Advent
November 25, 2014

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9

5 You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed….
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity for ever.
Now consider, we are all your people. — Isaiah 64:5, 8-9

Does verse 5 above bother you? It bothers me. It seems to blame God for our transgressions. Is it possible that the poet left a verse or two out? Should there have been a verse between the first half of five and the last half of five that says something about our not gladly doing right and remembering God and thus God was angry.

Luke tells us a story (Luke 17:11-19) about ten lepers who Jesus meets along the way and who Jesus cures of this dreaded disease, telling them to follow the practice for lepers who have been cleansed to go to the priest to receive acceptance back into the community. All ten went to the priests and all ten were found to be clean but only one returned to Jesus to thank him for his healing mercies. The others did not. Perhaps this is a story the poet could have inserted between the first half of verse five and the second half.

From this reading plucked from context, we do not know why God is reported to have been angry nor why God bothered to hid from those who apparently did not seek God. A broader review of Isaiah would surely clarify the matter but I do not think it is any different than Jesus’ experience with the lepers and perhaps is not different than God’s experience with us today.

Advent is a time of introspection. A time to reconsider how we are meeting God along the way.

Prayer: Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
            Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
            Mold me and make me after thy will,
            while I am waiting, yielded and still.* Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.