A New Thing For A New Year
Isaiah 42:1-9
This amazing prophecy from Isaiah is full of surprising twists and unexpected links. A servant will bring justice. How can that be? Justice comes from a powerful leader or a movement of the masses or an avenging army. Isaiah tells us that this justice will be accomplished by a servant who “will not cry or lift up his voice” (v. 2) and will not break a bruised reed nor quench a dimly burning lamp (v. 3).
Our English translations miss some wonderful word play found in the Hebrew text. “Falter” (v. 4) has the same Hebrew root as the “dimly” burning (flax) wick of verse 3. And the word for “crushed” (v. 4) has the same Hebrew root as that of the “bruised” reed of verse 3. The writer is helping us connect some things in our minds as we hear these parallels of reed, wick and servant. The justice portrayed in this passage is like a two-edged sword. The servant’s gentle strength sees to it that both unjust persons and those hurt by injustice will receive justice. Do you see how this sword cuts both ways here?
Sometimes we read the prophetic books as if we are reading the musings of a fortune teller. When we think of prophets our minds are just as likely to imagine psychics like Jean Dixon or John Edward as we are Isaiah or Zechariah. Biblical prophecy is very different from telling us which presidential candidate will get divorced in 2009 or whether there is an older female on the other side trying to communicate with someone. Prophecy is more about telling the truth than telling the future. The prophets were not so much about fore-telling as forth-telling – using imagery and insight to cut away the extraneous chaff so that the kernels of truth could be revealed. In fact, the mark of a good prophet was someone who could tell the truth about what was happening right then – not about some far off time in the future. An effective prophet paints a clear picture of the state of the world, speaks truth with love, and points the listener to where God is moving.
Now, as Christians, we have a long theological history of seeing many of the characteristics Isaiah attributes to the “servant” in Jesus. He was one whom at baptism the gospel writers tell us God’s voice proclaimed to be the Chosen One, in whom God was well pleased. Jesus claimed the promise for himself and his followers to free the captive and bring justice to all the nations. Sometimes Christians are guilty of usurping these Jewish voices as if the ancient prophets were not addressing issues of their own day – like Isaiah’s “servant” sayings were simply about Jesus. This would be sloppy scholarship and unnecessary. The authenticity of Jesus’ life can stand upon its own merits and truth without us needing to perpetuate an unjust use of Jewish texts. We can ground the justice ministry of Jesus firmly in the theological tradition of his people easily without having to resort to such tactics.
It is interesting that the two gifts that Isaiah’s servant is to bring are justice and teaching – mishpat and torah. In the middle of the chaos and confusion that is human life God promises us justice and new insight.
This passage, and others like it in the prophets, was interpreted by the ancients and more recently by Christians as a reminder that God indeed wants to do a new thing – that, in fact, God longs to restore justice and insight. What a great promise to keep in mind as we begin a new year. God longs to do something new in our lives – bring new insight, restore hope, open new doors, put closure on past hurts. Where do you need something new in your life? Is it a new direction? With the recent legal recognition of civil unions in New Hampshire, you can have your commitment service and honeymoon at the Les-B-Inn. Owner Grace Newman says over 300 couples have made the inn a nuptials destination. There’s a new thing going on.
Do you want to make better choices? Now fast food restaurants are offering skinny lattes, Weight Watchers menus and fat-free smoothies. Even Tony the Tiger has a new buff look. There’s a new thing going on.
Do you want to take a chance on something you haven’t tried before? Now you can have Internet speed and access no matter where you are with a new technology called WiMax being developed by Intel. Why be tied to a desktop. You can go out in the middle of a desert and still get your email.
Are you starting over after a trauma? Keep this in mind: According to the Boston Globe, beer is the new water, because it re-hydrates you better. Water is the new oil because it is becoming scarcer on a global scale. Gray is the new black. George Clooney is the new Cary Grant. Facebook is the new Google is the new Microsoft. Rehab is the new jail. Iraq is the new Vietnam while Iran is the new Iraq. What does any of this have to do with the trauma you are getting over? Nothing, except that it reminds us that the world continues to go forward. Things continue to change and we don’t have to stay stuck in something from the past.
This is a brand new year. There is no better time than now to let the old pass away and embrace something new.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com What Isaiah Got Right, January 2008.
http://www.beaconoftruth.com/JEAN-DIXON.jpg
http://www.the-psychics.co.uk/images/john-edward-crop.jpg
http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?date=2008/01/10/1 “Les-B-Inn Awaits Civil Union Boom” January 10, 2008.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=4112802&page=1 “Fast Food Restaurants Go Healthy” January 10, 2008.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GadgetGuide/story?id=4112161&page=1 “WiMax”, January 10, 2008.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/12/30/the_new_new_things_of_2007 Boston Globe, December 30, 2007.
