3-31-2017

Good Morning All,

            Isaiah 65; 23-24; “for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.   Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear”

    Have you ever watched any of the movies about the earth after some form of nuclear catastrophe or some other cataclysm?  It is always fascinating that the world is so desolate and such a waste land.  There is always a scene where the wind is blowing so much dust or sand that you can’t see the characters of the film. 

    It is interesting how we view a post-apocalyptic world.  There are always destroyed buildings, broken up roads or streets.  There is very little if any vegetation; it always appears to be shot in a desert with little except for scrub brush plants.  There seems to be a lot of time when water is so precious that it may even be a commodity which is traded or fought over. 

     That is how we usually view a world that is destroyed. It is desiccated and void of greenery, of created life or existence.  There is rarely enough food, water or other provisions to live much more than a subsistent existence.  This is the exact way which Isaiah describes the life of the children of Israel would live while in exile in Babylon.  They would not live in the “Land flowing with milk and honey” rather they would live in desolate conditions.

    This really refers to the way that their faith life would be.  They had experienced God’s grace and lived in the land flowing with milk and honey but now, with God’s grace withdrawn, they would live in a land of desolation.  They had lost out of God’s grace, for a little while but they never lost out on his mercy.  God’s love for them never stopped and he promised to restore them to an even greater life.  He will again hear their cries even before they are made.

    This is what God promises to us through Jesus.  He sees our pain; he knows our fear and he has compassion on us.  We know this because of the cross upon which Jesus died.  If God does not love us fully, beyond any measure or standard; why would he have allowed his Son to die such a horrific death?

     So as we go through life, we may feel like we are in a wasteland, barren and hopeless.  Yet God comes to us with his Word, the word of forgiveness. He comes to us with his soul refreshing gift of Holy Communion to re-invigorate our spirit.  He gives us his Church where we experience flesh and blood expressions of His tender grace and mercy.  He gives us prayer to speak to him and to cry out to him in pain or in joy but even before we do; He knows us and he answers us.

Dearest Father, we often see only the barren and the wasteland; yet it is only by your tender mercy that we can survive.  Guard us, sustain us and protect us from all that devil will throw at us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret