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Pentecost 24
November 14, 2004
Isaiah 65: 17-25
Isaiah 12
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13
Luke 21: 5-19
A strange combination of readings - we will need to struggle though them for common themes and directions!
Isaiah 65: 17-25: The Third Isaiah [the restoration Isaiah of chapters 56-66] addresses a broken community; the people have returned from exile and are beginning to rebuild Jerusalem and their lives. As time went on they became increasingly discouraged. To give them the energy and will for reconstruction, they badly need the vision which we find in this passage. Isaiah speaks of a powerful act of God¹s grace, renewing creation - hurts of the past, memories of domination and helplessness in the face of destruction are to be replaced by hope for peace and stability. God delights in his people who respond in joy; life will be lived to the full, each person will reap the rewards of hard work, children will grow to maturity, life spans will allow for the joys and satisfactions of childhood, maturity and old age. Overall God will be present and rejoice in his people - the creative grace of God is able to replace despair with hope, death with life, hatred and apathy with love and can heal the worst of memories. God can replace a hurtful and crippling past with a joyful and purposeful present that encourages planning for a just and peaceful future. There are similarities here with the visions of Genesis 2 and Revelation 21. Isaiah¹s vision encourages us to realise that love will prevail and that God will lead us through the worst experiences of the human condition into new life.
Isaiah 12: This is in the Psalm ‘slot’ and probably would be best used as a responsive Psalm. These few verses can be called, ‘The Song of the Redeemed’. The phrase, ‘You will say in that day’ [verses 1 and 4] links it to the time of the return of the Jews from the ‘diaspora’; its position relates to editing of the Book of Isaiah as it forms a link between chapters 1-11 and 13-23. This song, therefore, looks forward to the day when God will lead the redeemed from captivity [in Assyria ] in a similar way to the leading from Egypt [11.16]. Joy comes with the realisation that God is present to bring release and comfort. Even in the most desolate times - individually and in the life of the nation - it is possible to anticipate the joy that comes with God¹s salvation!
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13: Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are nearing the end of their second letter to the church as Thessalonica and they return to their main point - the need to keep working, to keep the fabric of day to day life intact while waiting for ‘the Coming of the Lord’. Some of the congregation believed that because Jesus¹ second coming was imminent there was no need to continue working; others may have said, ‘let¹s party, we are saved and the end is near!’ Paul and his fellow missionaries have set an example of earning their keep during their visit; in our day, we all meet people who abuse Chris tian generosity and compassion; this passage sternly says:
‘Anyone unwilling [but able] to work, should not eat!’ [verse 10]. But there is an element of compassion - bludgers should be respected as believers. And, of course - in the light of Matthew 25.36 - we should not interpret the violence, wars and natural disasters we experience or see on television as meaning that ‘the End is near’.
Luke 21: 5-19: The Temple was the centre of the nation¹s religion, politics and economy at the time of Jesus - it was one of the wonders of the world and many people believed - complacently - that God would always protect his Temple and therefore also his people. But Jesus, following on from Luke 19: 42-44, says that it will be torn down. The gospel, of course, was written after the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. There is an overlapping between this historic destruction and End of the World concerns - of course, the AD 70 events ended the Jewish world centred on the sacrificial liturgy in the Temple . Thereafter Judaism was forced to rebrand itself as the ‘people of the book [Torah]’.
Jesus warns of wars, earthquakes, famines, plagues and astronomical events.
We know today, in the light of scientific understanding, that earthquakes are a part of the natural global system; famines and plagues are worsened by exploitation of the environment and unwise use of things like antibiotics, and astronomical events indicate the vulnerability of a small planet! Jesus says that events such as these should not be interpreted as ‘signs of the End of the World’ and that all this will be preceded by persecution of his followers - his church. Persecution - first by the Jews and then by the Romans - was beginning by the time Luke was written.
Jesus ends this difficult passage by offering the encouragement that when his followers are being tried in court they will be able to testify by words and wisdom that he [ie, his Spirit] will give them [verse 15] and the hope that their endurance will enable them to gain true life [verse 19].
Directions for Preaching:
- A practical sermon on relations and conflict management within the parish, based on the epistle reading, could be profitable. In many congregations a few key people are overworked and face burnout; I believe that in any congregation open to the Holy Spirit, people and talents will be found for everything that God wants the congregation to be and do.
- The gospel and epistle readings - also Isaiah 65 - could lead to a sermon on what or who we put our ultimate trust in. The Jews tended to trust in the Temple and in the Law of Moses, do we trust in the church, in tradition, or in the bible? None of these is adequate - our trust must be directly in the God who can and will give us the resources we need to cope and witness whatever is happening to us and around us.