Isaiah 43:1-7

Intro

Yesterday, the 6th of January, was the Christian celebration entitled Epiphany, or the materialization of Christ, of the savior, to the world. Initially this day recognized Jesus baptism or his first public miracle (which was the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast in the town of Cana). However later, the arrival of the wise men was also added (and the twelve days of Christmas was born (do the math: it works!)). So on a day where you have such a wide variety of story topics to choose from, what ends up catching my eye? That’s right, a scripture passage from Isaiah that seemingly has very little to do with any of those events.

This passage from Isaiah, however, does remind us that the one whom we celebrate in Epiphany is but the fulfillment of a promise that had been made long before; a promise that declares a love that will not be ended, regardless of the difficulties that may be faced, or the pain that is endured. Whatever future turmoil may arrive on the stage of history, it needs to be viewed through the context of this promise and the reality of Jesus life, message, and sacrifice is the fulfillment of this assurance. The promise reads this way.

Isaiah 43:1-7

43 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."

"My Prediction is…"

I don’t know about you, but at least once a day for about the last week and a half I have either heard some talking head on TV, or read some headline on a magazine cover that are giving their predictions for the new year of 2007. You’ve got astrologers talking about which celebrities will do this or that, as well as news anchors talking about what the future may hold for world events.

This tendency has become so prevalent that there was a news agency that went out and polled the public as to what they thought would happen in this New Year. Here are some of the results of the Associated Press-AOL News poll that was conducted December 12th through the 14th, in no particular order. 61% of respondents think that there will be a major terrorist attack in the United States. 70% of people think that what will hit the US is a major natural disaster. 35% predict that the draft will be reinstated which is 6 percentage points higher than the number of folks who think that the US will withdraw troops from Iraq. 35% of people think that a cure for cancer will be found, which would be a good thing because 50% of respondents said that the bird flu will hit the US. And finally, (and I think all of us know what happens after this one takes place) 25% of people think that Jesus Christ will return to earth in 2007.

We all have ideas about what the future will hold. As this poll indicates, there are a goodly number of us who think that the future might not be as bright as we would necessarily hope for. In many ways, we judge how good our lives are by the frequency of different sorts of events in our lives. Basically, if a whole lot of good stuff happens, then our life is good. Most times, we also hold the inverse to be equally true: that being that if our days are filled with difficulty, then our lives must be bad, or at the very least not all that good.

However, the question that I have in regards to these assertions is are we looking at the world in the way that we should? Or are we instead allowing the world to affect how we view our lives?

These are the sorts of questions that the passage from Isaiah that we have heard this morning is trying to address. It is in these verses that the voice of Isaiah (whether or not it was actually spoken by Isaiah really doesn’t matter) declares it doesn’t matter how easy or difficult our days may be. It simply doesn’t matter because if that’s what we are focusing on to determine the quality of our lives, then we are using the wrong barometer. From Isaiah’s perspective the reality is that these lives that we have been granted are filled with both positive and negative: sometimes more of one; sometimes more of the other. What really matters is how we do at recognizing God’s presence in our lives as we move through all of these different events, both the good and the bad.

Look at the way its phrased in verse 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." God is not saying that there will not be the waters, rivers, and fires of life that will afflict us with burden and stress. There going to be there.

Instead, what we hear is that as we go through those various travails that the very creator of life will be with us. That is what we always need to keep as the context to our lives. God is with us. God is with you. God is with me. That’s where our understanding of our lives needs to begin and end because if it doesn’t, what ends up happening? That’s right, the various events (both good and bad) become the delineator of our lives. When we live this way, we are able to be tossed this way and that, always searching out those things that make us think that we’ll be happy. Because let’s be honest, if we’re beholden to the events of life to determine the value of our lives, then more times then not were going to measure the good things that happened and the bad things that happened and see that more negative things took place. Since more negative things took place, then we think to ourselves that our life just isn’t all that good.

That’s why we need to live our lives in such a way that we start with the knowledge that we have been "called by name", that we are God’s and that no matter may come our way, that God is with us. That knowledge, that truth, needs to be at the very core of how we live. As we start to make predictions for what the new year is going to look like, we need to keep God at the center so that we see our lives through the filter of God. We have been "called by name" and God is with us, to care for us.

A quick story: a particular gentleman who had begun to experience a great deal of success in the area of retail was thrown into a state of crises when the economy hit a horrible downturn. All of a sudden, deals that went off without a hitch went south, and this gentleman was filled with such a state of worry and concern that he couldn’t sleep. Eventually he came down with a debilitating case of shingles that put him in the hospital. Nothing seemed to be able to help him. The drugs just made things worse. It got to the point that he was quoted as saying, "I was broken nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for. I felt I hadn’t a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me."

One day, while in the hospital, he heard some singing coming from the little chapel down the hall. He made his way to the chapel, listened to the rest of the song, a scripture and a prayer. Then the following happened, and these are his words. "Suddenly-something happened. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight." All worry immediately left him and he began to really understand how much God did care for him. We know this man as J.C. Penney and the hymn as "God Will Take Care of You".

In the words and music of that hymn, Penney was reminded of something that each of us, as we make our predictions for the upcoming 12 months need to be reminded, God is with us. We have been called by name, and regardless of the difficulties that we will face in these upcoming days, God will bring us through.

So here are my predictions for the upcoming year: 1) there will be many events that cause us to feel worried or disheartened. 2) God’s blessings will be abundant (whether or not we recognize them is another matter, but the blessings will be there). 3) God will lead us through all of those days.

As you look outward toward the ever-revealing horizon of history, always remember, and always keep at the very core of your being, that God is with you. With that knowledge you will be able to persevere through the difficult days until you are ultimately able to thrive in the good days. God will take care of you!

After Sermon Prayer

Holy Lord, as we enter into this new year, we do so with hopeful trepidation. We look out at the world and see so many things that could go wrong, and yet at the same time, we know that You are with us to lead us through whatever life may reveal. God, enable us to hold on to this promise and live it out in our daily lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.