Isaiah 49:1-6
“Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
3And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.”
5And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (NRSV)
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
When my sister and I were in early elementary school, car trip were a nightmare for my parents. Lauren and I would sit in the backseat and whine the entire 6 hours from our house in Spokane to my grandma’s house in Portland. I would pinch her, she would shove her pillow onto my side of the car. I would retaliate, like any good big sister would, by hovering just on the edge of “Lauren’s side,” with my hand in her face, taunting “I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you!” I’m not totally certain how my parents survived. That is, until they discovered the most magical tool in their parenting arsenal: headphones and a walk man. They would give Lauren and I each our own set of taped radio stories, and we would be silent for the whole 6 hours. In fact, Lauren and I were always a bit sad to arrive at grandma’s, because it meant the walk men had to be shut off. To this day, a good story will capture my attention completely, no matter what medium it is told through, be it a cassette tape, a book, a movie, or a photo album posted online.
Donald Miller, an essayist I happen to enjoy, recently published a book called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, which is about what makes a good story. Donald realized that his life, if he were watching it like a movie, was about as entertaining as watching someone buy a car. Instead of wallowing in this sad state, Donald set about finding out what makes a story interesting and worthwhile, which is what this book traces. The underlying premise of any interesting story, Donald argues, had four points: a story is interesting when there is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it. Essentially, stories are worthwhile when there’s purpose and meaning behind the action. Donald figured his life was missing purpose, there wasn’t anything he really wanted, and he wasn’t confronting any conflict to achieve it.
This is exactly where we find the Israelites in today’s scripture. Their story has lost its center, there’s no purpose or meaning to their lives. Now, Isaiah is an interesting book. It’s actually three books in one: 1, 2, and 3 Isaiah. Part one goes from chapters 1-39: the Israelites are back in Jerusalem, the Assyrian Empire looms over them, but there are still Davidic kings on the throne. However, part one ends on a dark and ominous note. As you read chapter 39, you can actually hear the foreboding music in the background. The king, Hezekiah, has invited and welcomed an envoy from the Babylonian Empire. Hezekiah and the Babylonians have a great time, feasting and enjoying one another’s company, and Hezekiah even offers to show them all of the great storehouses of Israel’s treasure, the King is totally convinced days of peace lie ahead. However, the chapter closes with Isaiah’s prophecy that all of the goods in those storehouses, and even Hezekiah’s own sons, will be carted off to Babylon.
Second Isaiah, which starts in chapter 40, picks up the story several decades later. The Israelites, as we know from other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, have been carried off to Babylon. Now, the Babylonian exile is perhaps the most significant event in Israel’s biblical history. See, nations at this time understood themselves to be under the protection of various national gods. The Israelites were protected by YHWH and the Babylonians had Marduk and Nebo and others. For Israel, being defeated by the Babylonians was equal to YHWH being defeated by Marduk and Nebo. How could they trust in God, if God allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed? They were a people whose story was losing its center. On one hand, YHWH seemed defeated, so there was internal struggle over what their centuries of tradition amounted to. On the other hand, Marduk and Nebo seemed to have won, so there was external pressure to accept the Babylonian religions. Their story lacked purpose and meaning, because the people were floundering about, looking for a center.
This is where our text for today fits in. 2 Isaiah, which is generally thought to be chapters 40-55, is entirely composed of hopeful prophecies given with the intent of reestablishing YHWH was Israel’s center. The prophet Isaiah is trying to give the people their story back: he’s trying to help them find purpose and meaning. Through the prophet, God is saying: “Listen to me! Pay attention! You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. You were called before you were born, you are a polished arrow in my quiver, You are my servant, you are gathered to me, and I am your strength.” The prophet, through this reminder of Israel’s call, is giving the people their center back. They are a people called to be the servants of YHWH, and the God who calls them gives them strength and has a purpose for them.
The call of this passage doesn’t stop at reminding the people of their center. The call actually extends further. They are not merely called to raise up Israel; according to the prophet: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel.” No, reestablishing the nation is, apparently, not a big enough story for Israel! The prophet goes on, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” These people, exiled for decades in a foreign land, bereft of their God, their temple, and their very way of life, are not just called to reestablish their own nation, but to reach out to the whole world, proclaiming the salvation of YHWH for all people. This is not just inviting Israel back to their story, this is a total upheaval: their center is established clearly, and their purpose and meaning are definite. With the strength of YHWH, share salvation with all people.
While this is a beautiful story, Second Isaiah can be a little overwhelming to read all at once. Their story is so huge, it seems impossible. I’ve found this same story far more accessible on the smaller scale of Donald Miller. In his quest to find meaning for his own life, Donald begins to pay attention to the stories around him. He starts asking himself what is the thing he wants? What opposition is he going to overcome to achieve it? I won’t ruin the book for you, because I hope you all pick it up and read it, but Donald’s life ends up going an entirely different direction than he ever expected. Donald bikes across the United States, hikes the Inca trail, establishes a non-profit organization to promote mentorship, and now serves on the President’s task force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families. The story Donald is now living is far more interesting than that of a man going to a lot in order to buy a car. He found a center, a purpose, and meaning for his life, and it became a story worth telling.
We are surrounded by people who seem to be living lives that are worth hearing about. Edna Adan Ismail is a Somali woman who studied to become a nurse-midwife, rose through the ranks of the World Health Organization, and moved back to Somaliland where she established and now runs the Edna Adan University Hospital. She funds the hospital, in part, with the entirety of her WHO pension. Her hospital provides obstetric and gynecological care for women in the region, and in the past ten years has helped over 10,000 women deliver their babies, free of charge. Her maternal mortality rate is almost on par with the United States, quite a feat in a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Countless women and children have been saved thanks to her initiative and care. Edna is a woman whose story matters, because she has a purpose and a center.
Personally, I find stories like Donald’s and Edna’s inspiring and encouraging, but I also find them intimidating. I’m not biking across the United States to raise money for an organization, and I’m certainly not saving tens of thousands of Somali women! However, I am confident that all of our stories can be valuable, because of the center we claim.
Isaiah cries out to remind the Israelites that they have a story centered on God. They are a people with a center and with a purpose: they are called to share the mighty story of God’s deliverance with all nations. We too have been given a center and called. Both as a community and individually, we have been given a center in Jesus Christ. Our strength and motivation lie in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not only are we told about this center in scripture, but we are given the Holy Spirit, who daily walks with us and works to remind us of our center in Jesus Christ. We have a purpose, our story has meaning. We have been called to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded us. We have been invited into the biggest story of them all, the same story Isaiah invited the Israelites into. It is the same story that motivates the good work Donald Miller has done. It is the story of the gospel, the good news, which is for all people. We have been given a place in the beautiful and expansive story of God, and we have been called to tell this story to others.