Isaiah
41 is found in the final section of Isaiah and focuses on the return of
Israel back to their homes after the 70-year Babylonian exile. They’re not home
yet, but their exile’s coming to an end in the near future and Isaiah writes to
give them hope and strength. This passage is about encouragement to a people
who have mostly been born in exile with the stories from their parents and
grandparents of how wonderful home is, but for most of them, these are only
stories. Isaiah’s writing to encourage them to not give up on their faith in
God.
Isaiah’s
addressing their despair. Despair feels like misery, a desolation of the soul,
hopelessness, dejection, a lack of meaning or purpose in life. These can become
long-term feelings that settle into the soul, becoming a state of being,
choosing to see life through the lens of despair. Despair is a reality for many
people today. There are those who have grown up in hard families, abusive even,
seldom experiencing love or kindness. Having been foster parents for many
years, Joyce and I had a number of children who felt this way come into our
home. There are those who live in perpetual poverty who see no hope or relief
in sight, those who live on the streets, some for many years who have lost hope
of ever having a place to call home, there are those who are refugees who want
to return home, but sense that they never will, and feel unwanted here. Despair
leads to distance from others and from God, making it difficult to experience
the presence and peace of God; to experience joy. Despair is found in every
age.
When
you’re struggling and feel no one sees you, the images here in Isaiah become
real: barren heights, deserts, and parched ground reflect what’s in your heart
and soul. You pray for relief, for something to change, or for someone to show
up who sees you, who offers hope. Israel’s praying God will show up, and here
through Isaiah God does, offering these words of hope, “I will make rivers flow on the barren heights, and springs within the
valleys. I will turn deserts into pools of water, and parched ground into
springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the
olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of
the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.” These
passages this morning point to God’s presence and blessings, to bring us to joy
and deeper trust in God.
The
change that happens in a desert place is amazing if you’ve never
seen it before. A place that is dry and parched, showing little signs of life
can be transformed into a place filled with life and new growth as soon as rain
comes. When we look at these images, it’s easy to see why Jesus offers us
living water and calls us to allow streams of living water to flow from us into
our world, John 7:37–39, “Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who
is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said,
rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the
Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time
the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” With the coming of new life from the living water
through the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves able to move from despair to joy,
leading us to confess with Mary, “My soul
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…for the Mighty One
has done great things for me.”
Jesus
connects living water to the presence of the Holy Spirit. This was not a new insight, Isaiah connects
water and the Spirit in 44:3, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on
the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on
your descendants.” Throughout Scripture, nourishing rain and rivers also
serve as a picture of spiritual nourishment given to satisfy our thirsty
souls. In Isaiah, the gift of water leads to the incredible spread of
numerous types of trees—trees you wouldn’t expect to see, a true flourishing
out of lifelessness or despair. In Isaiah, this water that gives life is not
for just anyone, it’s especially meant for the poor and needy, those who are
weeping, the lowly, and the hungry. This may seem unfair, but this is so that “people may see and know, may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has
created it.” As the people find new life, find hope again, find joy, it’s
not found in what they can do for themselves, it’s found in the work of a God
of mercy who cares for the humble, the hungry and who will lift them up over
the proud and rich.
Joy
is a mark of God’s people. Joy is closely related to gladness and
happiness, although joy’s more a state of being than an emotion; a result of
choice. Joy is part of the fruit of the spirit. Having joy is part of the
experience of being a Christian. We have the Gospel, good news for all
people, news of forgiveness and grace, news that our sin is covered by Jesus;
this should lead to joy. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit, who lives in
us, a gift of God’s presence. Trevor Hudson, a pastor from South Africa writes
about seeing the joy in Dallas Willard’s faith. Someone told him he had a gloomy
faith; he writes about seeking out the source of joy and went and reread the
Gospels in order to find the joyous God that Willard talked about. Hudson was
struck by how happy Jesus was. “He lived with a strong vibrant sense of the
goodness of his father, the creator of the world. He seemed to have had the
capacity of living fully in the present, giving his attention to the task in
front of him, celebrating the presence of God here and now. He enjoyed parties,
sharing meal, hugging children. He loved those around him fiercely and
passionately. To cap it off, after explaining to his disciples how he would be
the vine and they the branches, constantly drawing life from him, he said, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in
you and your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)
Black
gospel music and spirituals focus on salvation, hope, and
resilience; bringing comfort and inspiration to those who listen to their
music. This music comes out of the African American slave community that sought
the hope and joy of the Gospel rather than allowing despair to shape their
souls and faith. Even in the midst of often great suffering, the slaves kept
their eyes on Jesus and on a God who saves; who leads his people out of slavery
into freedom, even if it’s not in our lifetime. This is why in Advent we not
only look back to Jesus’ birth, but also ahead to his return when we’ll all be
free from the chains that hold us in despair, whether it’s physical, spiritual,
mental, or emotional illness, addiction, broken relationships, poverty, or
repetitive sinful behaviours that we just can’t break free from, or any other
chain that holds us down.
What
does joy look like in your life? Can others see Jesus’ joy in you? Do you
find joy in being part of this body of Christ, do you live out Jesus’ joy in
worship, in serving, in sharing your faith, with the people in your life? Or do
you find yourself bitter or critical and focused on sin and judgment, rather
than Jesus’ love for you? Are you able to receive forgiveness and grace and
offer forgiveness and grace to others? Do you choose joy? Are you strongly
connected to Jesus as the source of your life and being?
Our
joy comes from knowing that Jesus will
return, seeing life through this reality; there’ll be no more suffering. Isaiah prophesizes of the restored
people of God, entering into Zion with a crown of everlasting joy: Isaiah 35:10, “and those the Lord has rescued will
return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their
heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee
away.” And Isaiah 55:12, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the
field will clap their hands.” The
indescribable joy of believers is possible because as we wait for Jesus’ return,
we know that we’ve received the salvation of our souls.
Moving
from despair to a joy that blooms with new life is rooted in
trusting that God’s working for our good and deeply cares about us; choosing to
believe in his promises to fill us with his living water in the Spirit. Joy
comes from being in community with God and the body of Christ; from a life of
continual prayer and communication with God, and from a love and study of
Scripture, God’s gift where he reveals himself to us. This Advent, rejoice in
the Spirit’s work, grateful for all the good we see around us, rejoicing in expectation
of the day when the world will be made right again, and those who experience
need will flourish, joining in the happiness of the psalmist and Mary confessing,
“the Lord has done great things.”
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