God Speaks
The other day, someone asked me, “How come God doesn’t speak anymore?” I said, “What do you mean?” Well… she said, “God speaks to people in the Bible – how come he stopped?”
It was a good question. She seemed satisfied with my answer, but the question has been rattling around in my brain ever since. And so today, I want to explore with you some of the ways that God has spoken through the prophets, through scripture, and some of the ways that God continues to speak today.
In the Gospel, after Jesus is baptized, we hear a voice from heaven declare, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” The words are direct and personal and accompanied by a dove – not an eagle or a bird of prey, but a dove, a symbol of peace.
But God’s voice is not always peaceful. In today’s Psalm, the voice of God is described as being upon the waters. It thunders so loudly and powerfully that it breaks the strong cedar trees. It bursts forth in lightning flashes and shakes the wilderness. Sometimes God’s creation can be noisy! God also speaks through the gentle rustling of the trees, the chirping of the birds, the hoot of an owl or the howl of a wolf.
God’s creation has a powerful voice -- and doesn’t always use words.
And then we come to the passage from Isaiah, one of my all-time favorite scriptures. In this passage, God speaks to God’s people as a whole – but also as individuals. God speaks personally and intimately. This time, God is not saying, “I love you’ all.” Instead, God says, “I love you.” This is a message for the people of Israel at that time. AND, it is a message for God’s people everywhere and of all time. God says, “I love you.” Don’t be tempted to look over your shoulder to see who God is talking to – because God is talking to you; Yes, you.
God speaks these powerful words not sweetly or sentimentally but instead as a transformative word to a people who are in trouble and who may be wondering who God is and if God even knows who they are.
A little background might be helpful. Our reading comes from the book of Isaiah and covers the time before the exile to Babylon, during the exile and also the end of the exile. Because of the expanse of time covered, a couple of hundred years, the book is divided into three parts: First, Second, and Third Isaiah. First Isaiah begins while the people are still in Israel and Judah. The prophet Isaiah “condemns hypocritical worship, complacency, and the failure to act with justice for the poor.” 1 The prophet of First Isaiah warns rulers that they are not following God’s way and that they are not keeping the covenant and that there will be judgment upon them if they don’t listen. They don’t listen. Instead, the rulers make bad choices politically, economically, and spiritually, and the people follow. Their land is overtaken by the Babylonians and the leaders and many of the people are exiled.
By the time of “Second Isaiah,” a second generation has been born into captivity. The people of God are servants, or more likely slaves, living far from what had been their homeland or rather, their parent’s homeland. They have been gone a long time. At this point, the people of God don’t know if they ARE the people of God anymore. They are dispirited, alienated, and out of touch with God. God seems silent. They may have wondered: Has God abandoned them?
It is to these people – people who are poor, living as foreigners, alien residents, slaves and servants - that God speaks in our Isaiah lesson for today. In words reminiscent of the story of creation, God reminds them of their relationship. God says, “I have created you. I formed you.”
To a people who don’t know if they belong anymore, God says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are mine.”
In Bible times, being redeemed basically means being “bought back,” financially, usually by a family member when one member of the extended family falls into debt and cannot pay their bills or has no real way of making a living. It can be a life-changer. So, when God says to his enslaved people, I have redeemed you, God is saying, I am setting you free – no matter what the cost.
But then comes a troubling verse. God is speaking metaphorically when God says that I will pay the price even if it is the unimaginably large cost of the then richest nations on earth – Egypt, Cush and Seba. Although it sounds exclusive here, in the next couple of chapters, God makes it clear that God’s redemption is for all people of every nation.
God goes on to remind God’s people of their history – and how God has been with them through the water of the Exodus and across the river Jordan to reach the promised land. God promises to be with them even in fire and flame. This is not to say that God’s people will never experience hurricanes or forest fires – the hurricanes of Florida and raging forest fires of Southern California come to mind. However, God promises that even in the deepest water and the hottest flame, God will be with us, Emmanuel. And God extends that promise to “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created, whom God formed and made.”
This is the promise of God, and the love of God which God gives to you, my friends, individually, one at a time, as each one of you were named and claimed by God at your baptism.
It is in your baptism that you heard the words – whether you remember that moment or not – “You are my child, my beloved.” And from that moment on, “You belong to Christ in whom you have been baptized. Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”
We are reminded of God’s word to us when someone else is baptized – as we will hear next week when Dylan Lynum will be baptized.
We are reminded of God’s promises and God speaks to us anew in the breaking of the bread and the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood at the Holy Supper when we are in community together. And God speaks to us – to me and to you in the Bible, in God’s Holy Word when we hear God say, “You are precious in my sight, and honored and I love you… [so] do not fear, for I am with you.”
But these are not the only ways that God speaks. God also speaks to us through other people – often in surprising ways.
Charles was volunteering at a homeless shelter ministry when he met a man that everyone called “Twitch.” When Charles asked about his name, Twitch replied, “My given name is Jeremy but ‘Twitch’ is the name I used back when I was using drugs and was in and out of jail.”
Charles said, “Oh, then I’ll call you Jeremy” – assuming that he would rather not use the name that was associated with his past life.
But the man replied, “Call me Twitch. I want the people here who were friends of mine while I was in and out of jail to know that it is me, Twitch, that God has brought out from under that load and has transformed me, redeemed me, and given me a new life. I want them to see that if God can love me – and I was bad – God can redeem anyone. I want to give them hope for a new life, that God can give them too.2
God speaks to you today… through the word of God, through the words of scripture, through the bread and wine, through Twitch and through this proclamation. God said, “ [INSERT YOUR NAME]: You are precious in my sight, and honored, And I love you. I have ransomed you. You are my beloved child.” Thanks be to God. Amen.
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran + January 12 + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
1 Enter the Bible, https://enterthebible.org/courses/isaiah/lessons/summary-of-isaiah
2 Charles L. Aaron, Jr https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/baptism-of-our-lord-3/commentary-on-isaiah-431-7-4\