Before they call
Standing on the Promises
Isaiah 65:17-25 (NRSV)
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
During the lectionary year we expect to hear certain things at certain seasons, the Nativity during Christmas, the Resurrection during Easter. Proper 28, the next to last Sunday of the year, we expect an ominous apocalyptic reading about what lies ahead. And not just ominous, it will be scary, threatening. So our gospel is taken from Luke’s version of the “Little Apocalypse,” with Jesus telling his disciples the terrible destruction that will come, not only to Jerusalem and the Temple, but to the society, and to them personally. It will be for them a latter day recurrence of the catastrophic invasion of 596-586 BC when the Babylonians reduced Jerusalem to a wasteland.
It’s scary, but there is promise. In the gospel reading there is promise for the faithful. In fact, promise is nearly always part of the apocalyptic genre, I don’t know that it’s right to call it “the apocalyptic carrot,” but it’s usually there. We see it in Revelation, promise for Christians who remain faithful to Christ through the horrors of the persecution. In Sunday’s gospel, Luke recalls Jesus saying that we faithful will be OK, not a hair of our head will be harmed. Isaiah is one of the Old Testament “prophets of doom,” predicting terrible calamity for Judea, Jerusalem and God’s people Israel, which in fact came down on them with the Babylonian invasion. Yet even in Isaiah there is promise: Jerusalem will be restored as a place of joy, a new creation. That’s what Sunday’s first reading is all about. It's not really "carrot" either, it's chesed, steadfast love, God's lovingkindness. "Before they call, I will answer." God is faithful even though we are not.
TW+