7/27/2019 Notes on Isaiah 61

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Today’s scriptures join mysticism and mission, and celebration and challenge. Holistic spirituality transforms

our souls, but it also expands our level of concern such that the well-being of others and ourselves is one

dynamic reality. The prophetic soul is lively, inclusive, and relational. It embraces otherness as part of our

deepest reality. The prophetic soul sees the futures of others as connected with our own futures. Our present

commitments to justice and shalom bring health to the futures of others as well as ourselves. This is what it

means to love others as we love ourselves, that is, to see ourselves in an intricate fabric of relatedness in

which we cannot distinguish between the authentic wellbeing of ourselves and others.

Isaiah speaks from a sense of mystical calling. God’s dramatic calling in the Temple (Isaiah 6:1-8) awakenedIsaiah to God’s constant and concrete calling in every moment. He can claim that “God’s spirit is upon me”

because he has discovered - and is now shaping - his life mission as God’s messenger to the people. The whole

earth is full of God’s glory; reality is revelational and that includes moment and each person. Isaiah sees God

moving in his own life and dedicates himself to promoting God-awareness and justice-seeking in his fellow

citizens.

God calls everyone – I Corinthians 12 proclaims – but God may, in the intricate interdependence of community,

call, and response, prepare unique vocations of spiritual leadership and prophetic challenge for certain

women and men. This is not Rick Warren’s “purpose driven” call in which God has chosen all the important

details of our lives without our consent, but rather a “vision inspired” call in which divine creativity

encourages human freedom and innovation. Our call is forward toward an adventurous future ratherbackward to some primordial divine decision. God encourages activity, not passivity, in claiming our

vocations. (For more on my challenges to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, see my Holy Adventure: 41 Days

of Audacious Living, Upper Room Books).

Isaiah’s words, echoed by Jesus in Luke 4:18-19, connect mysticism and mission. Isaiah’s authority is

 grounded in life-changing encounters with God; this authority is directed toward the healing of the nation, individually

and communally. Good news emerges in our lives when the oppressed are freed, the grieving soothed, and the captives

healed and sent home as new persons. God’s jubilee year is for everyone, not just the wealthy.

God’s jubilee year leads to the restoration and the transformation of the nation. Celebration is our response to

God’s ever-present energies of justice. We are called on God’s behalf to “occupy the earth” with acts ofkindness, reconciliation, and justice-seeking. If we are among the poor, we are called to advocate for others as

well as ourselves. If we are among the comfortable – including the 1% or 25% - we are called to sacrifice some

our opulence so that others may simply live.

As we consider Isaiah’s witness, we must take a moment to ponder his image of God’s day of vengeance. Jesus

omits these words in his inaugural sermon. Did Jesus believe that these worlds would deter his followers from

their mission as healers and justice-seekers? Did Jesus see these words as unworthy of his Parent, whose light

shines on the unrighteous and righteous alike? We can challenge divine vengeance, while recognizing that the

wealthy and powerful may experience pain and loss in letting go of their greed and possessiveness.

Transformation may involve committing ourselves to venturing through God’s crucible of change. God does

not want to harm the wealthy, but God’s call to transformation may be perceived as painful, nevertheless.

Psalm 126 continues the theme of restoration. In God’s day of national and personal restoration, sorrow will

turn to laughter and mourning to joy. Justice-seeking leads to joyful celebration. The Hebraic/Old Testament

readings pointedly ask: Are we on the side of restoration and transformation or preservation of our

prerogatives? What needs to be restored and transformed in our lives and communities? Where do we see

signs of restoration, re-orientation, and healing in our nation? What will we give up for the healing of the

nation and the nations?

7/27/2019 Notes on Isaiah 61

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The words of I Thessalonians 5:16-24 connect communal and personal transformation with spiritual practices.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances….do not quench the Spirit…listen to

the prophets…but ask questions and be discerning…seek good and not evil.” We are to act as citizens of God’s

realm even before our world has been transformed. We are to be harbingers of spiritual transformation. An

eschatological ethic, living moment by moment with hope of God’s coming realm, joins the journey inward

and the journey outward. Our contemplations lead to actions, and our actions enable us to see the world

through Christ’s eyes.

 Jesus’ relative and good friend John the Baptist lived out his vocation as God’s way-maker for the healer andteacher Jesus. John creates a spiritual and ethical environment in preparation for Jesus’ ministry of

reconciliation and healing. John is “sent” by God; that is, God uniquely moved in his life, as God did in the life

of Isaiah, calling him for a particular mission in his concrete historical setting. John’s mission is not for the

ages in some generic and impersonal way but for the here in now. He is speaking to his nation, to the affluent

whose hearts are opening to a new way of life and to those who recognize the need for turning their lives

around. But, his concrete first-century Galilean mission still transforms lives today. It invites to consider

where we need to change course as individuals and citizens.

 John knew Jesus long before both began their ministries. I suspect that in the years between twelve and thirty,

 Jesus and John played together, studied together, prayed together, and discerned God’s will together. I

imagine that they were spiritual friends – anam cara, as the Celts say – to one another, testing each others’callings and holding each other accountable to God’s vision for their lives. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature

and so did John. John was not competitive. It was enough for him to be himself – a way-maker and a prophetic

challenger. It was enough for him to be the advance man for his spiritual companion Jesus. Indeed, John

exemplifies the kenotic theology – the theology of letting go – of Philippians 2:5-11.

 John’s own ministry of transformation calls us to ask: What pathways are we called to prepare? For whom are

we called to advocate and support? Whose greatness depends on our advance work? Can we let go so others

might grow? Where are you called to make way for God’s Light in the world?

We are part of this first-century story. As we nurture our encounters with God, we prepare for God’s light in

our midst. We become messengers of restoration and transformation rather than destruction and privilege.We come to see the well-being of others connected with our own well-being, and this vision inspires us to

 justice-seeking in our families, communities, national life, and planetary environment.