Comforting Words

Second Isaiah begins with the words “Comfort. O comfort my people. Says your God.” We read these words just a few weeks ago during Advent. God’s people certainly needed comfort. They had been defeated as a people, their temple and great city destroyed, and they were held in bondage in a foreign land.  It was a time when they questioned their history, belief, and God. Had they been wrong all along? Were the Babylonian gods more powerful than God? If not, then why had God allowed their defeat and the destruction of all they had known? Isaiah is recounting these questions in a rhetorical way (he actually started this at verse twelve) and answering them with a psalm. While this psalm does not appear in the Psalter it would have reminded the Israelites of the many psalms they used in worship. It also is a jab at the Babylonians, their king, and their gods, albeit in a veiled way. He was reminding the Israelites that rulers and kingdoms last but a blink of God’s eye and that the stars were not gods nor determined the future since they were created by God. The answer to their questions was that God had not abandoned them. God was always present. It was they who abandoned God. But their lives did not end there. God is still with them and gives strength to those who wait for God. 

That may not have been the answer the Israelites wanted to hear. It may not be the answer you want to hear. We are so wrapped up in our own desires and lives that we do not remember God until we are confronted by something that we cannot understand. Then we question why God allowed our life to be shattered. We are not much different than the Israelites. When things are going well and we are living the life we desire we pat ourselves on the back and show how well we have done, when it all goes south we blame God. Anyone who has spent time reading the Bible will see that this is how it has been from the beginning. But we are called to a different way of life. That way is emphasized in our reading from Mark. We find Jesus in the house of Simon and Andrew and Simon’s mother-in-law is ill. Jesus heals her and she immediately gets up and serves them. Now some have criticized this text because it is a stereotypical role for women to serve, yet it may be far from it. Most rabbis would refuse service from a women because she might be unclean – especially right after an illness. But Jesus allows her to serve him. We also remember that for a women there was very little that she could do to thank Jesus for his healing presence accept to serve. Mark has also chosen to place this story at the beginning of his Gospel to indicate the one way all Christians are called to thank Jesus for healing them of sin and death. Paul reminds us of this as well. After his conversion Paul gave his life to serving Jesus by serving others so that they might believe and know God. God did not send his Son so that we may sit back and enjoy an easy-go-lucky life. God gave his son so that we may be able to give ourselves to serve others so that they would know Jesus.

What else can we do? Life is but a brief moment and, like the grass, is soon gone but God holds all of creation in God’s hand and gives strength to those who wait. Remember what God has done for God’s people brought them out of bondage and gave them a holy place to live. While you wait for God to deliver you from bondage use your time wisely and share Jesus and his love by serving others.