Living in the Spirit
August 18, 2020
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6
Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,
you that seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song. –Isaiah 51:1-3
Michelangelo was a 26-year-old artist challenged to create a statue of the youth David from a massive piece of mediocre marble*. It had been tossed on the trash heap of discarded stones the worth of which others had not recognized. The artist decided not to depict David after he had defeated Goliath, but as he might have appeared before entering the field of battle. David holds the stone he chose to hurl near his shoulder in preparation. Not much was expected of the rock and not much was probably expected of David. He was the youngest son, the shepherd boy, known for his musical talents. He became the greatest king in Israel’s history.
In our scripture today, Isaiah is calling each of us to look to the Rock from which we were hewn as we pursue righteousness. What gifts have we received from our heritage and our life experience? Do we simply see them as a pile of worthless rocks, or can we envision the image of God imprinted into each of us at our creation?
We live in a world where what is right and what is just has lost definition. Righteousness lies in the junk pile of stones tossed aside as counter to our cultural values. Justice is measured in dollars, not what is right and good for all God’s children. We are better than that. We are the creation of the living God who breathed the breath of life in us and planted the seeds of God’s love in every fiber of our being. The time has come for us to draw out our ability to love, and with God’s help, be a part of the re-creation of a righteous and just society.
Prayer: Lord, today, help me to see your image in myself so that in days to come, I can see your image in all your children as I work for a just and righteous world. Amen.
*https://www.britannica.com/story/how-a-rejected-block-of-marble-became-the-worlds-most-famous-statue
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.