(Isa 43:1-7)
But now thus says
the LORD, he who created you,
O Jacob, he who
formed you,
O Israel: Do not
fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by
name, you are mine.
{2} When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the
rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk
through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall
not consume you.
{3} For I am the
LORD your God,
the Holy One of
Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your
ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in
exchange for you.
{4} Because you are
precious in my sight,
and honored, and I
love you,
I give people in
return for you,
nations in exchange
for your life.
{5} Do not fear, for
I am with you;
I will bring your
offspring from the east,
and from the west I
will gather you;
{6} I will say to
the north, "Give them up,"
and to the south,
"Do not withhold;
bring my sons from
far away
and my daughters
from the end of the earth—
{7} everyone who is
called by my name,
whom I created for
my glory,
whom I formed and
made."
First Sunday after
the Epiphany
January 10, 2016
Title Anxiety Cure
Cross~Wind
Introduction
The Jewish people in exile had much about which to worry, and the
prophet addresses it here.
Still at the beginning of the year, I want us to reflect for a few
moments about worry and anxiety. How do you deal with them?
"Don't worry about it."
How many times have you heard those words, or something similar? (Maybe
what you heard was the distinctive New York variant:
"Fuggedaboudit!")
The words are likely useless.
They are useless not because banishing worry is not a good idea.
Generally, it is. Most of us worry far too much. However, we ignore the advice.
Sometimes, it seems impossible to obey.
We live in an understandably anxious
time. I could probably say that every year.
This year, for example, we understandably have anxiety of Jihadi
terrorist attacks. Burned into our national consciousness are the appalling
images of the collapsing World Trade Center towers. Granted that we have not
had such a massive attack since, we have had other types of terrorist attacks
that ought to concern us. San Bernardino and Paris are just the most recent in
a wave of attacks.
Of course, other types of violence
are equally concerning, whether attacking churches, schools, or movie theaters.
The attack may come out of some mental illness or misplaced anger.
The difference, of course, is that
the Jihadist terrorist is attacking because of whom America is. They do not want
women to have the freedoms they enjoy. They do not want to respect the
individual by the giving them the freedom to believe and live as they choose.
They want conformity to their code by all persons.
On a different note, I admit that
when I am on the beach, as rare as I know they are, a shark attack still
concerns me.
Of course, the news talks up every
political and economic change that will give some cause for anxiety. Some
economists predict recession this year. Are you worried now?
Science can give us cause for
anxiety, whether with its talk of asteroids or climate change.
We live in an anxious time.
Application
Let us think about this for a moment.
First, some psychologists draw a distinction between acute anxiety and chronic anxiety.
Acute anxiety refers to some immediate threat. If you step out of your
front door and come face to face with a grizzly bear, you are feeling acute
anxiety.
Yet, if you wake up each morning with a sense of free-floating dread,
but have little idea where those dark forebodings come from -- nor any idea
when or how you will break free from them -- then chances are, you are a victim
of chronic anxiety.
Second, what does the word anxiety
actually mean?
The word "anxious" relates to a Latin word, angere, which
literally means, "to choke or
strangle."
I guess anxiety can have you gasping for breath.
Another English word traces its lineage to the same Latin root. The
word is angina -- the sharp, piercing
pain that precedes a heart attack. Angina arises when arterial plaque chokes
off one of the coronary arteries, blocking oxygen from reaching the heart
muscle.
Anxiety, in other words, can kill you.
Another English word that grows out of this Latin root, angere, is
"anger."
Anxious people, as it so happens, are often angry people. They sense
the breath of life choking off from their soul, and so they lash out, flailing
wildly in an effort to remove the threat, whatever they imagine it to be.
Anxious. Angina. Anger. That sounds like our time. Alarmist headlines
are part of our lives. We have come to believe the world is a fundamentally
scary place.
As I reflect upon such matters, one of my favorite theologians,
Wolfhart Pannenberg, has helped me understand how the danger anxiety presents
us. Anxiety may arise out of our desperate search for fulfillment and
happiness. We want a fulfilled and happy life, but anxiety leads us away from
its source. Instead of turning in a trusting way to God, we anxiously focus
upon self and think that if we can just possess the right finite thing, we will
be happy. We turn to lust instead of mature love. We turn to getting others to
serve us. We might even give up instead of engage in creative action. We
anxiously seek recognition by others, and we want it any price. We are
uncertain of the future, and so, we become anxious. Anxiety leads us away from
the source of our hope and confidence, namely, God. Our lives are a gift for
which we can legitimately experience gratitude. Anxiety keeps us away from such
confidence and gratitude.[4]
Third, since anxiety identifies the
human condition, the Bible reminds us of a basic truth: God is with us.
For that reason, words spoken so long ago still speak to us. We are not
the first generation of human beings to feel inundated by worry. True, our
technology amplifies our natural anxieties. By nature, we are a worrying
people. At times, worry keeps us appropriately vigilant so we may fend off
tangible threats. Yet, more often than not, worry is simply a burden.
Yet, our passage reminds us that we need not fear.
We can live without anxiety because:
- God created us
- God formed us
When you build or
create something, you know it inside and out. God, as our Creator, knows us
better than we know ourselves. Moreover, the text says,
- God redeemed us
- God calls us by
name
- God says "you
are mine."
Let us pause for just a moment. What would it mean in your life if you
could live with that promise?
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy
decided to go to the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive
into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks and
shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward
the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore. The boy’s
father, working in the yard, saw the two get closer and closer together. In
utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his dad’s voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a
U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father,
the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by
the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible
tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father
was, but the father was much too passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard screams, raced from his truck,
took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks in the hospital, the
little boy survived. The attack scarred the legs of the boy. His arms had deep
scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his flesh in an effort to
hang on to the son he loved.
A newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma asked if
he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. Then, with obvious
pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my
arms, too. I have them because my dad wouldn’t let go.”
Regardless of what might cause you worry or anxiety, God will not let
you go.
Our passage warns us that worry is a lack of trust. If we truly believe
that God says, "You are mine,"
then how can we be anxious about the things that cross our pathways?
When
we center our power outside ourselves, which is of the essence of faith, we
have faith in something greater than our smallness. We take our very lack of
control as a sign of God's presence in the world. It is precisely because of
our smallness that we can come to see and trust the greatness of God that
surrounds us. It is only then that we can really come to see the face of God in
the face of the other.--Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams, Uncommon Gratitude:
Alleluia for All That Is (Liturgical Press, 2010), 10-11.
You will have deep waters through which you will have to pass and fires
you will have to put out. What might we face today?
-
Probably
not a terrorist attack, but could be a heart attack;
-
Probably
not a shark bite, but some biting comments made by others;
-
Probably
not a home intrusion, but perhaps unexpected intrusions and unwelcome
interruptions.
Life can confront with enemies that feel too big for us. Maybe they are
too big. However, as a verse in one of my favorite hymns puts it:
Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my armor, and be Thou my might;
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O power of my power.
Truth is, if we insist on worrying about stuff that might happen, we do
not need to look far for possibilities. Yet, such anxiety does not honor the
God who created us, calls us by name and not only says, "You are
mine," but "you are precious in my sight" (v. 4).
Conclusion
I Peter 5:7 says that we should "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." Here,
the writer echoes the comforting voice of our passage this morning. Yes, there
are worries in life, and yes, we may be tempted to look to all sorts of outside
helpers to ease them. We may look to alcohol, drugs, or destructive
relationships to relieve the anxiety. Yet, God is love incarnate. God is with
you. Part of the St. Patrick’s Breastplate prayer goes like this:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Chronic anxiety -- unlike the acute variety – does not have its basis
in outside threats. It arises from within.
The solution to such homegrown worry can only come from within -- from
deep in our heart of hearts, as God touches us there with continual, loving
care.
Going deeper
Isaiah 43:1-7 is an oracle promising deliverance to Israel. The date of this promise is during the exile. Much of the material in chapters 40-55 of the book of Isaiah emphasizes consolation and deliverance for an oppressed and demoralized people, which stands in contrast to the oracles of judgment found in the first 39 chapters of the book. The anonymous author of so-called “Second Isaiah” was preaching to the exiles in order to connect their experiences before, during and after their captivity.
The Babylonian Empire uprooted Jews from their homes, and transported them to the Babylonian capital. The Babylonian rulers seem to have followed the advice, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." After all, they exiled only the political, intellectual and economic elite, the ruling class. They settled the elite in comfortable quarters, in a neighborhood of the city all their own. In the process, the Babylonian overlords made certain there were none from the defeated nation's leadership who could foment rebellion back home.
Most of us move in this mobile society. We will move across the continent, if work or family demands it.
The exiles remembered the promise to Abraham of land and to Moses of a land flowing with milk and honey. They remembered the promise to King David for his descendants, for the City of Jerusalem, and for the Temple. Such promises stood for 500 plus years. The exile put it all into question.
(Isa 43:1-7)
But now thus says the LORD,[standard prophetic formula, occurring over 400 times in the Old Testament. The formula has its roots in the stereotyped language used by messengers and emissaries throughout the ancient Near East, who were understood to be speaking not on their own behalf, but as a “mouthpiece” for the one who had dispatched them, usually (but not always) a king or some other ruler. (For examples of the formula being used in the Bible by ordinary people of admittedly high status, see Genesis 32:3-4 [Jacob’s sending messengers to placate Esau]; Genesis 45:9 [Joseph sending his brothers back to their father in Canaan]; Numbers 20:14 [Moses’ sending messengers to Edom on behalf of Israel]; Judges 11:14-15 [Jephthah’s response to the king of the Ammonites]; etc.).] he who created you, [The Hebrew verb bara’ (create) appears in verses 1 and 7. This same verb, appearing in such places as Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 51:10 (v. 12 in Hebrew), is used in the Hebrew Bible only for God’s creative activity.]
O Jacob, he who formed you, [A parallel to “create” is the Hebrew verb yatsar (form or fashion). It also appears in verses 1 and 7; it sometimes is used to express the work that a potter does in fashioning clay into a useful everyday pot or object of beauty (see Genesis 2:7-8; Isaiah 29:16, along with Paul’s citation of that passage in Romans 9:20). The prophet describes Yahweh as the one who “created” and “formed” the people of Israel, using the language of creation that runs throughout Second Isaiah (e.g., 40:26; 41:20; 42:5; 45:8; 12; 18; etc.). Creation is a prominent theme in Second Isaiah, used to anchor Israel’s relationship with its God in terms broader than the merely geopolitical. (The prophet uses creation language less commonly to refer specifically to Israel’s creation than to the creation of the natural world.) This important shift in theological emphasis was crucial if Israel was to continue to trust in the God who had included a homeland as part of his covenant with Israel’s ancestors. By redirecting the attention of the chosen people from the loss of their political and geographical independence to the cosmic scope of the power of God, the prophet of the exile reminded the people that their covenant relationship had survived even the experience of exile.]
O Israel: Do not fear [verse 5 as well], for I have redeemed [go’el] you;
[“Jacob/Israel,” a designation for the chosen people, a particular favorite of the prophet Isaiah (e.g., 9:8; 14:1; 27:6; 29:23; etc.; the reversed order “Israel/Jacob” also occurs in Isaiah, e.g., 10:20). He uses the designation most commonly in the parallel poetic couplets that make up many of the prophet’s oracles, as here. Unlike the expression “Israel/Judah,” which denoted the northern and southern kingdoms (even after they ceased to exist as independent entities), “Israel/Jacob” are two names for the same entity, the chosen people, based on the change of name from “Jacob” to “Israel” of the nation’s eponymous ancestor (Genesis 32:28).]
[Another prominent theme in II Isaiah is redemption: “for I have redeemed you” (v. 1; see also 41:14; 43:14; 44:6, 22, 23, 24; 47:4; 48:20; 51:10; 52:3, 9; etc.). The idea of redemption in the Hebrew Bible has its basis in customs and laws dating back to the tribal period. The basic idea is a straightforward one. In an agricultural society, an extended family’s means of economic survival was the land it was able to work. If, through adverse circumstances (such as the death of the primary workers in war or drought or other agricultural misfortune), a unit of the extended family felt forced to sell its property, it was urgent that other members of the extended family attempt to buy back — redeem — the property. The reason was for the particular sake of the individual family, and for the general sake of the extended family. We find a version of this basic and frequent scenario in the book of Ruth. By the time the concept of redemption has entered the theological vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible, the idea had taken on various specialized nuances, but the basic idea of an owner (God) recovering a possession (Israel) that was somehow lost or alienated persists. II Isaiah uses the idea, with no apparent sense of contradiction in asserting that both Israel’s punishment and redemption are at the hand of its God. In the culture of the time, if someone were in bondage to someone, the next of kin, as “redeemer,” could ransom/buy someone out of servitude. See New Testament passages, where Jesus is understood to be the one who made ransom for us: Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9. Similarly, Jesus is called our Redeemer: Luke 1:68-69; Galatians 3:13-14; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 1:7-8a and Colossians 1:13-14. The meaning is that neither Judah nor we can rescue/ransom/redeem ourselves from bondage; only God can.]
I have called you by name, you are mine.
[In many cultures, to name someone is to endow the person with special meaning or power. In Genesis 2:18-24 the Lord God brought created beings to the man/Adam to see what he would name them, including the one closest to him, whom Man called Woman. In this passage God tenderly remembers the people called by God by God’s very own name — God’s majestic person. Moreover, there is no stronger biblical name than is Lord (YHWH/Yahweh). God will consequently show care for the YHWH-named people of Jacob = Israel = (in context) Judah, because they belong to God, created for God’s own glory. (See similarly Isaiah 40:25-31.) Some Christian traditions historically have name-giving as part of the baptism of a young child; and all followers of Jesus can come to the realization that we have the name of Jesus Christ placed upon us. Barth discusses the phrase of the Lord calling them by name in the context of honor. He stresses that addressing humanity by name does not come as if a meteor falling into our midst. Such an honor from God arrives to us as those created in the image of God.[1]]
[Verses 2-6 flesh out what the statements made in verse 1 and 7 that the Lord God has created, named, and delivered the people of God.]
{2} When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; [see verse 5 as well.]
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
[The imagery here is similar to the Song of Songs 8:7: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it." The verse gives several analogical examples of how God will deliver Judah. Life-threatening situations will not utterly destroy them. God (is) with us is the central biblical promise, most completely fulfilled in Jesus, named Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23), from Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14, meaning quite literally “With us (is) God.” God-with-us bears us up through situations that would otherwise totally overwhelm us and send us to our doom. As part of the creation imagery in Second Isaiah, imagery of primordial and theophanic chaos is also an important element in the pattern of loss-and-redemption (see esp. 51:10). The waters, river, fire and flame of verse 2, through which Israel must pass, may be an allusion to the primordial watery chaos from which God brought forth the original creation, on the one hand, and the fiery imagery of the divine theophany on the other (see, e.g., Exodus 19:18). The latter imagery may also allude to the apocalyptic “day of the Lord,” at the end of time, which is also depicted as a scene of fiery destruction (e.g., Isaiah 13:9; Zephaniah 1:18; etc.). Regardless of the source of the imagery, the point is that no matter what Israel must endure, the nation will not be alone, but its creator and redeemer will accompany it. Therefore, God’s people need not fear, as stated in verse 1.]
{3} For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. [Self-identification, with Scripture frequently identifies God as “the Holy One of Israel” in Scripture, most frequently in Isaiah (25 occurrences of the expression, in all three major divisions of the book). The Bible identifies Jesus as the Holy One (of God) in such passages as Mark 1:24, John 6:69, and Revelation 3:7. Pannenberg, in a discussion of the infinity of God, refers to this passage in saying that incomparability of the Holy One means that the designation “the Holy One of Israel” becomes a guarantee of the hope of redemption by the exiles.[2] “Savior” is a verbal participle meaning “the one who is saving/rescuing you.” “LORD” and “Savior” are juxtaposed elsewhere in Isaiah, in 43:11, 45:21, 49:26, and 60:16. Linguistically the Hebrew word yasha’ is related to the name “Jesus,” who is identified in the New Testament as the Lord who would save/deliver not only Jews (Judahites) but also the people of all the world (see, for example, Matthew 1:21; John 3:16-18; Acts 15 passim; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-13). Jesus Christ/Messiah is called “Lord” and “Savior” in the same verse in such passages as Luke 2:11, Philippians 3:20; and 2 Peter 3:18.]
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
[Ezekiel 29:17-20, we have the suggestion that God will give Egypt to Cyrus in exchange for Judah, although this is not an historical allusion. Egypt is fraught with ambivalence in Scripture. In the book of Genesis, Egypt is the place of refuge from famine. However, in Exodus, Egypt is the place of Israel’s enslavement, from which the Lord delivered them. In later periods, Egypt became again a place where many groups of Jews found places to settle; e.g., see Jeremiah 44:1. The later chapters of Isaiah especially emphasize the Lord God of Israel as creator of the entire world and consequently God and Lord over all creation. In that light the Lord could “give [even powerful] Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia [Hebrew: Cush] and Seba [a wealthy unknown location] in exchange for you” (v. 3). “Exchange for you” (instead of you/in your place) is a parallel expression also meaning the payment of ransom. Ransom or exchange, in context, is a metaphorical expression of ways by which the Lord will deliver Judah from exile, back to their own land. God will “pay” whatever it costs to return God’s precious people home.]
[Verses 4-7 lays out the theme of redemption in more detail. Implicit in the wider context of the Isaiah 43:1-7 passage is that Judah has no “right” to God’s deliverance (and in fact “deserves” the opposite). Nevertheless, God is merciful and gracious, even in the face of human sin.]
{4} Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
[In verses 3-4, the theme of redemption returns, but this time with reference to the price that God must pay in order for a redemptive transaction to be accomplished. Other nations — Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba — will be given by Yahweh (presumably to Cyrus, the Persian conqueror who, by conquering the Babylonians and others, ended the exile of the Hebrews) in order that Israel might be redeemed. The point is not to suggest that the nations sacrificed for Israel’s redemption are in any way expendable, but rather to impress upon the Hebrews the enormous price that God has paid for their redemption. This idea of the enormity of the cost of redemption will be utilized extensively by New Testament writers with reference to Jesus (e.g., Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12).]
[In verses 5-7, the new creation is the ingathering of the people. No matter where they have scattered, the Lord will bring them back. Those who had passed through judgment God will now restore. The promise re-establishes the people as messengers.]
[In verses 5-6, the words of reassurance by the prophet takes another turn, emphasizing that the gathering of the people of Israel will not be limited merely to those who were among the exiles in Babylon, but will extend to the remotest locations of the inhabited world. The dispersion of the people of Israel during the political upheavals that culminated in the Babylonian exile resulted in refugees in all directions, some through flight, and others through deportation. The systematic resettlement of conquered peoples in remote locations was common throughout the ancient world, and the Israelites who found themselves in exile in Babylon were only a fraction of those cut off from their homeland.
{5} Do not fear [verse 1], for I am with you; [see verse 2 as well]
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
[Verse 5 may be poetic hyperbole, for this is a wider dispersion than is known for 575-525.]
{6} I will say to the north, "Give them up,"
and to the south, "Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
{7} everyone who is called by my name [see verse 1],
whom I created [ see verse 1] for my glory,
whom I formed [see verse 1] and made." [Another parallel to create and form, this one not in verse 1.]
[The writer concludes the oracle by returning to its opening words — created/formed — forming an inclusio that also sums up the overarching theme of the passage: The God who created Israel initially is in the process of creating Israel again. It is this assertion that allows the author to utter twice another reassurance desperately needed by an anxious and exiled people: “Do not fear” (vv. 1, 5). Barth refers to this passage in a discussion of the love of God. In Jesus Christ, God gave Himself into our existence, falling heir to the same and curse upon humanity. Bearing them, God takes them a way. Christ presents us as pure and spotless children in the presence of the Father. We can speak of the love of God to us only by pointing to this fact. The work and gift of the Holy Spirit speaks to us. As he sees it, when II Isaiah writes of the love of the Lord, for Israel to fear not, for the Lord with them, no other saying is needed.[3]]
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