Isaiah 35.1-10 interrupts the mood and narrative of despair. Amid rumours of war and despondency, Isaiah offers reassurance, underscoring the hope that the restorative justice of God is on its way, and encourages his listeners to ground their hope in the present. God is present and is working to make things right towards restoration, repair, healing and transformation.

This week's news

Nelson Mandela  never doubted the long reach of the justice of God. He certainly held and lived the conviction  that he and the people of South Africa must live by truth, forgiveness and reconciliation. And this was no cheap undertaking as it called everyone to examine what they were running from, how they have hurt each other, what they were fighting, what had immobilised and stolen the voices and lives of many, and to expose the lies and power-base of a few who ruled the majority with impunity. Mandela knew that what this demanded was the need to see and name hope for every South African. 

Today, the world mourns the loss of this great statesman, a humble servant  who placed his trust in the presence of God working through the goodness of humans to make things right through restoration, repair, healing and transformation.

Reflection

Here is your God who delivers

Isaiah offers assurance for both present and future. God is here and will come to save! God’s arrival transforms every inability into ability and every scarcity into plenty. When God comes, lives are restored, hope thrives, violence is transformed into peace-making, and the mighty are humbled. There is an alternative to despair and oppression. It is not retribution, but hope that God will act to deliver. 

Blossoming and rejoicing

Isaiah 35.1-10 is poetic imagination at its best – evocative, visionary and hopeful. Isaiah enlarges the picture of a new time of peace. The parched earth, dried up places, and all of humanity are transformed, made whole and healthy. What evocative images to capture this new dawn: water flowing in the desert and a road that is spacious, smooth, safe and inviting carved out from what used to be a hostile space, so that all of God's children can access Zion and ‘everlasting joy will be upon their heads’. In the prophet’s imagination, amazing things are happening, captured in his use of ‘blossoming’ and ‘rejoicing’!

Dreaming large…visioning hope

Isaiah is clear that God does what seems impossible. If ‘salvation’ is about healing and ‘God comes to save’ then healing must be an obvious sign of God at work. So he imagines an extra-ordinary road, smooth and easy to travel on and he dreams that healing and justice and joy are for everyone and for all of God's creation. His message of expansive embrace is cathartic news for us as we struggle to find a flourishing way through our despair, and as our lack of faith that newness is possible is exposed. Isaiah offers us a vision of hopeful possibilities that will permit us to dance, sing, march, give thanks, drink and live! 

Be strong and do not fear

Isaiah dares to step out and offer a word contrary to the dominant narrative. When God appears surprising things happen: mourning turns into singing and rejoicing; the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame leap for joy; the exiles delight in homecoming. In other words: all of creation and humanity are transformed at the appearance of their God, and all rejoice together and sing for joy. The people's grief and suffering, like the desert road on which they travel, is transformed. They find courage and they overcome their fears. 

Prayer

In preparing to lead or participate in worship this Sunday or during the week, you may wish to shape your prayers by remembering and praying:

• for peace in the world
• for the wildernesses around you to become flourishing paths with streams of water flowing abundantly
• that dangerous roads become secure paths upon which all can walk with assurance.
• for the healing of our fears and the removal of all our enmity, prejudice and division
• for the courage to extend  and receive grace and reconciliation  
• for people like Nelson Mandela who embody peace, reconciliation and justice  
• that we may welcome into our hearts the Child who will lead us to the new world.

God-who-saves, 

deliver us from visions that are narrow, restricted and uninspiring 

and from fears that threaten to overpower us. 

Through your Spirit, 

stir and refresh us to hope and trust 

in your expansive, open, sure, joyous and extravagant love. 

We pray in the name of the One who embodies love to the fullest. 

Amen.

Questions

• Where is God working miracles of transformation? Where is hope urgently needed?
• In what ways is Isaiah’s vision of humanity relevant to us today?
• How do we open ourselves to hear and see past what stifles us that we may receive the message of hope that comes to us?

Action

• Reflect on Isaiah’s vision and consider the implications of believing that all can be transformed and renewed through the saving presence and power of God. What needs to change in (y)our life?
• Identify the situations and contexts where the message ‘be strong, do not fear’ is necessary and urgent. Consider ways to communicate this message and do so.

Young People

God sends us prophets to witness to hope and God's unfailing love. Consider one practical way you can put that witness into practice this coming week.

Michael Jagessar, a minister of the United Reformed Church, is currently Secretary for Inter-cultural Ministry and Moderator of the General Assembly (2012-2014) of the United Reformed Church.