Here is the Isaiah sermon for class tomorrow. I have labored over this sermon but it seems to be complete and makes sense. Again, I would appreciate any comments or feedback. It is based on Isaiah 10:1-10:
The judgment of God thundered down on Israel as Isaiah spoke out to the people on their actions. I can see this scene in my mind – the people of Israel were gather in Jerusalem as Isaiah spoke the words of God to them. I imagined they looked around to see exactly who Isaiah was addressing – just as you may be this morning. The very words of Isaiah would have been difficult to hear – to those that actually listened. As they listened, I imagine they looked at themselves and asked a simple question: “When did we oppress? When did we do this?” Centuries later, this same question would be posed to Jesus as it is recorded in Matthew 25 and we find it offers an answer to these questions as Jesus answered, “when you failed to live as I told you” and when you lived as the world lives.
Have you ever considered the idea that justice is blind? Recently there was a story on NPR on Lady Justice – you know the statue of a woman holding scales and wearing a blindfold. We find her at courthouses around the world and we are happy to see her because she is a sign that justice will only hear the facts and not judge us in any other way. We want our justice to be blind to all but the facts of our case. Have you ever considered the idea that injustice is blind? Lady Justice has a sister called Lady Injustice who also wears a blindfold because she doesn’t see anything around her. Like Lady Injustice, we often have our own blindfold on, as we simply do not see injustice around us. “When did we oppress? When Jesus, when did we do this?” I am not sure whether it is because we choose not to see injustice around us – the case for some – or that we simply do not see injustice around – the case for most of us.
Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools tracks information that relates to its students including economic data. We live in a data driven world so it should not be surprising that even our schools make decisions based on data. The most recent economic data revealed that nearly 40% of the students in the Antioch High School cluster – the one my subdivision is zoned for – live in or near poverty. That means four out of ten students that I pass at the bus stop each morning live in poverty. I pass them nearly every morning and they look perfectly normal to me but then I simply do not see. Maybe I don’t see the shabbiness of their clothes, or the fact they are not smiling as much as others, or even that they stand aside from the others or maybe I simply don’t see because I can’t see or accept that poverty exists in my neighborhood. When we begin to realize that poverty exists in our very neighborhoods and affect our own neighbors we begin to see what is around us – our eyes are opened. “When did we oppress? When Jesus, when did we do this?”
I wonder how the poor become poor? How does someone suddenly find himself or herself living in poverty? I wonder if they wake up one morning and decide that today is the day they are going to become poor and live in a life of poverty. I wonder if they choose a life of struggle and hardship as they deal with poverty. No doubt, there are some who choose to do that as part of a religious devotion or vocation but I believe a great many more people find themselves in poverty for reasons beyond their control and perhaps they do not even realize it is happening at first. What could possibly cause it? I think of the American dream – you know the very idea that has called immigrants to this country over the past 3 centuries with hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow. The idea that America is the promised land flowing with milk and honey. The idea that leads people to want to buy houses, cars, and stuff just to keep up with the Baranoski’s. We celebrate the American dream and celebrate when we see it happen in our midst. The late Geraldine Ferraro said on the night of her nomination as the first female vice-presidential candidate, “My name is Geraldine Ferraro. I stand before you to proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us.” There was thunderous applause at the mention of the American dream. The result of our celebrated view – no our worship – of the American dream is that people are oppressed by the very thing they are trying to achieve. In trying to keep up with those around them and in the middle of this are a group of people who have no control – children. “When did we oppress? When Jesus, when did we do this?”
It is interesting that God’s words of judgment through Isaiah following the announcement of a coming birth of a child. The verse which tells us that “unto us a son is born, unto us a child is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” We celebrate this verse at Christmas time with pageantry and carols as an announcement of the future coming of Jesus the Messiah but what does it mean? What would it mean to the people who heard the birth announcement followed by a pronouncement of judgment? Jesus came as a Messiah to free the people – not from the government directly – but from the Roman dream. You have heard of it. The one that told the people to pay their taxes so the Pax Romana could continue. The one that told the people to stay in their social order so that the Pax Romana could continue. The one that told the people to get along with the government and religious authorities so the Pax Romana could continue. The one that said to simply do what you are told so the Pax Romana could continue. The Roman dream that said if you do what you are told, you will not wake up to a nightmare. Jesus came to free the people from this dream. To show the people a better way to live their lives. To show the people that the kingdom of God had drawn near and living in the kingdom would change their lives forever. “When did we oppress? When Jesus, when did we do this?”
Many of us live the American dream but at what cost? Four out of ten children standing at the local bus stop live in poverty. Those children may only get two good meals each day – those that are served at school. They may not sleep at night because they worry about being hungry or they because they simply are hungry. They may act out in school because they are frustrated and tired. They may even join gangs as a chance to escape the bonds of poverty and embrace their piece of the American dream. The American dream – full of hope and promise – is driving our children to the streets to fend for themselves. “When did we oppress? When Jesus, when did we do this?”
God’s judgment on Israel followed a call to see the world differently and to live in the world differently. We are not called to give up our houses, our cars, our gadgets – unless that is a specific calling from God. Instead, we are called to live differently as part of God’s kingdom, to embrace others, to see others in their woes, and to open our eyes to injustice. When we begin to realize that our actions have consequences – even buying a house – then our eyes are opened to all that is around us. When we begin to look and see – really see what there is and not what we want to see – we begin to see that the American dream is not a dream for everyone but a nightmare. The child who is born unto us has come to free us from our nightmare and live into the dream – not the American dream, but the dream of God’s kingdom.
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