.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 48

From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. – Isaiah 46:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 18, 2013): Isaiah 46

The Shahbaz was a fabled bird that was supposed to have lived in the mountain ranges of Iran. The Shahbaz has been described as being a bird much like the American Bald Eagle. Much like the Bald Eagle, the Shahbaz was regal in nature, in fact, the name Shahbaz really means “Royal Bird.” But the Shahbaz was more than just a bird. For the ancient Persians, the Shahbaz was a god. The bird was thought to be the guiding force behind the Persian Empire. Ever circling high in the sky above the sacred Persian land, the bird’s eyes saw all that happened within the empire – and protected the people and the king.

What is maybe significant for Bible scholars is that archaeologists have found flags and military standards from the time of Cyrus the Great decorated with this mythical bird of prey. It is thought that beginning with the reign of Cyrus the Great and continuing through his immediate descendants that the Shahbaz became the symbol of Persia and the standard that flew above the empires conquering military. Some have suggested that the Shahbaz was an appropriate symbol for Cyrus, whose armies struck swiftly and often without much warning.

So once again we have a very specific prophecy given to the Judean exiles living in Babylon reminding them that God is already at work in sending their relief. Isaiah speaks of God summoning a bird of prey from the East. And the allusion could refer to no one other than Cyrus and Persians. According to Isaiah, God was summoning the Shahbaz to come and fly to Babylon and send his people back home. And again, Isaiah makes it very clear that this foreign king would be serving God’s purpose.

Cyrus the Great would become known as the great liberator for his practice of sending the slaves of the nations that he conquered back home. And this practice of freeing the slaves earned Cyrus the Great something that very few conquerors could claim – the respect of the people that he ruled over.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 47

“This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut – Isaiah 45:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 17, 2013): Isaiah 45

I recently had a conversation with a friend that centered on the Biblical prophecy of the end of the world. My friend was in search of specifics about the end, but as much as some might argue differently, the Bible does not ever give us specifics about future events. Whenever the Bible talks about the future, the words are veiled – and often only understood clearly after the events have already become a reality. An example might be the famous prophecy of Isaiah that “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son” (Isaiah 7:14). Critics of the passage are quick to point out that the church has misinterpreted the prophecy; that the passage should be read that a young woman will be with child – which after all is not all that amazing. And the truth is that the passage really could be translated that way. But what we do know is that the Christian Biblical writers did not interpret it that way. For them, Mary the virgin (and a young woman) giving birth to a child (Jesus) was a fulfilment of the Isaiah prophecy. But we understand the prophecy more fully after the birth of Jesus than we did before. But it is also significant that Isaiah did not say that the Virgin Mary would conceive and give birth to a son – the Isaiah prophecy is just not that specific.

Which is one of the problems with this passage if we regard the whole Book of Isaiah as being written in the late eight or early seventh century B.C.E. by a single Isaiah. Cyrus is named in this passage, but he would not even be born until the sixth century. The prophecy is specific, naming Cyrus as if the words were written during the days of Cyrus the Great and the expansion of his empire throughout the known world.  And the purpose of the passage is not to give prophecy of the rise of an unknown king, but rather the writer of the prophecy is giving explanation about the rise and reign of this very specific king.

And the explanation is that Cyrus was the anointed of God – he was part of God’s plan. If this passage was written from the point of view of the Babylonian exile, then the prophet needs the people to understand that everything is going according to the plan of God. Nebuchadnezzar, the foreign king responsible for their presence in Babylonian in the first place, was also God’s anointed king. Nebuchadnezzar was raised by God according to his plan to fulfill God’s specific purpose. And now Isaiah reminds the exiles that Cyrus the Great is also God’s anointed. God has raised Cyrus up to lead the empire for exactly this moment. The gates of the city would be left open so that Cyrus would not be kept out.

It might even be that Isaiah was speaking specifically of the City of Babylon, because that almost precisely describes the events of October 7, 540 B.C.E. On that night, Cyrus entered the city of Babylon unopposed. God had raised up Cyrus as the other bookend of the exile. Cyrus would be the king that return Judah home – and Judah would once more realize that they had never been out of the hands of God.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 46

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. – Isaiah 44:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 16, 2013): Isaiah 44

Lucy Jane Rider Meyer had plans to work as a medical missionary in some foreign country. The man that she was planning to marry was also in preparation to become a doctor bound to work alongside of his bride in some foreign country in need of their specialized talents. But in 1875, life dealt a blow to the young couple. Lucy was 26 when her husband to be passed away, and with him all of the dreams that Lucy had held for the future. But unforeseen circumstances could not tear Lucy away from her purpose. She had a heart for the poor and oppressed. But instead of finding fulfillment of that purpose in a foreign land, she found a way of fulfilling her dream at home. Her heart’s desire carried her into a life dedicated to social work and serving the urban poor – the ones that most of us have become used to simply not seeing.

But Lucy saw them, and sight of them drove her to find a solution. But ultimately, she also understood that the only real solution would have to come from God. One day, in 1884, she was reading these words in Isaiah 44. God’s promise was that he would come to the ones that needed him, and the people that she worked with desperately needed him. They were a dry ground desperately in need of a flood.

And so Lucy Meyer, a social worker in Chicago working with the poor penned these words:

“I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your hearts for the gifts I am bringing;
While ye are seeking Me, I will be found.”

The words of Isaiah, Meyer claimed for the people that she worked with. But originally the words had been intended for another group of people that were being oppressed against their will. Israel thought at one point that they knew God, but that was before the exile – before the temple had been torn off of its foundation. Now they were seeking him – hoping almost against hope that they would one day be able to find the God of their youth and the One worshipped by their ancestors.

God had responded then that he would be found by all who were willing to seek him. On that day, his Spirit would be poured out on the ones most in need. Those who were thirsty would drink, and the desert would receive so much water that it would overflow. The captives would be released. Meyer recognized that the original promise for Israel was now a promise toward anyone who would recognize that they needed God – even the unseen ones that she had captured her heart.

Maybe one of the side effects of our over confident civilization is that we have become the ones with no need for God. We think we are self-sufficient and totally capable of handling life all by ourselves. And all that really means is that we are the ones who God will not pour himself over – because we believe that we have no need of him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. – Isaiah 43:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 15, 2013): Isaiah 43

Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood concepts of our time. For us, we believe that forgiveness means to let somebody else “off the hook” for the things that they have done. To not hold them responsible, maybe even to not make them feel bad for the actions that they have done. When we say that we will never forgive, what we think we are saying is that we will never allow them rest from that bad feeling deep inside of them that arises out of the knowledge that they have hurt us in some way. They will always carry the guilt with them because they are the unforgiven. But reality is somewhat different. For the most part, the people that we hold grudges against seldom know that we are holding a grudge, only that we are acting like idiots. And even if they do realize that we hold a grudge against them, they often don’t know exactly why. Nor are they staying up at night worrying about it. We who hold the grudge are the only ones doing that. The real stupidity with regard to our unwillingness to forgive is that we pay the double penalty – we pay for the act that was committed against us, and we keep that act fresh in our lives, paying the price over and over again in memory, because we will not forgive and we will never forget.

The act of forgiveness is simply letting ourselves of the hook for the actions that others have taken against us. A few years ago I had numerous conversations with a woman that felt that she had been wronged. She could recount every action that had been taken against her – and not only was this something that she could do, this act of remembering was a practice that she undertook on a daily basis. Every day she recounted the crimes that had been committed against her, remembering over and over again the pain of what others had done to her. As a result her sleep suffered, her health suffered, even the way that she went about doing her regular chores suffered. She simply relived the moment over and over again, vowing never to forgive. In this case I also was in contact with the ones that had taken the action against her. And not surprisingly they seldom gave this woman a second thought. They believed that their actions were necessary and that she was crazy – and absolutely nothing in their lives changed. The woman paid the double penalty while those she held her grudge against got off free.

Isaiah’s words in this passage bring up images of God’s forgiveness for us. And often we seem to read these words with our theological glasses on. We believe that this passage is talking about his love for us, his love for the lost that is so great that even the most heinous of sinners can find forgiveness at the cross - that the debt that needed to be paid for sins, has been paid. God paid it himself and in order to welcome us into his family, a debt that has been paid by Jesus us a debt that is no longer even remembered.

And I think that all of that is there – but there might be an even simpler message that is also present in this passage. God, even God, is not willing to pay the price over and over again for things that we refuse to be repentant for. Yes, he has paid the price, but the next move is really up to us. Either we will stop doing the things that hurt God, or we will ignore the action of God and let life continue as it always has. But, what God has paid for, he has truly forgotten. And even God refuses to be hurt by our repeated sins against him and against his holiness. What we do with the sins that he has paid for and removed from his presence – and the life that we decide to continue to live – well, that is totally up to us. God remembers it no more.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 44

Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. – Isaiah 42:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 14, 2013): Isaiah 42

The church seems to be stuck in its ways. I am not speaking of certain doctrines that we have seemed to allow to creep into the church that are more traditional than biblical – but we do have some sacred cows inside the Christian Church that are crying out to be made into Holy Hamburgers. But even in our non-biblical traditions we are in a rut. I recently attended an Advent Chapel at an educational institution and left with the firm idea that they thought that the traditional Christmas Carols, most of which were written within the last 500 years, were way too contemporary, and so they searched and found carols that were older – or were newer and written in a style that made them appear like they were straight out of the 12^th Century. It is an old argument that I have spoken to a few times in this blog.

With this in mind, and a sermon to be preached on “Joy to the World” tomorrow (Isaac Watts who wrote “Joy to the World” and many other hymns in our current hymnbooks was criticized all throughout his life for his hymns which were categorized as being too secular and spent way too much time and effort on presenting a “pretty tune” rather than “theological lyrical content”), it seemed appropriate to drag out the issue one more time. We need both the old and the new in our lives.

Maybe we need to be reminded that in 1952 a mainline Christian denomination took steps to ban a song that they considered to be both “artistically and morally bankrupt.” The song was starting to be sung in the denominational churches and leadership decided that they needed to nip this practice in the bud and publically ban the song from being sung; thereby protecting the people sitting in the pews from being influenced by this ungodly song. The song in question was “How Great Thou Art” which had been released to English congregations in 1949. Today, most of us are glad that the protectors of the music lost the battle and that “How Great Thou Art” won.

But part of the problem is that the new and the old seem to approach God differently. I often hear about the good theology of the hymns versus the non-existent theology in today’s Contemporary Christian music. But the argument is wrong. First, not all old hymns are examples of great theology. Often what attracts us to them is that they are familiar, not great theological content. But secondly, it is also not that the contemporary music lacks in good theology (although I readily admit that there are contemporary songs being sung in our churches with really bad theology), it is just that contemporary music attacks theology in a different way. What made sense and was part of the experience three hundred years ago (or even forty years ago for my Gaither fans) is not how the writers view their experience today. The songs are written out of the writers personal experience with God – and that is what makes the song a praise worthy of God. They are simply an expression of what God has done in me

And that is the point that Isaiah (as well as a number of Psalms) are trying to make. How is it that you can have an experience with the living God and not have the experience shape what you are singing? For some, that means writing the new song that comes from the heart and is an expression of the way that you are experiencing God in your life. For others, it is finding the song that most clearly expresses your experience with God – and when you find it, it shouldn’t matter whether the song is old or new.    

But Isaiah would issue this imperative – find the song. If God is impacting your life, sing the song with every fibre that God has placed inside of you. It has never been about the tune – the song you sing is simply your expression of the life God has placed inside of you. And that will always be what truly makes the song special.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43

Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. – Isaiah 41:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 13, 2013): Isaiah 41

Potential often has an elusive quality. When we are young, potential is something that we want to have. Potential speaks to our future – but only of a possible future. Potential at some point has to be realized, but potential is not always realized. Potential may lie inside of us, but we still require a strength of character to make the potential a reality.

The Babylonian empire has a long history, but in many ways it is a story of what might have been. Babylon seems to be marked with great potential, but that potential was never really achieved. The empire has risen and fallen throughout its long history, but often seems to fall just short of all that it might have been. As these words were being written by Isaiah, Babylon was once again on the rise. Judah would end up becoming a victim of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (New Babylonian Empire) under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. But the reign of the Neo-Babylonian Empire would really only reach it zenith during the life of Nebuchadnezzar – and then once again it would fall with its potential still unrealized.

The words of Isaiah seem to point to the end of the Babylonian Captivity. No nation up until this time had ever returned from captivity, but Isaiah’s words of encouragement seem to indicate that this would not be Judah’s fate. One day, Judah would wake up in their captivity, but their enemy, the nation that was responsible for their presence in Babylon in the first place, would have simply disappeared. The reality of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was that Nebuchadnezzar II had the strength of character that was necessary to reveal Babylon’s potential, but the two kings that would follow Nebuchadnezzar would lack that character. And the result would be that Babylon’s strength would one day simply vanish – along with all of their potential.

And Judah would return home with potential of their own. Isaiah needed to Judah to understand that God still saw potential inside of them, and they were going to receive a second chance to follow that potential. But to realize the potential they would need the strength of character to follow God (interestingly enough, it was a strength to follow God that Nebuchadnezzar displayed as he chased his own potential.)

Our potential still lies in our strength of character and our willingness to follow God. And it is never too late to realize that potential.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) message "The Centurion's Vision" from the Series "Christ and Culture" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here. 

A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. - Isaiah 40:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 12, 2013): Isaiah 40

No one ever gave us a guarantee as to numbers. There was never really a promise spoken over us regarding tomorrow. As the days pass, we are given the illusion of immortality – but we know it is only an illusion, a dream that has been fabricated from somewhere deep inside of us. And one day will be our last day. It might be that the most frustrating fact of this life is that we know that we are not the only ones who will enter that last day. Every one that we cherish and want to hold onto will also have their own last day. And there is absolutely nothing that any of us can do to stop that day from coming.

Some Bible Scholars have postulated that as we move from Isaiah 39 to Isaiah 40, that we are actually passing from the first Isaiah to a second. The idea behind the theory is that while Isaiah 1 - 39 speak harshly of Israel trying desperately to get the people to change their behavior before God brings disaster on the nation, starting with Isaiah 40 there is a change of tone in what Isaiah is saying – Isaiah started to desire to be more of a comfort. It is as if from Isaiah 1 – 39 the prophet carries warnings of the coming of the last day, but starting with Isaiah 40 the last day has arrived. Looking back in history, that last day would have been the exile of Judah into Babylon. But we suspect that the prophet Isaiah died during the evil reign of Manasseh of Judah, we know he would have never survived to see the exile. The exile was still decades after the prophet’s death. Yet the imagery starting in Isaiah 40 is so startlingly real we have to wonder.

The theory is hotly debated. Both sides claiming ground that they really have no right to claim. The truth is that we do not know. But for the rest of the book of Isaiah, we will have to examine life in a very different way. Where the first Isaiah cried out about the power and woes of God, this Isaiah, whether a different man or just an older version of the first, now questions the very things that he has to say. Like Marley in “A Christmas Carol,” the prophet hears the world asking for him for comfort and the prophet is not sure that he has any to give.

But this he knows. This life is fragile. It carries no guarantees. But as fragile as this life is, God is sturdy. As short as our days are, God’s are unending. Isaiah imagery is of the hills of Judah after the winter rains - he marvels at how lush and green and filled with flowers they are. But it does not take long for the grass to brown and the flowers to die under the hot Middle Eastern Sun. And his realization is that this scene that he has watched over and over again during the length of his life is also a description of life itself. The only thing permanent were the things that emanated from his God. And so the prophet responds to the voice – what is it that I should cry? Because I do not want to waste my voice on things that do not come from you.

The prophet’s question needs to be our own. Why would we waste our breath on anything that does not come from God? What we need to say, we want to be stamped with the character of the one whose days are truly unending. They are now – and they always have been.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 41

Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” – Isaiah 38:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 11, 2013): Isaiah 38 & 39

I recently read an article on the benefits of quitting smoking. Our bodies are made in such a way that we actually start the healing process about twenty minutes after our last puff. So the idea is that it is never really too late to reap some of the benefits of quitting. And the benefits are amazing. Among others, the article listed better sex, a healthier stomach process, a decrease in the chances that you will develop arthritis, better and more restful sleep, a stronger heart and even the food you eat will taste better - all as a result of quitting smoking. And beyond that, we get a chance to be one of those annoying ex-smokers that are telling everyone else to quit smoking (Okay that might not be a benefit.) And yet, with all of the positives many of us still don’t quit. And that speaks volumes about the addictive qualities of cigarettes. We are hooked and quitting is hard.

So we often need to ask for help. And there are many aids out there to help us on our new journey. Some have a better track record than others, and yet some of us do not even try these avenues. The excuse that I hear the most is that “right now I am experiencing too much stress to even think about quitting.” But that excuse assumes that there are times when we are not experiencing stress, and I just haven’t noticed very many of those moments around recently. The bottom line is that to quit smoking, first we have to do something. Stopping the practice of buying cigarettes is one of the first recommended actions. But beyond that step, often we need to change our lifestyle, we have to avoid certain triggers if our new non-smoking behavior is going to take root. We need to avoid the things and the places where we liked to smoke. But something has to happen. The change in behavior needs to married to some specific action. We need it – it is just the way that we are designed.

Hezekiah moves from an illness that is going to end in death to an illness that can be cured with traditional medicine (a poultice made of figs was the approved way of handling a boil in the ancient world) very quickly. But the reality was that Hezekiah needed to do something if he was going to recover. Sitting back and just letting God heal him probably was not going to work. But too often we seem to read instructions like the ones found in this passage and think that we have discovered an ancient super cure. I can see the book now instructing us that a poultice of figs will cure everything from acne to cancer. But to make that suggestion misses the point. It was God that was going to cure Hezekiah, but God who created us knows that for lasting change to take root in our lives we need to be involved in the process. And so a poultice was developed as part of Hezekiah’s buy-in into the process.

So the instructions for Hezekiah were that he was to follow the standard medical process of the day. He was to use conventional medical wisdom to cure the illness – and let God move through that wisdom. Healing often seems to work this way. We do what we can – we act in support of the healing – and let God do the rest. Cults that believe that healing is an “only God” enterprise have missed some important biblical instructions. We need to do what we can do – and then allow God to move through the rest. And for smokers, that might be the secret to real healing in the process quitting smoking.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40

This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” – Isaiah 37:30

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 10, 2013): Isaiah 37

Near the end of the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman fought a battle we simply remember as his “March to the Sea.” The idea behind the March was that Sherman would take his 62,000 men and March through Georgia. What is amazing about the March is that from November 15, 1864 when the March began until December 21, 1864 when Sherman took control of the port of Savannah, Georgia, Sherman was without any way of gaining supplies for his troops. It is thought that an army might be able to carry a week’s supplies on it backs and maybe another week’s supplies with large carts (or in current day equipment - trucks) to carry the supplies, but to supply an army of this size for just over a month was impossible without an adequate supply line – something that General Sherman did not have.

But then again, that was never Sherman’s idea. Sherman’s idea was to take 62,000 men and live off of the land, while creating as much damage (a scorched earth policy) as possible to the land that they were travelling through. Sherman called this harsh tactic “Hard War” or “Total War” and many of his contemporaries did not think that this kind of war was possible. But when Sherman appeared in Savannah just over a month later, he had proved his critics wrong. The message that Sherman sent to President Lincoln after the fall of Savannah offering the President the city as a Christmas Present has become legendary. Sherman estimated that he and his troops had caused $100 million dollars’ worth of property damage during their month long walk through the Georgian countryside.

Isaiah’s prophecy about what the Hezekiah will eat over the next three years has been confusing for some. The question that is raised is why Judah could not live off of what they had planted during the second year. But the simple matter might be that the Assyrians had fought a “Hard War” as they moved through Judah. Living off the land and creating damage as the Assyrians moved through Judah, there would have been nothing left after the defeated Assyrian army returned for home. The people would have been forced to live off of what the land would give to them. But it is quite possible that the entire infrastructure of the nation would have been destroyed by the Assyrian army and in the second year, as well as needing to secure Judah’s borders, the nation would need to be rebuilt – and once again Judah would need to live off of the land. But according to the promise of God through Isaiah, during the third year life would once again return to normal. The people of Judah would return to the cycle of planting and harvesting. But until then, God would provide.

It is the promise of God that we all need to hang on to. Sometimes we can plant and harvest, sometimes we can provide for ourselves, sometimes our relationships work, but there are times when they we know that they just don’t. And it is in those moments that we need to cling to the promise of God that he will do the impossible - and provide what it is that we need.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 38 & 39