“Following the train of thought”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, January 13, 2023
Isaiah 42:1-17 (Forward, p. 76) CEV p. 735
Lately, I have been thinking a great deal about dementia and how it is expressed or played out in a particular person’s life. I have discovered that while it may manifest itself in forgetfulness, something that pretty well all of us experience from time to time, it more frequently—and tellingly—shows itself in confused, disoriented and totally unconnected thought and speech.
In a sense, this is exactly how today’s passage struck me. “Just where in the world is our prophet going with this?” I wondered. He seems to skip from subject to subject without any apparent linkage or connection between these thoughts, such as left me solely wondering what he is getting at.
In verses 1-9, he waxed eloquent about God’s servant who will do a new thing and bring good news to all the people of the earth, not just Israel. In verses 10-12, he calls forth God’s people to praise God, which, of course, is only appropriate, given that God has promised to do. But then, in verses 13-14, he uses two images as seem totally contrary to what has gone before, the image of a mighty warrior and the image of a woman about to give birth. Both of these images seem mighty strange given their immediate context. Then, in verses 15-16, he seems to go back to his original train of thought and speaks of the radical and far-reaching changes that God will bring about, such as even the landscape, the geography of the place, will be changed and transformed. And finally, in verses 17-20, he jumps around again, this time to speak of those benighted and deluded ones who still trust in idols and who are woefully ignorant of what God is about.
I must say that I was totally bewildered by this, and indeed, was not helped at all by several of my commentaries. However, here the 1875 German commentary by Franz Delitzsch proved most helpful. He supposes that Isaiah’s original audience were somewhat doubtful, questioning indeed, about how God might pull all of this off, all the good news suggested in verses 1-9, as they had not hitherto seen much evidence of it.
So, firstly, Isaiah reminds them of God’s strength and power, as evidenced by His past deliverances, His past battles on their behalf. “As God has shown Himself to be a mighty warrior for you in times past, one who has certainly shown Himself to be able to produce results, so will it be again.”
And, as for its seeming delay, Isaiah tells them that it is like a woman in childbirth. It will come, but in its own time. God will act when the time is right.
And then, what verses 17-20 are speaking of are those within Israel that chose not to trust in God but in vain and useless idols and of those who somehow cannot--or will not see. They will lose out on what God is promising to bring.
All of this reminds very much of my mother. Often my father was rather perplexed with her seemingly unconnected train of thought. However, I was often able to pick up on this fairly easily. I would follow her eyes, and seeing where they paused each time, though only for a moment, immediately think of what ideas or associations these things might stir up for her. It was thus quite easy to follow her line of thought and speech. This is what Delitzsch was able to do for me.
And now, what relevance has this for us in the here and now, seeing as we aren’t part of ancient Israel? It is that God has a plan and good news, a plan and good news for the entire world, brought into being by Jesus Christ. However, it has only been inaugurated, only just begun, and so for its completion and fulness we must wait. But God, like a mighty warrior, is certainly able to do so, and, like an expectant mother, must wait until the time is right. And so, we must continue to wait and trust in Him only and try to be fully aware of what God is up to so that we do not miss it. Amen.
Forward notes: “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them” (verse 9).
“Something I hear a lot is that something or someone will never change. I hear this even in church work. As Episcopalians, we are often proud of our liturgy and ‘the way that things have always been done’ in our churches. There’s nothing wrong with loving our traditions, but I do sometimes imagine the Holy Spirit nudging us, gently reminding us not to forget about her.
“After all, Christ came to make all things new. The beauty of being a part of a community is that we all bring our quirks and different perspectives to the shared table. In practice, the Christian community that we try to intentionally build with each other can often be painful or frustrating. Our personalities might rub each other the wrong way, or our lived experiences might just seem too different. God does not want us to pretend those differences or difficulties don’t exist. Instead, Jesus transforms us, so that we might truly be Christ’s body here on earth: still unique, but united in love.”
Moving Forward: “Is the Holy Spirit calling you to change? How will you respond?”