Isaiah 42:1-9 (paraphrased from the NRSV)
One: Here are my servants, whom I uphold, my chosen ones, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations. They will not cry or lift up their voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed they will not break, and a dimly burning wick they will not quench; they will faithfully bring forth justice. They will not grow faint or be crushed until they have established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for their teaching.
Two: Thus says God, the Sovereign one, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:
One: I am God, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am God, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
Two: Thus says God, the Sovereign one, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:
One: Here you are my servants, whom I uphold, my chosen ones, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon you; you will bring forth justice to the nations. You will not cry or lift up your voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed you will not break, and a dimly burning wick you will not quench; you will faithfully bring forth justice. You will not grow faint or be crushed until you have established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for your teaching.
Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Even though it may not look like it, our bodies are made up of more water than anything else. Before we are born, we are surrounded by water in our mother's womb. We need water to live; we can last quite a long time without food, but
only a very short time without water. Bathing, washing dishes and clothes, fountains, irrigation, you name it: where there is life there is also water; a precious gift from God, vital for our lives, not to be wasted, important to share, to value, to cherish.
Yet on the 26th of December 2004 that very precious gift became a deadly force. As the earth deep below the sea shifted to relieve accumulating pressure, the water responded with a resounding wave that leveled entire cities, townships, and resorts and took countless lives and untold wealth. Katie and I were enroute to North Hampton, Massachusetts when we finally sat down in front of a television set at a hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania to view footage of the devastation.
Unbelievable, imperceivable devastation. What followed throughout the week was more news of loss and destruction: news of the continuing genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan, an ethnic cleansing that has amounted to a loss
of life nearly equal to the lives lost in the tsunami; an assassination in Baghdad; more car bombings in Iraq; violence and loss of lives, both American and Middle Eastern, in the continuing war on terrorism.
Just before I left on vacation a parishioner said to me, “You know, there are days when I believe in God, and days when I wonder if I have made the whole thing up to make myself feel better.” If we are honest most of us can relate to that feeling. And I suppose, particularly at moments like these in history, it is easy to feel as though perhaps God doesn't really exist beyond some made-up superpower human beings concocted to give life meaning. Such a God is surely of little comfort in the face of such enormous despair. I can understand that feeling, and I think it is very normal to struggle with faith in that way.
Oddly enough, when something like this happens, it has quite the opposite effect on me. Instead of giving up on God, I find myself beginning to think about things on a deeper level: questions of death and dying, sure, but also of creation itself, and not just human creation, but the earth and the environment too. This week it occurred to me, as I thought about the ebb and flow of life, that nature is simply nature—and nature simply does what nature does to keep itself moving along. We assign labels like tragedy and national disaster to the things nature comes by naturally.
A volcanic eruption, a forest ablaze, a tornado, an earthquake, a tidal wave: nature is simply doing what nature does, to relieve pressure, to shift tectonic plates, to evolve. We are hurt by it because we have assigned value to that which happens to stand in the path of it. We have created palatial resorts in Sri Lanka and Thailand, island paradises around active volcanoes and near beautiful sandy beaches, mountain homes that make it easier to go skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. You know the age-old question: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, if nature does what nature has been doing since the beginning of time—shifting, shaping, growing and changing—and no one gets hurt by it, is it still a natural disaster? I think it is more likely a natural phenomenon.
All of which leads me to the conclusion that God is and will always be as tangible as the hand right next to yours, and as mysterious and complex as nature itself. I guess the key for me is not to focus on what I don't understand, but to hone in on what I do understand. I understand what it means to feel love. I understand what it means to care so much about something or someone or a group of someones that I am willing to put my very life on the line for it. I understand that the snow falling brings me inexplicable joy—fruitcake joy—and that the sight of a newborn baby always makes me tear up.
When something like a tsunami hits, I understand even more that life is precious and unpredictable. I comprehend again, as if for the first time, that we are not entitled to life—it is a gift. We may hope to see our children live to be adults, we may hope to live to watch them graduate from college, we may even assume that it would be fair for all those we know and love to have long and healthy lives, but none of us are entitled to such things. They are quite simply gifts. Extraordinarily valuable moments collected into a lifetime if we are lucky, but no one here knows how many of those moments we will have. The real faith question is not whether or not God exists, but whether or not we value the lives we have been given enough to spend them well, using them wisely with grace and integrity before returning to God that which is God’s from the beginning: our very breath, our very lives, our every action and deed. How much do we value the lives we have been given? That is a faith question worth spending some time with.
“Here are my servants, whom I uphold, my chosen ones, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations." Thus says God, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. Ours is not to know how many days we have in these earthly vessels, but to be grateful for each of those days, to comfort those who have lost much and to live lives we can be proud of, and feel good about—lives that make this world a better place for all who live today and all who will live tomorrow. And so we offer our praise to the God of this most Holy Creation. Amen