The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; but you shall be called priests of the Lord, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
-Isaiah 61: 1-11
Today we remember a sober anniversary, the murder of twenty children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School and six of their teachers. Today we are reminded that as much as we seek to follow the Prince of Peace in our lives; we are part of a society and a world that is broken by evil and the worship of the false gods of violence in all its incarnations.
The words of Isaiah for this week are words of assurance in the face of evils we are not sure we can handle alone.
The assurance that God is always with us.
The assurance of God’s preferential option for the poor, forgotten, ignored and destitute in body and in soul.
Isaiah tells us that these are the people and communities where God will birth the primary work of building a new world and a different type of society. This is where God’s mysterious and reconciling work of bringing the manna of salvation will begin. These are the promises of Isaiah for us on this third Sunday in Advent.
“They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.”
Historian Diana Butler Bass offers these words as she reflected on the various religious seasons that converge around light at this time of the year:
“Solstice, Hanukkah, and Advent – all come to the same spiritual point: the darkness of our delusions must end for the light of truth to gleam and guide us. Here. Now. On this earth. We don’t need a new one. We need to do better with the one we have.”
What would doing better look like? What would it look like when we imagine the Prophet Isaiah and what he might have to say about the state of things in the world you and I inhabit?
For me, doing better, seeking realignment with God means an end to wars of all kind. Wars with ourselves, with those we are in relationship with, between countries and the one we are inflicting upon God’s Creation.
For me, doing better means rebuilding places that are broken and not giving up on places that might seem like they are broken, when in fact they just don’t fit the mold that someone else is trying to push them into.
For me, doing better is standing alongside those who are grieving and struggling. But even more, for me, doing better is disrupting the systems and ways of living that cause the harm, grief and suffering in the first place.
For me, doing better means looking at the things that are painful, really looking at them – so that I am convicted once again as a person of faith to do something about them. We need to see the ruins and the devastation that Isaiah describes, really see them – if we are going to participate in the rebuilding as an act of faithfulness.
Doing better is building up, raising up, repairing and healing damage that spans the generations.
Doing better means living into this season of waiting. Waiting means living into the truth that I and the Church are not responsible for everything, that God is in charge and that the Way of Jesus is one of trust and grace.
“They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.”
Today marks five years since children and their teachers were massacred in their school. Little children, babies. We lose about 85 people every day in our country to gun violence. We are losing people every day in our world to acts of violence. We must stop this. We are all living in ruins and devastation – the brokenness of a society that has utterly ignored God’s path of peace, love, light and reconciliation. We see it in the scourge of gun violence in economic policies that harm and in the devastation of the Creation. Christmas is getting closer when we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, the ultimate bringer of peace and New Life to us all. Are we waiting and preparing this Advent season, or are we held captive by the false gods of violence, war and weapons? Are we doing any better?
Image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/91057223699942957/?lp=true
