Isaiah and the Lord's crushing pleasure

“It was the Lord’s good pleasure

to crush him with pain;

If he gives his life as a sin offering,

he will see his offspring

and prolong his life,

and through him

the Lord’s good pleasure will be done.”
–Isaiah 53:10

“It was the Lord’s good pleasure to crush him…” What a hard thing to read.  And yet, do many of us not feel a kind of crushing weight upon us even in our comfortable houses and relatively safe lives.  The weight of waiting and of not knowing. Perhaps even the weight of all that new-found quiet.  It is strange and sometimes must feel hard to be so “isolated,” and uncertain.

As Christians, we read this passage and immediately hear an allusion to Jesus and His cross, the suffering servant who gives His life as a sing offering for the sake of others.  But, reading it the other morning I wondered: what did Isaiah’s audience make of it? What did it mean to them? This image is from what is often referred to as “Second-Isaiah.” Scholars believe chapters 40-55, were written by a later prophet (perhaps a follower of the first) and were possibly written 150 years after chapters 1-39.  Second-Isaiah is believed to have been written during the Babylonian exile, so the audience for this book was themselves in exile, dragged off into slavery. They must have felt the true sting of these words. Were they struck by their God with this affliction? Certainly they were helpless, despised, crushed, a people of constant sorrow led to the slaughter. Did they believe that this truly was God’s pleasure? Or did they begin to suspect something even worse… that it was a sign, proof that there was no God, no Yahweh who loved and delighted in His chosen people. 

Had their whole history been nothing but a fantasy?  Were they just some minor tribe who had been lucky for a while, found a nice piece of fertile land, settled it and enjoyed a little success under a couple of minor kings, but of no real importance to the world or history? Easily knocked over by other larger and more powerful tribes or nations when the time was ripe…

Truly, how could a loving God take pleasure in crushing anyone? What on earth could these words have meant to 5^th century Israelites living in exile?  And what does it mean to us today, living in our own strange “self-isolated” exile?  I know that when I read these words I am struck by the brutal sound of them, the spiritual weight of such an image.  And I want to quickly find some nicer way to understand it. I want to find some way to tame it, make it sound not so frightful, but gentle and sweet. I want to find a way to fit it on a Hallmark card.

But you can’t. Not if you face it. Face the actual words themselves. Don’t hide behind theological interpretations, but ask yourself this:  What is God saying here? What is the truth God is revealing to us through this fearful image? Even today?

It seems to me, that –in fact-- this bleak vision is one of assurance and encouragement.  It assures us the same way I think it was intended to assure the enslaved in Babylon. It speaks not just of abuse and punishment, but of the real pleasure of God: self-giving.  To the 5^th century Israelites it may have said, their disfiguring abuse under the Babylonians, their seeming destruction, was in fact an unexpected kind of proof, a proof of God’s love. His true pleasure. And, thereby it speaks also of His presence right there with them, even in their hour of exile and destruction.

What a hard teaching this is.  Even for us today, in the shadow of the cross and the echo of the empty tomb, this is still a hard teaching. To find God’s pleasure, God’s love, God’s presence in our time of anxiety and suffering is very hard.  When things get rough, we tend to go into defense mode, and our shields go up—a kind of psychological and emotional self-isolating. No one wants to be mistreated, wants to be seen as a failure, wants to be disfigured by life and loss. Those moments make us feel completely abandoned, as if God has forgotten us. 

And yet this passage seems to say: Don’t be afraid. This is what you were made for.  Give your life to God and witness the pleasure of God’s will being done, in you and through you.

Even if it means becoming God’s suffering servant, we are being called to give our lives to Him, each and every day.  This isn’t just a memo for the time of pandemics and coronas, it is a call we need to listen for every single day.   

In Colossians, Paul writes of “making up” in his own suffering what is “lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (1:24).  Is that the opportunity that Isaiah is speaking of here?  

When the world feels like it is crushing us, when the sacrifices (even if it is just staying home and self-isolating) seem beyond our ability, perhaps that is the time for us not to turn away and hide.  But a time to surrender to the will of God.

A time to pray: 

Help me Lord, surrender to Your will, Your pleasure;
Help me surrender to the fullness of Your presence, Your tender love.

Like Your son, I pray: Not my will, but Yours be done.
My God, I give my life to you.

Of flint and spit and baby birds: some thoughts on Isaiah 50

Of flint and spit and baby birds: some thoughts on Isaiah 50

“I have not turned my face

away from insults and spitting…

I have set my face like flint…”

--Isaiah 50:6-7

There is something quite visceral and troubling in that image of “spitting.” I can’t imagine not turning my face away from someone spitting at me. Even simply on a instinctive level, it seems an almost animal reaction to be horrified by someone spitting on you… And yet here we have this image of the prophet suffering this indignity willingly.  He will not turn from insults and spitting.  He has set his face like flint and will not turn back.  He is committed to the task at hand. But, what is the task?

This is from the third “suffering servant” song.  In these passages the prophet employs the image of a suffering servant to express God’s love, God’s willingness to suffer for us.  These 4 songs, all found in Isaiah 42-53, speak of God’s enduring love, God’s commitment to Israel, to redeem her from sin—no matter the cost.  He has set His heart on it and will not turn away. Even though it bring shame and insult, God will suffer anything for His beloved.  That single-mindedness, that sense of courage, commitment and dedication to a purpose… it is something I too often lack. I will set a goal, I will make a promise, I will commit myself to some plan of action and then, before too long, I will find myself forgetting, or delaying, even making excuses for why I should just give up. I’m too tired, I should wait until after I rest, and while I rest maybe I could watch just one more episode of Midsomer Murders. Or what’s the point of cleaning the bathroom? It will just get dirty again!  How many times have I committed myself to working at least an hour a day on my novel… And how many times have I just let that hour slip away because I felt ashamed, or disheartened, afraid of failure, afraid of insults and spitting…? Or what about that commitment to morning prayer? To a half hour of meditation every day? Or 15 minutes even? I might look foolish, people might judge me, or worse—no one will notice! That’s a real slap at the old ego…

And yet, God never gives up on us.  Every day, every hour, every moment of our lives He is right there at our side, reaching out to us, whispering our name.  In fact, according to Isaiah, He has engraved us in the palm of His hand (49:16).  You, me, every single one of us… even the sparrow that falls from its nest…

Don’t be afraid of your promises, your commitments, your renewals. Yes, we all have failed, we all have stumbled, we all have turned away… But, now is a time to be renewed. Now is a time to refocus our attention and set our face, like flint, on the goal.  Listen for that still, quiet voice that whispers your name.  Where is God calling you? How is God calling you?  What great adventure does God have planned for you?  Is it to renew your family through prayer, is it to serve a neighbor who lives alone, perhaps buy groceries, pick-up medicine, or mow the lawn for them. Maybe you are being called to reach out to someone who is lonely. Call them up and ask them how they are doing, and take the time to actually listen. Ask questions about their day, their life, what they are doing to get through this anxious time.  Maybe God is calling you to get outside and smile at your neighbors and the people who pass, greet them and compliment their children. Let them know there is still hope in the world.

The other morning I saw a beautiful example of this.  I was out for a walk and saw a commotion of people busily and somewhat awkwardly bustling about in a neighbor’s front yard. There were three of them all seeming to be in a state of intense focus, and yet from the yard kept coming laughter and joyful sounds of encouragement and what can only be called: effortless delight.

I stopped and one of the neighbors paused long enough to explain that they were anxiously trying to rescue a baby bird that had fallen from its nest –which had been built in a hanging planter on her porch.  It seems that nest itself had also fallen, so these three neighbors were busily scurrying about trying to rebuild the nest and get the baby bird back into it. They were completely focused on the task at hand, and there was wonderful seriousness—almost a solemnity—about their work. Gathering pine-needles and leaves, looking for just the right kind of nest-making materials, even comically debating which items the mama bird might prefer.  The moment was filled with joy.  Their faces were set like flint on the task at hand, and though they were clearly anxious for the safety of the bird, there was also delight in selflessly doing what they could. Unafraid of looking foolish or being ridiculed, they were being true to the call of that little quiet voice.  There was no thought of being spit on (or pooped on, I bet...) What a blessed witness that moment was for me.

Maybe you too are being called to help a baby bird, or maybe you are being called to sit down and write a letter to someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Let them know they are not forgotten. They are loved. Inscribed in your heart, even.  Or maybe it is that novel you’ve been meaning to write. Don’t be afraid of looking foolish, don’t be afraid of failing, just set your face like flint and follow the sound of that voice calling you always deeper into the love of God.