Isaiah 62:1-5

1 For ’s sake I will not keep silent, for ’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

When I studied Hebrew at Glasgow University in Scotland, I was once told that the Book of was possibly written by three prophets who used the same name. They apparently lived at three different times. The first prophet Isaiah, who may have written chapters 1-39, lived in Jerusalem before and during the siege of the city by the Babylonians. He either died before the Jews were captured and taken away to , or he just stopped prophesying and writing when the holy city was destroyed.

The second prophet to be named Isaiah lived in Babylon and was perhaps a second generation Jewish slave. He prophesied and wrote the wonderful words of comfort and hope that are contained in Isaiah chapter 40-55. His ministry was to revive the faith of the Jewish people and to prepare them for their inevitable return to the Promised Land.

The third prophet Isaiah is responsible for chapters 56 to 65. He is of the last generation of Jews to be born and raised in Babylon. His vision is radical and uncompromising. He firmly believes in salvation coming directly from God and so he very loudly declares his prophecies among the people. I see him in the same mold as John the Baptist – a fearless firebrand who refused to compromise God’s message and who boldly stirred his people into action. He even states that in the first verse that we read from this morning:

1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

Now it could be that Isaiah the Third had been approached by the local Jewish leaders to subdue his message. They didn’t want their oppressors to get upset with the community. There was so much turmoil and uncertainty happening across the region at that time. The Jews had returned to their Promised homeland, but they still had powerful enemies who could extinguish them at any time.

No one knew who was going to govern them. The Babylonian Empire had collapsed, so the Jews perhaps feared that they would be blamed for everything. Any preacher or prophet who spoke passionately and publicly could have caused a riot, which in turn would have led to a military clampdown and regional persecution of the Jews. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah reveal to us how precarious things were for the Jews who were rebuilding Jerusalem. All that the new priestly class wanted to do was to re-establish their authority over the people and set up their rituals. Isaiah the Third in his zeal for the Lord was a dangerous public nuisance to them, in much the same way as John the Baptist and Christ became regarded by the same priestly Sanhedrin when they started preaching in Jerusalem six hundred years later.

But Isaiah would not quieten down, dilute the message, or appease his accusers. God had given him a sacred word to proclaim; he was not willing to hold back on what God had commanded him to say.

You know, folks, both prophesying and preaching, if done for the right reasons and presented in fearless ways, can disturb religious communities and local churches. Anybody can put together a sermon and preach a positive one-off proclamation of love and goodwill, but it takes a real prophet and a dedicated preacher to proclaim messages that challenge our cozy and convenient ways, or sting us with tenets and truths that we all find hard to accept. Isaiah the Third would not give in to his critics or detractors. No matter how unpopular, upsetting, or unwelcome his words were, the prophet lived his life and fulfilled his ministry by simply, plainly, and unambiguously presenting the message that God had given him. To proclaim anything else would be to disobey God; to preach anything else would be to lie to the people.

2 The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.

The prophet continues to express God’s great intention of lifting up the Jewish people again to a position of esteem, favor, and prosperity. Isaiah insists will be revived, and the nations around it will see and know that this has been accomplished by the hand, work, and will of God. The Jews will no longer be oppressed, terrorized, or ashamed. They will be blessed, uplifted, and re- established by God.

This may seem strange to us that God should be so particular about blessing, guiding, sustaining, and favoring an individual nation, and yet isn’t that what we expect and pray for every time we think, say, or sing “God Bless America”?

On this day, in 1706, one of the most influential, intelligent, and resourceful leaders of our nation was born in Boston. He became a renowned scientist, ambassador, and humorist. His wisdom, as well as his determination, helped to greatly shape the American Revolution and brought about its success by using his skills as a politician, diplomat, and negotiator. He was, of course, Benjamin Franklin – a great man and an important Founding Father of our nation. His religious convictions may have been questionable at times, but he did believe that God intervened in the destiny of nations. As Franklin once wrote to a friend,

“The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” In other words, the new nation of America was established by God’s hand.

4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called , and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. Hephzibah – my delight is in her ----- Beulah – favored and blessed – like a bride on her wedding day.

One of the things that Isaiah sought to counter was the feeling of shame, indignity, and worthlessness that the Jewish people still felt. Even though they were now back in the Promised Land, they felt that their place in history had been eradicated, that things would never be the same, and that their future would not glorious, wonderful, or fantastic. In a way, being back in the Promised Land and seeing the desolate place that Jerusalem and the surrounding region had become only made things worse. It’s the same kind of feeling that Europeans felt after World War 2 – their cities had been bombed and destroyed; their great buildings lay in ruins and their people were starving. Victory over the Nazis had been declared, but the world was still devastated after six years of constant warfare. To maintain some sort of hope in the midst of blighted and blasted communities was hard to do; if anything it required more focus, strength, and energy than the War ever did.

Isaiah spoke to his people about God’s love, favor, and blessings which were being restored. Even though their land appeared desolate, God was willing to reconnect Himself to it in order to repair, renew, and redeem it. The people might have felt abandoned and forsaken, but God was willing to allow them His delight and favor. In fact, God was so invested in the renewal of His people, He was willing to marry His heart to them, to make yet another unique covenant with the Jews which His people could rely upon year after year, generation after generation, time after time.

It’s this divine tenacity which allows us to seek hope for our church. Times have changed, people have different priorities, and churches everywhere are struggling. It would be very easy to give up and go elsewhere, do something else, even be someone else. But God called all of us to be Christians, to be Christ followers, and Jesus calls the Church His bride, so He will look after it, protect it, support it, and even cherish it. All we have to do is to follow His lead and this we have begun to do again at Erin with our new Vision statement. We are trying to be a church unified in Christ, actively seeking to create harmony in a diverse community through compassion, mutual respect, and love. It’s a bold statement that really requires us to get more involved in our community, instead of hiding here in this sanctuary.

For Isaiah of old to be successful, he had to get over his own fears of being criticized for stirring things up. If the authorities and elders of his community wanted him to be placid, malleable, and conform for the sake of keeping the peace, then they were in for a shock. God spoke to Isaiah, so the prophet had to speak what he was given, no matter how unpopular, unlikeable, or unacceptable his words would become.

As we all know, this is Dr. Martin Luther King weekend and across our communities, many folks will be celebrating, honoring, and respecting his magnificent ministry. We can look back with wonder and admiration at what he bravely did which changed us forever, but he wasn’t always as courageous as a lion or as outspoken as a prophet. In his book Welcoming Justice, Charles Marsh describes one of King's profound encounters with the Risen Christ. In January 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. returned home around midnight after a long day of organizational meetings. His wife and young daughter were already in bed, and King was eager to join them. But a threatening call—the kind of call he was getting as many as 30 to 40 times a day—interrupted his attempt to get some much-needed rest. When he tried to go back to bed, he could not shake the menacing voice that kept repeating the hateful words in his head. King got up, made a pot of coffee, and sat down at his kitchen table. With his head buried in his hands, he cried out to God. There in his kitchen in the middle of the night, when he had come to the end of strength, King met the living Christ in an experience that would carry him through the remainder of his life. "I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on," King later recalled. "He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone … He promised never to leave me, no never alone." In the stillness of that Alabama night, the voice of Jesus proved more convincing than the threatening voice of the anonymous caller. The voice of Jesus gave him the courage to press through the tumultuous year of 1956 to the victorious end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. More than that, it gave him a vision for ministry that would drive him for the rest of his life. My friends and dear Erin people, what can we learn from today’s lesson? Let us walk in the hope that God is still with us, Christ still leads us, and the Holy Spirit still needs us to do God’s work in this place and among His people. Both now and forever. Amen.