Pentecost 15B

Isaiah 35:4-7a

⁴Say to those who have fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. God will come with vindication, with restoration. God will come and save you."

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; ⁷the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Isaiah

Today we'll consider a reading from the 66 chapter long book of Isaiah. You may remember we divide Isaiah into three main sections:

• chapters 1-39, 1st Isaiah, before the Babylonian exile;
• chapters 40-55, 2nd Isaiah, during the exile;
• chapters 56-66, 3rd Isaiah, after the exile—

though it's not quite that neat. Each major section also includes prose or poetry that's probably from a different individual. After a series of judgments in previous chapters (that lead up to the bad news of exile to Babylon in Isaiah 36 through 39), today's chapter 35 brings the spirit of hope, renewal, and resurrection we find in Second Isaiah (chapters 40 through 55) that likely was written during the exile, and then got edited or redacted after homecoming to Jerusalem.


Practicing Resurrection

First Isaiah, or Isaiah of Jerusalem celebrates the effects of God's presence. The presence of God's people? Throughout scripture, death isn't only when you stop breathing and your body shuts down. Death is everything that limits a full life. Death is whatever interferes with our common life. Death is there when creation doesn't flourish. Resurrection sometimes restores spiritual life, sometimes physical or emotional or communal health. In baptism we receive God's Spirit of Resurrection from the dead. The poet Isaiah celebrates the outcome of God's presence, of the presence of God's people.

When John the Baptist was in prison, John told his followers to go ask his cousin Jesus if he [Jesus] was the promised one "who is to come," or if they needed to keep looking and searching for someone else. Jesus told John's followers, "Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, dead are raised, good news proclaimed to the poor…" [and blessed are those who take no offense, do not consider me a stumbling block/scandal."] Matthew 11:4,5,6 Luke 7:22,23

This Isaiah vision is even more dramatic than Jesus' message to John. Springs and streams, maybe actual rivers, glorify the desert wilderness. Water is life! Once-lame people not only walk, but leap like gazelles. Formerly speechless people not only talk, but sing!

Like God's promise in today's scripture, like Jesus' reply to his cousin John the Baptist, God often calls us to be the reversal, the newness, the resurrection God promises and the world needs. God calls us to help the blind see, deaf hear, lame walk (or leap), speechless talk (or sing). Jesus assured John he was the promised one who'd change the course of history. Baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, we become Jesus' presence as we practice resurrection and help create the future!

Do you know Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by farmer-poet-theologian Wendell Berry? Among other things he advises us:

Every day do something that won't compute.
Love the Lord.
Love the world.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
…
Practice resurrection.