Preaching Isaiah
Submitted by David Neil Mosser on March 10, 2008 – 9:14 amNo Comment
Reflections on the Lectionary for January 2008
Modern Christians commonly puzzle over liturgical and theological meanings of Epiphany and the Sundays following it in the Christian year. Although older than Christmas, the liturgical seasons framing Epiphany —Advent and Lent — tend to be overshadowed by Christmas. Before church tradition instituted Christmas as the feast of Jesus’ birth, the Eastern Church celebrated Jesus’ birth and baptism during Epiphany. Because Epiphany focuses on “the manifestation of God in the world,” we have an ideal homiletical bridge between the cradle of Christmas and the cross of Good Friday. Could this have been a long-forgotten intention of earlier liturgical calendars? Perhaps the Sundays after the Epiphany (designated as “ordinary time”) hold promise of being anything but ordinary. For lectionary preachers, Epiphany and the Sundays which follow contain much promise for preaching.
Epiphany preaching can be a great gift to congregations and offer preachers new avenues of communication and fresh preaching prospects. This pertains especially to two customary preaching tasks. First, pastors need to teach the whole of Scripture to the church, not just part of it. This is an important task. Preaching Isaiah during January 2008 offers another voice and perspective to the familiar stories of Jesus’ baptism, the visit of the Magi, and Jesus’ calling of Peter and Andrew. Second, by using the recognizable themes of Epiphany with the relatively less familiar texts from Hebrew scripture, preachers and congregations may explore new modes of biblical theology. I suggest this preaching as a task, because many of the images and texts for the Sundays after the Epiphany are so familiar to Christians that these Sundays offer preachers occasions to “extend the canon” by preaching Isaiah’s prophetic texts.
Before delving into the specific texts from Isaiah for each Sunday in Epiphany, I suggest several questions from among the many that could be asked of each text. The questions, applied to each week’s readings, help us to understand what Isaiah may be saying to believers today. The questions are simply, “What does the text say?” “What does the text mean?” and “What do we do with this text?”
The Epiphany of the Lord
January 6, 2008
Isa 60:1–6
Isa 60:1–6
What does the text say? This text presumably comes from what the accumulation of scholarship calls Trito-Isaiah, or Third-Isaiah. The text summons Israel to awaken and greet the light. The light of which Isaiah prophesies symbolizes the people’s salvation as a gift from the Lord. Israel has survived the darkness of the exile, but now it will be Israel’s time to shine. This lesson suggests that although “darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples,” the Lord has a remarkable gift for Israel. This gift for the people is that “the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.”
Suddenly, with the glorious gift from the Lord, nations and kings begin to pay extraordinary attention to Israel. These kings and nations beat a path to Israel’s door. The light that Yahweh bestows on the freed exiles as a gracious gift now draws the interest of the high and mighty. The light illumines the people and they will “lift up [their] eyes and look around.” When Israel looks up it will see wealth coming to these former slaves from Babylon. These former exiles will now have affluence coming to them via land (camels of Midian) and sea (ocean-going vessels). When Isaiah mentions “gold and frankincense” (see Mt 2:11) he scarcely scratches the surface of the unimaginable wealth the people can anticipate.
What does the Isaiah text mean? In a nutshell what this text means is that in one moment of God’s graciousness toward God’s chosen people God reverses their predicament of being under other nations’ proverbial thumbs for centuries. As pictured by the image of light, God has now made Israel the nation that becomes the focal realm among nations. It is to Israel that other nations and kings journey.
Isaiah’s mention of Sheba prompts the people to consider Israel’s past glory days such as the occasion when a queen visited Solomon and the result of that visit for the nation. We read in 1 Kings 10:10, “Then she [the Queen of Sheba] gave the King [Solomon] one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.” Isaiah’s prophecy means that for Israel, pounded and hammered for centuries by Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians (among others), soon a new day is coming. God signals this new day by offering light. With the light God also sends a wealth and prosperity that Israel could hardly imagine.
What do we do with this text? Modern preachers deal continuously with people who have had all optimism and most hope thrashed out of them over time. Some may have grown up with physically or emotionally abusive parents or other near relatives. Some may have matured with a sense of failure in school, in friendships, or in motor skills as they attempted to join with others to play after school games. People in our pews may have been so sensitive to others’ pain that they have more or less given up on the grandeur and beauty of God’s creation.
Preachers have folks who simply go through the motions of life because life has been so dark for them for so long that they no longer believe there is a light. The preacher’s task is to hold up the hope of Jesus and the Gospel and shine the light. Of course, with God there was hope for Israel long before Jesus; for Christians, Jesus becomes the manifestation of divine light. As Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (Jn 8:12, 9:5)
First Sunday after the Epiphany
Baptism of the Lord
January 13, 2008
Isa 42:1–9
What does the text say? The first thing we notice about this text is that it comes to us in two distinct units. The first unit, Isaiah 42:1–4, is one of Isaiah’s four Servant Songs (see also Isa 49:1–6; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12), although “songs” is something of a misnomer, because the songs are poems. The second unit begins at verse 5 with the prophetic formula, “Thus says God, the Lord.”
This Servant Song portrays Yahweh speaking to an unidentified audience. The exilic prophet, Deutero-Isaiah, introduces the Lord’s servant as having an important role in the reconstitution of Israel out of its remnant components. As an exilic people Israel lacks hope — all dreams and expectations have been crushed. Isaiah introduces the servant and says that the singular task for the servant-Israel is to bring justice (Hebrew: mishpat). Verses 1, 3, and 4 all make this assertion: the servant is to bring forth justice or establish justice. Interestingly this justice and the accompanying teaching (or torah, verse 4) will not be accomplished by a raw display of power such as the one that brought about the exile, for example. Neither will it be trumpeted loudly for all to hear. Rather, Yahweh’s servant will achieve justice quietly: “He will not cry or lift up his voice … he will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isa 42:2–3)
What does the text mean? As verses 1 through 4 speak of the servant, it is easy to see why readers understood this text as a messianic foreshadowing. Note, however, that as the first unit of this pericope speaks of the servant, the second unit speaks solely about Yahweh and the persons to whom Isaiah directs this prophecy — in all likelihood Israel. We might suggest that although the “you” in verse 6 is singular, the prophet directs most of the message to the faith community, as the prophecy intimates by the plural “you” in verse 9. In the history of interpretation, the servant of the Lord will indeed lead the people of Israel to be “a light to the nations.” As the servant leads and establishes justice, this people will follow suit, bringing forth justice.
Any interpretation of this text for preaching will do well to note the two distinct units within the pericope. As is not always the case, the line of demarcation is clear. One way to understand this text is to see what God’s servant-leader looks like as an individual personality in verses 1–4. One could say this is not an image of a definite person in whom we can see these qualities, but rather, when we see these qualities we will then recognize this servant-leader. In the face of a hopeless situation, this servant-leader rekindles hope in quiet, unassuming ways. These unassuming ways will be wondrously strong, however, for they are the just ways of Yahweh.
The text’s second unit, verses 5–9, calls for a response from the people. Yahweh calls the servant-leader, but Yahweh calls the people as well. The people are to bring forth the justice established by the Servant-leader, and in these concrete ways: “to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (42:7)
What do we do with this text? One thing we can do is to celebrate this text during worship. The Baptism of the Lord Sunday provides a ready context in that we celebrate Jesus’ baptism. A puzzling question of Christian theology for many is why John baptizes Jesus. John asks the question himself, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
But Jesus answers, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (Mt 3:14–15) In order for people to identify with Jesus as Christ, Jesus first identifies with them. Someone baptizes Jesus and Jesus also eats and teaches and dies, just as the people will also. Deutero-Isaiah’s servant-leader identifies with the people because the servant is one of the people.
The exiles lacked hope in God’s promise. Every assurance Israel relied on was seemingly taken away. The remnant even questioned what being a chosen people meant, or if it still meant anything at all. The servant of the Lord would come bringing the hope these people needed to begin anew. Perhaps it is not too far-fetched to say this pericope is another creation story, with God re-creating Israel. Baptism also offers re-creation for the church — the New Israel of God. Each time a person is baptized, infant or adult, the people of God are given another chance to nurture God’s love and justice.
This text has plenty of work to do among modern people. Many live in a hopeless land. Whether crushed economically, by bad marital relationships, or by wayward children, people today need hope upon which to live. Despair, of course, has always been with us, but now the despair has taken destructive turns that those only a few generations ago could hardly imagine. The words of this text and the baptismal story of Jesus offer hope that servant-leaders and a Messiah are still possibilities in God’s world.
The Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 20, 2008
Isa 49:1–7
What does this text say? Today we have another of the four Servant Songs in Deutero-Isaiah. The general consensus of scholarship is that the song ends at verse 6, with another unit beginning with the prophetic formula, “Thus says the Lord.” This form is similar to last week’s Isaiah 42 text. A difference, however, between the texts is the prophetic speaker about whom the prophet writes: “The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.”
Verses 3–6 summarize Yahweh’s word to the servant: Yahweh’s cause is the servant’s cause. In fact, the Lord’s strength becomes the strength of the prophet, despite the prophet’s feelings of fruitless labor. Verse 7 concludes with an oracle. The prophet has been called to be “a light to the nations.” Thus, this text gives credence to the theology which extends God’s call through Israel to all nations (or Gentiles). We remember the great sense of hope which the prophet claims that God grants to the remnant who have sat in darkness. The light is the promise of the Lord.
What does this text mean? The Lord uses the prophet’s mouth as a vehicle for the promise to the nations of extending a light to them, the Gentiles. Through the prophet and the reclaimed people of Israel this hope will now extend to all people. Thus, the prophet and a new people of Israel have two primary tasks. The first task consists of a return and restoration of the chosen people — the exiled now are to return to the land of promise.
The second task for the church is to help universalize God’s promise to Israel. Heretofore, the promise was exclusively Israel’s domain. In Christ, however, all people have access to the divine promise of grace and mercy. Happily, the church’s liturgical calendar draws on baptism as one of several Epiphany themes. Therefore, last Sunday’s lesson from Acts helps us illustrate and make connections for congregations about how God extends grace beyond Israel. In Acts 10:34–35 Peter confesses, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
The second task for the church is to help universalize God’s promise to Israel. Heretofore, the promise was exclusively Israel’s domain. In Christ, however, all people have access to the divine promise of grace and mercy. Happily, the church’s liturgical calendar draws on baptism as one of several Epiphany themes. Therefore, last Sunday’s lesson from Acts helps us illustrate and make connections for congregations about how God extends grace beyond Israel. In Acts 10:34–35 Peter confesses, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
The Servant Song of Isaiah 49 offers us a reversal of fortune: those who have been captives of other nations, ironically, will now be carriers of salvation’s good news to former tormentors. Jesus’ teaching about loving one’s enemies is apropos. The call and commissioning of God through his servant-leader and the remnant people of Israel signals the beginning of the breaking down of divisions fueling religious and national hatreds, the dividing walls of hostility of which Ephesians speaks. (Eph 2:14)
What do we do with this Isaiah text? It suggests several themes. One is certainly that people never know where faith in God will lead them. God calls Israel not only to explicitly forgive those who captured and destroyed their nation, but also to bear the message of salvation to the enemy. The church, too, finds challenge in these words. In his richly prophetic hymn, When the Church of Jesus, Fred Pratt Green writes “When the church of Jesus shuts its outer door, lest the roar of traffic drown the voice of prayer, may our prayers, Lord, make us ten times more aware that the world we banish is our Christian care.”
Another theme suggested by this text relates to our feeling of failure and frustration in the Gospel concerning the success of our work. What pastor has not mused with Isaiah, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” This text reminds us that our labor is in the Lord, whether or not we see its fruit. Although our ministries are time-bound, there is a timeless quality to God’s ministry. As Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote in his classic Lectures to My Students, “The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble. Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience…. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reed of human help.”
The Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 27, 2008
Isa 9:1–4; Mt 4:12–23
What does this text from Isaiah say? The lectionary employs this text today, no doubt, because the Matthew’s Gospel lesson quotes it. Scholars describe this text as either a lyrical poem or a hymn of thanksgiving. The darkness and gloom refer to Assyria’s occupation and destruction of Israel’s northern kingdom. Some scholars suggest that this text is an oracle celebrating either the coronation of a righteous monarch or perhaps the birth of such a monarch. What is at stake is not the continuation of the Davidic line as much as the new, ethically transformed office of the sovereign. Divinity here trumps the maintenance of “the human royal line” that the people might have come to expect. Israel rejoices now because Yahweh enthrones the new monarch.
What does this text mean? The new monarch presents messianic overtones. Verses 5–7 bear out the positive consequences for the nation. It would be difficult to interpret the first four verses without reference to these wondrous consequences of the messianic monarch that God gives the people (verses 5–7). Yahweh holds out this noble hope to a people suffering long in despair’s darkness.
What do we do with this text? This text proclaims that to trust God requires radical confidence. In this part of Isaiah’s prophecy we see several chapters where misplaced trust has speeded doom toward God’s people. Whether this trust is on the part of national leaders or ordinary citizens matters little. To have faith in the promises of God is to have faith that this trust is sufficient.
God calls today’s church to proclaim radical trust in God. God calls us to this task in the midst of a cacophony of voices that try to claim this trust. As Israel was a faithful remnant proclaiming salvation to the nations, so God calls the modern church to stand firm in its conviction that God’s word is both the first and the last word for our world. Christian believers trust that no other voice compares to the word of the eternal God. This is the task to which God summons all of us in the church. The culture today may hear the church’s voice as one of loyal opposition, but the church knows too well that the world generally follows voices promising quick solutions to thorny problems. Quick solutions too regularly cost people their souls. Only God speaks the word that is both perpetual and ageless.
