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We Are Worthy; Isaiah 6:1-8

 

Rev. George Miller

Nov 17, 2024

Isaiah 6:1-8

 

“History is unavoidable…” Those are the words of theologian Gene M. Tucker.

 

Today’s reading takes place in a country that is on the cusp of major change.

 

King Uzziah has been leading the people for 52 years.  He is the 10^th King of Judah and under his care, the nation has experienced the most prosperous of times.

 

But- in about 30 years things are going to change.

 

Assyria, the nation to the North, is gaining in power and might and is becoming a threat, one that will alter the course of Isreal forever.

 

“History is unavoidable” is what theologian Gene Tucker says, and we hear that right in the start of today’s reading.

 

The King has died and the prophet Isaiah is in the sanctuary.

 

We are not told why he is there, but Isaiah is standing before the most holy of places- where the Ark of the Covenant is located and the 10 Commandments kept.

 

Who knows why Isaiah is there at this moment?

 

Perhaps he was supposed to be there, doing some kind of task for the Temple.

 

Perhaps he was there for prayer, a chance to engage one on one with God.

 

Perhaps, like many of us from last week, he was there in the sanctuary because he was trying to process the news about their leader and the Temple is the place he wanted to be.

 

Perhaps the sanctuary is where he needed to be.

 

The author does not tell us or give us any real tangible hint.

 

But since the author tells us immediately about the King’s death, it can lead us to wonder what was Isiah’s mood that day.

 

Was he melancholy, wondering if they will ever have such a time again in their nation’s history?

 

Was he eager?  Maybe looking forward to what life could possibly be like with a new king coming in?

 

Was he there with his stomach in knots, attuned to what was going on with the nation north of them, thinking that perhaps this change in power had made the people that much more vulnerable?

 

What brought Isaiah into that sanctuary that day and what was he feeling?

 

In the words of the King of Nineveh- “Who knows?”

 

But what we are told is that into this moment of history, Isaiah has an image of God, and it is powerful, one of the most powerful encounters in all of scripture.

 

As Isaiah tells us, he sees the Lord sitting on a throne, which most likely means that God is sitting on the Ark of the Covenant, which would have also been the most elevated, most holy place in all the building.

 

Isaiah says he saw seraphs, with covered faces, and they flew.

 

As they flew they called to one another “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.”

 

This words “Holy” is to remind us that God is like no other and there is no other like God.

 

The sanctuary is reverberating with this song “Holy Holy Holy…the whole earth is full of God’s glory.”

 

It is a testimony to how the world and all of creation is God’s.

 

Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord is personal, so unique.  There’s smoke, there’s song.

 

And what is Isaiah’s first response?

 

Woe and fear.

 

Verse 5 has the prophet say “I am lost”, but a better translation may be “I fear for my life.”

 

Isaiah is in the Temple, an eyewitness to God’s glory, and his response is fear and woe.

 

And why does he feel this way?

 

Because he simply thinks he is not good enough. 

 

At this moment, as all this wonder is taking place, all Isaiah can think about is all that he has done wrong, all the tragic mistakes he has made, how imperfect he is, and how broken his people are.

 

“Holy Holy Holy…the whole earth is full of God’s glory” sings the seraphs.

 

And all Isaiah can think of to say is “Woe is me.  I am lost.  I am a person of unclean lips, and I live among imperfect, unclean people.”

 

Is there anyone who can identify with Isaiah today?

 

The feeling of being full of sin?

 

That feeling of guilt from what you have done?

 

That feeling of not being good enough?

 

That’s what’s going on in today’s story.  Even within the sanctuary, even with the glory of God before him, even with all this song and splendor…

 

…Isaiah can only focus on how he thinks he does not measure up; he assumes he is unworthy to see and hear and experience God.

 

And yet, and yet he is the one that God has called; he is the one that God chooses.

 

In a symbolic act with a piece of coal, his mouth is touched, and he is told “your guilt is wiped away; your sins are no more.”

 

In the words of Psalm 32:5, he is basically being told that the guilt of his sins are forgiven.

 

In essence, he is being told that his mistakes, his errors are no more…so now he is free.

 

He is free from the slavery of his sin.

 

He is free from what he thinks he’s done wrong.

 

He is free from his sense of inadequacy, and he is now made ready to “do” and to “act.”

 

Amid all the wonder and splendor of the sanctuary, Isaiah thought he was incapable.

 

But God dismantles those thoughts, places upon Isaiah a change of heart.

 

And now, when God asks the question- “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”,

 

Isaiah finds a way to speak, he finds the words to say “Here am I; send me.”

 

Isaiah finds a way to act, to be brave and to answer the call. In doing so, nearly 2,800 years later we are still reading his words and we are still telling his story.

 

Isaiah becomes a good reminder to all of us that the Lord does not see us as we see ourselves.

 

The Lord does not see us limited by our mistakes or the sins we have done or the guilt that we carry.

 

God is Holy and holy other.  God does not see us as the world sees us.  God is not confined to or limited by how we see ourselves.

 

God can see who we are and what we are each capable of.

 

God is free to surprise us, empower us, and call us, even when history or life or circumstances seem to get in the way.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”

"Who Knows?"; A Message For a Historical Moment; Jonah 3:1-8

 

Rev. George Miller

Nov 10, 2024

Jonah 3:1-8

 

“Who knows?”  Those are the words from the King of Ninevah.

 

They may be the timeliest words for today.

 

Since the Election, folk have experienced a myriad of feelings.

 

Some are feeling great elation, as if they just heard the best news in the nation’s history.

 

Others are feeling profound sadness, as if they just heard the worst news in America’s history.

 

And for now, the truth is “Who knows?”

 

We can guess, we can assume, we can play out every single scenario in our head, but the truth is “Who knows?”

 

Who knows if the economy is going to boom, boom, boom as some hope.

 

Who knows if we’ll be living a Nazi Germany as many fear.

 

Who knows…and at this moment this may be the best we can say.

 

Since August 4, we have been Exploring God’s Story and encountered so many motifs.

 

We rooted our ministry together by discussing good seeds planted in good soil.

 

We discussed walking in the garden with God during the cool breeze and being with God during the darkness of night.

 

We’ve looked at what it means to hold people accountable and how to leave things behind, both so we can move ahead.

 

We’ve discussed being addicted to chaos; celebrated Hannah who found a way to hold onto hope.

 

King David showed us how to humbly praise God even when we don’t get our way; Solomon showed us how ministry can financially bless a community.

 

Last week we heard “Do not be afraid” spoken to a widow at the city gates, celebrating what it means to “Be Brave.”

 

Today we apply all these lessons. 

 

No matter how we voted, no matter how we feel about the election, now is the time to take the stories of our spiritual ancestors and apply them to how we live, how we worship, and how we will survive.

 

We keep planting those good seeds in good soil.

 

We keep finding ways to walk with the Lord in the cool breezes and dark nights.

 

We find ways to move forward, praise God, bless the community, and be brave, brave, brave.

 

We also find a way to listen to where the Voice of God directs our attention, and if all we can muster up for now is a “Who knows?”, that is enough.

 

We don’t have to know.  We can’t know.  We can’t spend every moment of every day for the next 4-5 years trying to guess, assume, determine what the future is or is not.

 

Almost every story in the Bible takes place during a tumultuous time in human history.

 

Almost every piece of scripture was written during a difficult, tumultuous time in human and political history.

 

Almost every Biblical author was writing during unknown, difficult, tumultuous times in human, political, and economic history.

 

Most likely, Genesis 1 was written after Jerusalem was attacked, the Temple destroyed, and the people Exiled.

 

Exodus is about enslaved people being heard and seen by God, set free to cross the Red Sea to become a new nation.

 

Last week we heard about the widow who was a victim of the drought caused by the King’s unfaithfulness.

 

Look at the Gospel of Luke- the Emperor creates a plan to tax the masses and, in the process, we have Jesus born in Bethlehem.

 

All these stories of light and life are set in great uncertainty and political strife.

 

People may think the Bible is full of pie-in-the-sky fanciful stories and don’t apply to real life.

 

That is the furthest from the truth.  The Bible was written by survivors who faced tough times and found the strength to carry on by recalling the stories of their ancestors.

 

How do you find comfort in chaos? Look at how God creates order in Genesis 1.

 

How do you face assumed defeat? See how the Red Sea parts.

 

How do you face scarcity head on? Be brave.

 

Today we have a King and a country that are told the worst of news from Jonah. 

 

What do the people do?  They act.  They come together as one.  They embrace their faith, as shaky as it may seem.

 

What does the King do?  He turns to God in a radical act of faith. 

 

But first- he also acts. Instead of doing nothing, he does what he can. 

 

He stands, he removes, he covers, he sits in the uncomfortableness of it all.

 

He speaks.

 

Instead of arrogantly thinking he has all the answers, instead of giving false hope, or ignoring the starkness of what could be ahead,

 

he humbly, vulnerably says “Who knows?”

 

Perhaps no truer words can be said by any other person today-“Who knows?”

 

It may not solve all the problems.

 

It may not calm some’s anxiety or elevate some people’s joy.

 

But to say “Who knows?” is one way we are reminded that we cannot determine the future.

 

However, in our faithful actions, in our unity, by remembering the story of our ancestors and their relationship with God,

 

we can find ways to walk in the garden and the darkness.

 

We can find how to be a presence and a blessing to our community.

 

And above all, we can find ways to be brave, even if we are full of joy or if we are full of fear.

 

The people of God have always made it through.

 

The people of God have survived dark nights, Red Seas, political events, and we are Still Here.

 

It is not easy.  It is not without action. 

But it is always, always with God; and it is always by being very, very brave.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”

From Widow to Hero- The Brave Woman of 1 Kings 17:8-16

 

Rev. George Miller

November 3, 2024

1 Kings 17:8-16

 

Today’s reading is such a special one.  It’s my favorite story in the Bible; one that got me through the toughest of times when I was in my twenties, working 3 jobs, just trying to make ends meet.

 

It's a story about God, about miracles, about faith in action.

 

It’s about facing scarcity and adversity head on, and moving forward even when the odds say “No.”

 

Today’s story takes place 90 years after the Temple was completed, and things have not gone well for God’s people.

 

The nation is divided, the north has split off from the south and there is a new king who builds an altar for another god named Baal and no longer worships the Lord.

 

From out of seemingly nowhere, a prophet named Elijah steps into the story and tells the king that as a consequence of his actions, no rain will fall upon the land for years.

 

That’s where today’s scripture begins.  In this time of drought and emptiness, God says to Elijah- “Go!” 

 

Gods tells Elijah “Go to the land North of Tyre.  A widow is there who will feed you.”

 

Elijah gets to the gates of the city, and he sees a woman gathering sticks.  He asks for water and a morsel of bread.

 

But the widow replies “I have nothing.  Just a handful of flour; a bit of oil. I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go home, make bread, so my son and I can eat it and die.”

 

There is so much going on right here.  The extreme scarcity and sheer loneliness. 

 

This woman is so vulnerable.  She is a widow, which means she has already lost so much and experienced great pain.

 

She is a mother, which means who must not only fend for herself, but her child.

 

The place where Elijah meets her has great significance.  She is at the city gates, which means she is at the very end of town.

 

This is not the Townsquare, surrounded by others.  Nor the Temple with other worshippers, or the dining room table, with friends.

 

She had to travel a distance just to find something, anything to cook with and keep on living. 

 

And what she finds is not much- just a couple of sticks.  Two.  Barely enough to make a fire.

 

This story has so much heaviness, so much scarcity.

 

But as we witness again and again throughout scripture,

where there can seem to be moments of assured failure,

 

there can also be the moments where life and God and wonder appear and exist and surprise us once more.

 

Like Hagar in the wilderness, like Sarah and Hannah with their barrenness, this is a woman who is without, who seems to have come to the end of her story.

 

Into this moment comes a stranger, a man, someone who could possibly do great harm.

 

And what does the prophet Elijah say to her? 

 

The same words that God said to Hagar in Genesis 21.

 

The same words that Moses tells the people right before the waters of the Red Sea part.

 

“Do not be afraid.”

 

In the middle of this women’s misery, the Prophet says “Do not be afraid.”

 

This phrase right here is such a foundational phrase of scripture, from the Old Testament to the New.

 

“Do not be afraid,” Elijah says to the woman.

 

In others he tells her “Be Brave.”

 

Sometimes those are the only words you can say to someone who is going through something really, really difficult.

 

“Be brave,” Elijah says. “Make your bread.  Bring some to me, to your son, to yourself.  For your jar of meal and your jug of oil will not run out until the rains fall again.”

 

The woman does as encouraged, and somehow, some way she and her son are able to eat for days.

 

It is a miracle of amazing proportions.  One that we can hear and say “How is this possible?  How can this be?”

 

There are many ways we can interpret this, and things that can be said about how and why the jars did not run out.

 

But here is one thing we can focus on today- the actions of this amazing woman.

 

She is living during a time of historical crises- a drought has ravaged the land and food is nearly impossible to find.

 

She has lost her husband, making her one of the most vulnerable people in the city.

 

She is not just doing this alone, but she has a child to care for and worry about.

 

And she has so so so little-

 

only has a handful of meal, a little of oil, and a couple of sticks that she had to search hard for.

 

She is running on absolute empty.

 

And yet, when she is told to “Not be afraid,” but to feed Elijah, that is what she chooses to do.

 

She could have said “No.”  She could have completely refused.

 

But instead she decided to take actions.  She acts.  She does. 

 

She responds, and in doing so she plays a huge part in her own salvation.

 

When studying verses 13, we hear a multitude of verbs that she is instructed to do-

 

Do not be afraid.

Do as you have said.

Make a little cake.

Bring it to me.

Make something for yourself and son.

 

Verse 15 tells us “She went and did…and her house ate for many days.”

 

This widow, this woman, is so incredibly brave, so incredibly bold because she could have said “No,” she could have stopped, she could have given up.

 

But instead she heard; and she acted.

 

Just like Hagar in the wilderness in Genesis 21 who could have remained a victim, but instead did as God instructed and was led to what she needed.

 

Just as Moses and the Israelites.

 

Sure, God parted the waters, but the people had to be willing to step, they had to be willing to take that chance, they had to be brave and bold enough to walk between those waters.

 

The widow in today’s story is such a wonderful hero because she represents all of us, man or woman, young or old,

 

Who here or watching from home knows what it is like to have struggled, what it is like to have experienced a great loss?

 

What it is like to feel like an outsider, what it is like to worry about a child or family, what it is like to live during historically difficult times and wonder-

 

“How am I going to make it through to the other side?”

 

And the way she does this is by hearing a Word from God, not allowing fear to have the ultimate grip on her, and to act, to do, to move.

 

If we have lived long enough, we have all experienced our own kinds of drought and emptiness.

 

It can be financial issues, work related, relationships, marriage, chronic illness, death. 

 

Things that seem to say “You’re done,” “You’re finished,” and “You’re as good as dead.”

 

But the faith of God’s people, the faith we have in God, is one that says “With the Lord, we can find a way.”

 

“With the Lord we can survive.”

 

“With God what may seem to be an ending can be a new beginning.”

 

The Good News we find in today’s story and throughout the Bible is that God has a way of offering us life even in the midst of uncertainty,

 

even in the midst of death, even when it seems we have nothing left.

 

We are brave.  We believe.  We act, trusting in the Lord.

 

For that, let us say “Amen.”