Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Trinity – 5th September 2021
Nelly Paraskevopoulou – St Paul’s Athens
May I speak in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Isaiah was a theologian, reformer, poet and orator. He has been called the prince of Old Testament prophets, the Saint Paul of the Old Testament, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, the 5th Evangelist. The name Isaiah means ‘God is salvation’. His long ministry, covering fifty years or more, were spent in Jerusalem, where he was the personal prophet of four different kings of Israel. An interesting personality, Isaiah wrote during the stormy period marking the expansion of the Assyrian empire and the decline of Israel.
The book of Isaiah is the only Old Testament book to predict both the virgin birth of Christ (7:14), and His dual nature both human and divine (9:6). 7 and is the Old Testament book most often quoted in the New Testament.
Chapter 35, from which our first reading is taken, refers to the future blessings of restored Zion and follows the judgement on the nations, described in the previous chapter. On the one hand, human wickedness has dire consequences for creation, but now through God’s redemption not only human beings but also creation will thrive. When God comes, everything that was made desolate in the judgement announced in the previous chapters, now is given new life.
These are words of transformation and miracles, encouragement and hope. Words which create a new image of the world and project us into a future full of wonders.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Jesus cited this verse in claiming these prophecies for himself, when he spoke to the disciples of John the Baptist as recorded in Matthew 11:4–5. Jesus performed the miracles of giving sight to the blind people multiple times, providing the proof that ‘he was the Messiah sent from God’ as described in (Matthew 9:27; Matthew 20:30; Mark 8:23; Mark 10:46; Luke 7:21).
His works are many: the eyes of the blind are opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame leap like deer, the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. Practically the dead are raised. Jesus did this and continues to do so, and his church and all Christians have the responsibility, often in small and humble ways, to be compassionate healers. We are sent out, by his Spirit, into a world in need of healing.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear…. He will come and save you”: In contemporary life, we need the strong hope of the LORD to overcome our fearful hearts. Our fearful hearts are not helped by optimism alone; they need to hear the assured confidence that He will come and save.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened: When God’s salvation comes, it is accompanied by miraculous power. It is a miracle for the blind to see, for the deaf to hear, for the lame to run, and for the mute to speak. But when He will come and save you, He does it with miraculous power.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert: When God’s salvation comes, miraculous provision comes with it. What was dry and arid before becomes abundantly watered and fertile.
Streams in the desert: Jesus said He would bring this kind of beautiful provision in the lives of His people: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive as mentioned in the gospel of (John 7:38-39).
The parched ground (or burning sand depending on translation) shall become a pool: “The word translated parched ground actually means mirage, air reflection, an atmospheric phenomenon frequently seen in Eastern deserts which is caused by the reflection of the hot rays of the sun…. Now the prophet Isaiah brings the good news that what used to be an illusion will one day become reality.
Isaiah gives us some beautiful images of nature in all its variety and wonder. Streams in the desert, bubbling springs, grass and reeds and papyrus. All these replace dryness and aridity. Nature is resurrected and so is man, who regains his strength and is healed from every illness.
The same kind of contrast is found also in Luke 2 46-56 from the Magnificat, or the Song of Mary
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
Isaiah’s message is not only for his time. It is an eternal message. A message to be understood and felt in the present and in the future. A message of miracles, deep transformation and hope of new life. Of God’s redeeming love. Like most of the holy scriptures it is slightly beyond our horizon of understanding, which makes it even more challenging. It challenges us to find our own personal meaning but also a wider meaning. Through faith and trust in the wisdom of the Almighty God.
These verses, and in particular those referring to the burning sand becoming a pool, would have been of great comfort to all those who suffered during the recent wildfires in Greece. Those fleeing Afghanistan would also find consolation in the promise of a better future, where everything is miraculously restored. Each one of us, with our small or big everyday problems, with our fearful hearts, full of doubt and insecurity, take courage from the words of the prophet ‘Be strong, do not fear’, ‘He will come to save you”.
Today being Climate Sunday, Isaiah’s words remind us that we need to take action as Christians who care for God’s creation, tackling the climate emergency with urgency now and for future generations. So that the world we live in can once more become what the Lord intended it to be.
Amen
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