Epiphany

January 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
   pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
   while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
   I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
   and my reward with my God.’ –Isaiah 49:1-4

As a cradle Christian, that is one whose mother shared her faith from the child’s beginning, I can identify with this poem. As a want-to-be justice advocate I know exactly what this suffering servant is professing. Taking one step forward and two steps back to eventually make the slightest of progress can be washed away in one hurricane or earthquake or change in leadership. And we start over again.

I know what it is like when it seems we have labored in vain. I have been working on health care reform since Joseph Califano was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Carter Administration. Almost 50 years later we in the USA are still struggling to provide even basic health care to too many of our citizens.

We are called to do justice whenever righteousness is not in play and surely our cause is with the Lord, and our reward with our God.

Prayer: Lord, we do get weary, abide with us and sharpen our justice swords so we can continue to strive toward your justice. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.