Isaiah 52: 1-12
1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments, O
Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the
unclean shall enter you no more.
2Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your
neck, O captive daughter Zion! 3For thus says the LORD:
You were sold for nothing, and
you shall be redeemed without money. 4For thus says the Lord
GOD: Long ago, my people went
down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too,
has oppressed them without cause.
5Now therefore what am I doing here, says the LORD, seeing that
my people are taken away
without cause? Their rulers howl, says the LORD, and continually,
all day long, my name is
despised. 6Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore
in that day they shall know that
it is I who speak; here am I. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." 8Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion. 9Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. 12For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Think
Their rulers howl, says the Lord and continually, all day long, my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak: here am I.
The people will know the Lord by the defamation of his name. I know how this is painted with a Christological brush that the name of Jesus was like grit in the mouths of Herod and Pilot and those who ruled over Israel in the first century. But think for a moment about how the name of God is besmirched in our own era, how the name of God is associated with acts of destruction and violence and judgement, how those who don't know God personally believe that God is a violent, vengeful, rage filled being. I have been asked countless times why God would do such evil and hateful and disturbing things like "letting" someone kill someone else in the name of God, or letting a city get flooded, or some one freeze to death. How often do I myself use the name of God to talk about an act of extraordinary power or stupidity. OMG! What kind of picture am I painting for those around me, and why then am I surprised when I tell people that I believe in an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent being who is benevolent beyond the normal understanding of Loving, do I get confused when I see blank stares as reaction.
They know the Lord because of how the leaders speak of him. We know God because of how we speak of him. I never really understood the - "Don't use the Lord's name in vain" statement until recently. I thought that I wasn't supposed to call upon the Lord unless I wanted to pray or praise his name. In reality it is probably less like a pocket dial or a wrong number, and more like this: Why would anyone want to love a God who is violent, who is vengeful, who is responsible for the actions which I attribute to him when I exclaim in frustration or disbelief. Oh My God!
Pray
Dear Lord, Help me to be a leader who does not besmirch your name but describes the many blessings of this life with praise and thanksgiving reminding those around me in all places and at all times that you are not a force to be reckoned with but a being to be loved. Amen
Contemplation
15 minutes mandala coloring- I feel the need to do some active contemplation today
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