"Upon what shall we stand?" Isaiah 32
4 The minds of the
rash will have good judgment,
and the tongues of stammerers will speak
readily and distinctly.
5 A fool will no
longer be called noble,
nor a villain said to be honorable.
6 For fools speak
folly,
and their minds plot iniquity:
to practice
ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving
of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 The villainies of
villains are evil;
they devise wicked devices
to ruin the poor
with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But those who are
noble plan noble things,
and by noble things they stand.
Isaiah
32 (NRSV)
I’ve been writing, preaching, and
reading a lot about God setting things right.[1]
Things are not right. They aren’t right
here or there. Things aren’t right everywhere.[2]
I see justice and mercy in Isaiah as God’s methods for achieving rightness.[3]
And to my interpretive eyes rightness
equals shalom—all-encompassing peace with God, neighbor, and creation.[4][[5]]
The above is one of Isaiah’s
laundry lists of obstacles to shalom.[6]
We can’t have shalom when rulers make life hard for the poor. We can’t have shalom when iniquity passes for
wisdom. We can’t have shalom when the
true character of Christ is ignored, while a false Christ, the Christ of petty
vindictiveness, is paraded in public hearings.[7] We can’t have shalom when villainous
dictators and governments honor themselves while they squash their people. We
can’t have shalom when even one stomach goes empty. Or when one well is contaminated. We can’t have shalom when people are
kidnapped or when even one among us wishes in his heart to take a hostage.
On the one hand, shalom is the
end of days, when Christ returns and accomplishes all his work.[8] On the other hand, I do not believe in an
absent God, waiting in repose for the right time to jump in and save us. If shalom is what he wants, can we not be
assured that he is working even now to accomplish it? That he is beckoning to hearts in every
corner of the world to join him; to plant seeds even in the most arid of
places? To turn the unjust and merciless world upside down? Are we not among
these agents of shalom?
It seems to me that the stakes
are as high now as they were when Isaiah was written. I implore you to hear the still small voice
of our God call you into his action. Let
us together lay a foundation for noble things at the corner of 8th
and River; that we and our neighbors shall have sturdy ground upon which to
stand, to stand for the Lord’s shalom. Let us prepare a highway for our God that his
rightness shall come quickly here.
May it never be true among us
that villainy thrives, foolishness passes as wisdom, a false Christ is praised
and preached, the hungry go unsatisfied, the poor ignored or wicked plans are
devised. No! Instead, may this be a place where minds are renewed and stammered
speech is smoothed out; where we stand on the vision of Christ's rightness, not the frailty of self-interest.
[1] It
seems to me that this is the essence of Isaiah . . . and perhaps of the whole
Bible?
[2]
Please excuse my inner Dr. Suess.
[3]
Justice is God’s advocacy for the poor and unheard, his punishment, his
surrendering Israel to the consequences of their sin. Mercy is his steadfast presence; his promise
to never withdraw from them.
[4]
Someday I want to compare shalom to the Greek word for unconditional love: agape.
It seems to me that this pivotal word serves a similar purpose in the
New Testament. They are both deep,
pervasive, intricately woven into all of God’s actions, and best describe the
foundation of God’s ultimate plan.
[5] Also,
shalom is a word of even more fullness than the definition I’ve given you. Its most basic meaning is “well-being.” It
refers both to physical well-being, spiritual well-being, relational
well-being, and often societal well-being.
[6]
They are everywhere in the book, especially chapter 1.
[7] Or
the Christ who doesn’t oppose greed. Or the Christ who thinks that
homosexuality is the worst
sin there ever was. Or the Christ who
really just wants the Church to give him awesome music and kitschy sermons. Or
the Christ who is ashamed of you unless you read your bible every day. Grinding a few of my axes, apologies.
[8]
Only then shall all truly be well and new (see Rev. 21, especially verse 5).
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