Wednesday 05 April 2023
- Bible Book:
- Isaiah
'I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.' (v. 6)
Background
Here in this passage God’s servant is shown to have placed himself in danger by standing up and articulating God’s truth.
Poetically and repeatedly the servant relates how he has had to stand up to all manner of opposition. He is clear that only God’s help had made him able to carry out his challenging task. We see here a servant suffering mockery and hatred similar to that which Jesus faced in our first passage this week from Matthew’s Gospel. Opposition to God’s word is never just theoretical but brutally physical and often violent.
Interestingly the servant makes great play of the fact that his ear has to be receptive to the message of God and that he also must be a skillful and sensitive speaker so that his message can be received by his hearers and sustain them in their weariness.
It is clear in this passage that it is never easy to speak a reality that counters people's weariness or despair. God’s messengers need to speak words which create space for freedom, energy and imagination to be released in the hearers. The servant and latter-day messenger need to voice new possibilities, to awaken new imaginative thoughts and to give people word to express their yearnings. Only when this is done can the hearers have their perceptions changed and gain energy and inspiration for action. Prophetic listening and prophetic speaking is needed.
To Ponder:
- In which imaginative ways do people have their perceptions changed and their energies harnessed for good in our modern world? Is there something the Church can learn from the secular world?
- This passage highlights the importance of listening and speaking. Do we prepare our congregations adequately to be able to discern the voice of God in the silences in our worship? Do we pay sufficient attention to the words and idioms we use in our sermons and prayers? Do they provide wings for people's imaginations to fly?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray for all who lead worship, house groups, retreats or times of meditation. May they be sensitive in their listening and their speaking. Amen.