Lent

April 12, 2022

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

Our world is broken in many ways. Are we each and altogether doing the very best we can to bring our world to wholeness? Isaiah, in the scripture above, may have written this poem to strengthen his commitment to following God’s call to be a prophet. He assesses his skills and talents to determine that he had done the very best he could to answer God’s call. However, he discerned that he had labored in vain, but concluded that the final measure of his work, rested with God and he took comfort in that. Did Isaiah even consider that over 2,700 years later his words would be giving encouragement and hope to God’s people trying to find wholeness?

Many working for justice in our world today have the scars of taking one step forward and two steps back. We too assessed what we could have done better, and that is important as we search for better ways to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves—all our neighbors, the sick, the hungry, the rich, the poor. Staying in sync with God is the only goal we can depend on to measure our contributions toward the Kingdom of God. While we may not see the success we want, in our lifetime we may have planted the seeds for our descendants in faith who continue the work to which we are called.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for our ancestors in faith who provide us hope for the work we do in your name. 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.