Isaiah 66: 10-14
“Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”
For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
"I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first? " All of us have been in a situation where we have heard this spoken. But unless you are a doctor or a parole officer you probably don't have to be the one delivering that news too often. Then their are those in professions like dentists who get the bad rap of always being the purveyor of bad tidings. What is it like to be the person who gets viewed as the constant bearer of bad news?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was born and raised in New Orleans. Growing up in New Orleans meant that you spent a few months of every year nervous about impending hurricanes. Every new storm that neared the Gulf of Mexico started our ritual over again. We would all gather around the television waiting for the weatherman's cue to raid the local stores for duct tape and pork n' beans. Usually things worked out for us and the storm would go elsewhere (sorry Florida). We all knew when things were taking a turn for the worse. The sign that our luck might be running out always came when channel 4 pulled out their secret weapon. No matter what channel you usually preferred to catch the news on, if you were serious about hurricane watching and not floating down the street on the hood of a '88 Cutlass, then you would eventually turn to channel 4's broadcast. Their secret was a gentleman by the name of Nash Roberts. He was the weatherman who had officially retired in 1984 but they kept dusting him off and putting him on camera in such times as these. I estimate that he had to be about 172 years old, more or less. He was pulled on camera every time because the people of new Orleans trusted him. They trusted him because he understood calculating a hurricane's movements like a science... because ummm, I guess its like a science... or math or something. Nash would get on camera and bring his own backdrop of the gulf coast, that appeared to be hand painted by underage laborers in the '20's. Then he would take a black marker and draw the potential paths of the hurricane, all based on his own mathematical calculations. Yes, there were government agencies with up to date computers that made their own calculations but everyone trusted Nash's model because he was some sort of magical wizard. He was the Gandolf who would protect our Hobbitshire from the impending doom and save all of Middle-Earth with it (I just put in all of those Lord of the Rings references to score points with my in-laws). We also trusted Nash because of his history with hurricanes. Not only was he the only local meteorologist to accurately predict Hurricane Betsy and Camille, he also started his weather career back in the war (I forget if it was the Civil War or the Peloponnesian War) by being on the first airplane that flew into the eye of a tropical storm. Nash flew up into the heavens and came down with information that would save us all from the storm.
That is exactly where I first saw the prophet Isaiah. Not the actual prophet Isaiah but a painting of him. And not actually in the heavens but on the ceiling... but you get the idea. As I walked with a tour of the Vatican I turned into a room that was none other than the Sistine Chapel. This chapel, which serves as the Pope's private chapel (think mini-church) is arguably the most impressive attempt at a cohesive biblical illustration. The ceiling mural is a masterpiece by Michelangelo that surpasses the technical skill of even his sculptures and competes in grandeur with the best pieces of any of the other Ninja Turtles. The whole room is adorned with murals of biblical scenes, but the ceiling is the most famous. Of course everyone is probably most familiar with the Creation story scenes but if you look to the edges of the ceiling you will also find the great biblical prophets from the Old Testament. Among these is Isaiah, pictured sitting on a stoop like Calvin and Brenda from 227 before Grandma Pearl calls him in to do his chores. While Isaiah sits a winged angel speaks into his ear while he uses his finger as a bookmark in the bible that he is reading. In Scripture angels always serve the function of Gods messengers. So to picture an angel talking to Isaiah is to reinforce his role as a prophet, one who hears from and speaks on behalf of the Lord. The 66th chapter of Isaiah is almost a sampler of the whole book and a great example of what a prophet did in general. In chapter 66 Isaiah delivers good news and bad news. The bad news is that God is judging Israel and Judah (by that time the kingdom of Israel had split in two and one side had kept the name... just like Guns n' Roses). This judgment would be both painful and destructive. The good news is that Isaiah had just saved a lot of money on his car insurance... and that after the judgment God would rebuild and bless greater Israel (symbolically referred to by its greatest city, Jerusalem). You may have noticed that the portion that was quoted at the top of the blog entry only features the "good news." Why? Well because I am an Evangelical and all Evangelicals are Cornballs who try to stay positive like Ned Flanders...and because whether it was good or bad news that Isaiah delivered, it was all part of the greater good news. That greater good news is that God's judgment is just the beginning of growing us into something better...blessing us. Jesus would later compare this process to pruning a plant. Some parts have to be cut away to make way for new growth: for flowering to occur. God honestly never sets out to destroy things but to redeem them. So that is the news that Isaiah was sent to report to God's people. A message that was sent down from Heaven to save greater Israel from destruction.
The other day a college buddy of mine (who is now a Baptist pastor) posted an interesting article on his Facebook wall. It was a list of eleven things that most people don't know about their pastors. The article makes me think that most people probably view pastors like Isaiah. There are some similarities to both the painting and the biblical figure. Now I don't have any illusions about pastors. Many of them are people of good will who feel a calling from God to serve people but some are downright stinkers and a few are straight up scoundrels. Just like in Isaiah's day with prophets and false prophets. In the end of the day they are human... but God choses to use humans (and sometimes they cooperate). I am not a cynic as much as I am just a child of the Reformation, a movement founded in distrust of blind obedience to authority. The Reformers were not breaking from Catholicism as much as they were attempting to reform Church corruption and be accountable to a biblical standard. What I do revere and hold sacred is the call to pastor. The act of God calling men in need of spiritual healing to care for others with spiritual sickness. God calls them to carry the wounded to Great Physician. A pastor is a wonderful calling because true spiritual authority is based in spiritual service: Jesus saw greatness in humility. Even though Isaiah wasn't a pastor per se he held a similar calling. Like a good pastor he sits with his ear to the words of God and his gaze fixed upon the the rest of the Church. When he arises he does so entrusted with the good news from God that redeems.
All good pastors are not the same. There are general parameters but no cookie cutter mold for a good Christian leader. All of these characteristics revolve around being a spiritual weatherman: reporting to everyone what that sound from the heavens means. It may include telling some bad news, such as our sinfulness and need for God. But that report of the impending storm of God's judgment pales in comparison to the bright sunshine predicted in the full forecast: God will save us from perishing from the storm. Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. Jerusalem was destroyed several times but it was rebuilt and remains to this day. If you have ever been beaten by life's storms then you too should take heed to Isaiah and rejoice. Just as God renewed his dwelling place Jerusalem, He can dwell within all of us and enact renewal. That is the good news. And the Good News is the Gospel.
The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
"I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first? " All of us have been in a situation where we have heard this spoken. But unless you are a doctor or a parole officer you probably don't have to be the one delivering that news too often. Then their are those in professions like dentists who get the bad rap of always being the purveyor of bad tidings. What is it like to be the person who gets viewed as the constant bearer of bad news?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was born and raised in New Orleans. Growing up in New Orleans meant that you spent a few months of every year nervous about impending hurricanes. Every new storm that neared the Gulf of Mexico started our ritual over again. We would all gather around the television waiting for the weatherman's cue to raid the local stores for duct tape and pork n' beans. Usually things worked out for us and the storm would go elsewhere (sorry Florida). We all knew when things were taking a turn for the worse. The sign that our luck might be running out always came when channel 4 pulled out their secret weapon. No matter what channel you usually preferred to catch the news on, if you were serious about hurricane watching and not floating down the street on the hood of a '88 Cutlass, then you would eventually turn to channel 4's broadcast. Their secret was a gentleman by the name of Nash Roberts. He was the weatherman who had officially retired in 1984 but they kept dusting him off and putting him on camera in such times as these. I estimate that he had to be about 172 years old, more or less. He was pulled on camera every time because the people of new Orleans trusted him. They trusted him because he understood calculating a hurricane's movements like a science... because ummm, I guess its like a science... or math or something. Nash would get on camera and bring his own backdrop of the gulf coast, that appeared to be hand painted by underage laborers in the '20's. Then he would take a black marker and draw the potential paths of the hurricane, all based on his own mathematical calculations. Yes, there were government agencies with up to date computers that made their own calculations but everyone trusted Nash's model because he was some sort of magical wizard. He was the Gandolf who would protect our Hobbitshire from the impending doom and save all of Middle-Earth with it (I just put in all of those Lord of the Rings references to score points with my in-laws). We also trusted Nash because of his history with hurricanes. Not only was he the only local meteorologist to accurately predict Hurricane Betsy and Camille, he also started his weather career back in the war (I forget if it was the Civil War or the Peloponnesian War) by being on the first airplane that flew into the eye of a tropical storm. Nash flew up into the heavens and came down with information that would save us all from the storm.
That is exactly where I first saw the prophet Isaiah. Not the actual prophet Isaiah but a painting of him. And not actually in the heavens but on the ceiling... but you get the idea. As I walked with a tour of the Vatican I turned into a room that was none other than the Sistine Chapel. This chapel, which serves as the Pope's private chapel (think mini-church) is arguably the most impressive attempt at a cohesive biblical illustration. The ceiling mural is a masterpiece by Michelangelo that surpasses the technical skill of even his sculptures and competes in grandeur with the best pieces of any of the other Ninja Turtles. The whole room is adorned with murals of biblical scenes, but the ceiling is the most famous. Of course everyone is probably most familiar with the Creation story scenes but if you look to the edges of the ceiling you will also find the great biblical prophets from the Old Testament. Among these is Isaiah, pictured sitting on a stoop like Calvin and Brenda from 227 before Grandma Pearl calls him in to do his chores. While Isaiah sits a winged angel speaks into his ear while he uses his finger as a bookmark in the bible that he is reading. In Scripture angels always serve the function of Gods messengers. So to picture an angel talking to Isaiah is to reinforce his role as a prophet, one who hears from and speaks on behalf of the Lord. The 66th chapter of Isaiah is almost a sampler of the whole book and a great example of what a prophet did in general. In chapter 66 Isaiah delivers good news and bad news. The bad news is that God is judging Israel and Judah (by that time the kingdom of Israel had split in two and one side had kept the name... just like Guns n' Roses). This judgment would be both painful and destructive. The good news is that Isaiah had just saved a lot of money on his car insurance... and that after the judgment God would rebuild and bless greater Israel (symbolically referred to by its greatest city, Jerusalem). You may have noticed that the portion that was quoted at the top of the blog entry only features the "good news." Why? Well because I am an Evangelical and all Evangelicals are Cornballs who try to stay positive like Ned Flanders...and because whether it was good or bad news that Isaiah delivered, it was all part of the greater good news. That greater good news is that God's judgment is just the beginning of growing us into something better...blessing us. Jesus would later compare this process to pruning a plant. Some parts have to be cut away to make way for new growth: for flowering to occur. God honestly never sets out to destroy things but to redeem them. So that is the news that Isaiah was sent to report to God's people. A message that was sent down from Heaven to save greater Israel from destruction.
The other day a college buddy of mine (who is now a Baptist pastor) posted an interesting article on his Facebook wall. It was a list of eleven things that most people don't know about their pastors. The article makes me think that most people probably view pastors like Isaiah. There are some similarities to both the painting and the biblical figure. Now I don't have any illusions about pastors. Many of them are people of good will who feel a calling from God to serve people but some are downright stinkers and a few are straight up scoundrels. Just like in Isaiah's day with prophets and false prophets. In the end of the day they are human... but God choses to use humans (and sometimes they cooperate). I am not a cynic as much as I am just a child of the Reformation, a movement founded in distrust of blind obedience to authority. The Reformers were not breaking from Catholicism as much as they were attempting to reform Church corruption and be accountable to a biblical standard. What I do revere and hold sacred is the call to pastor. The act of God calling men in need of spiritual healing to care for others with spiritual sickness. God calls them to carry the wounded to Great Physician. A pastor is a wonderful calling because true spiritual authority is based in spiritual service: Jesus saw greatness in humility. Even though Isaiah wasn't a pastor per se he held a similar calling. Like a good pastor he sits with his ear to the words of God and his gaze fixed upon the the rest of the Church. When he arises he does so entrusted with the good news from God that redeems.
All good pastors are not the same. There are general parameters but no cookie cutter mold for a good Christian leader. All of these characteristics revolve around being a spiritual weatherman: reporting to everyone what that sound from the heavens means. It may include telling some bad news, such as our sinfulness and need for God. But that report of the impending storm of God's judgment pales in comparison to the bright sunshine predicted in the full forecast: God will save us from perishing from the storm. Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. Jerusalem was destroyed several times but it was rebuilt and remains to this day. If you have ever been beaten by life's storms then you too should take heed to Isaiah and rejoice. Just as God renewed his dwelling place Jerusalem, He can dwell within all of us and enact renewal. That is the good news. And the Good News is the Gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment