Beyond Existence, Beautiful Grass
Advent 2b, December 4, 2011 (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Some people seem like they have been and will be there forever: in the middle of our lives. That's the way it was with my Gram. She was there when I was born, the 17th of her 20 grandchildren. She was there to teach me to tie my shoe laces after everyone else had given up. She was there to see that I ate my fair share of vegetables and fruit although I liked neither. She was there to teach me to think critically. When I refused to do so, she bluntly pointed out that what I had said didn't hold water. She was there on my confirmation day, my ordination day and my wedding day. And she held our first child lovingly in her arms, her 32nd great grandchild. But soon after that, to me, seemingly suddenly, one day in her 97th year, my Gram died. She wasn't "there" anymore.
Perhaps you've had a similar experience – where you have had a relationship with someone who was always "there" for you, but then suddenly no longer was.
Some things seem like they will be there forever. I remember the first church building I literally grew up in. It was located on the corner of 12th street and 1st Avenue East. I was baptized there, confirmed there, ordained there and married there. The building lives on – but not the way it used to be. It now houses a Greek Catholic community's worship services. Subsequently it doesn't resemble the "church" I knew and loved.
Many things change. The Berlin Wall – seemingly an immoveable fixture, "suddenly" came down over 20 years ago. If you had asked people 2 weeks before that event, few if any would have thought that the wall could come down so soon, if at all.
For many people the color barrier in baseball was for a very long time just the way things were. But in 1947 cracks began to appear i that barrier. A young black man, Jackie Robinson, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today there are players from many different nations and backgrounds playing major league baseball. In fact, the leading all time home run hitters, Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron are both African Americans.
Even in nature things change. Mountains erupt. Their face is altered. Tidal waves spring out of the ocean. Coastlines are altered. The earth quakes and topography moves. There was a time when "our" coastal mountains didn't exist.
The prophet Isaiah knew such underlying realities. He had witnessed the once powerful Israelite empire rot from the inside out. The people refused to listen to God. They were too busy turning a profit to actively care for any who were hungry or poor. They were so busy serving themselves that they couldn't and wouldn't serve God. As a result their empire had become sick and vulnerable. The Babylonians came. The Babylonians conquered them. The King of Judah had his eyes gouged out. Many of the people had been placed in chains and dragged away. Their temple had been sacked. The walls of Jerusalem had been breached. Proud Jerusalem had been humiliated. For a while God had withdrawn from the people. They hadn't wanted to speak or listen to God. God had obliged – for a period.
Look around. Haven't empires ended in our life times? The Great British Empire, the third Reich. Even the American Empire seems to be teetering on the edge. Whom shall its people believe or trust? In Canada, the "true" north strong and free, it often isn't safe for women to walk the streets alone. We pick our children up from every event, because we have fear about them being alone. Many of us have installed "security" systems in our homes, because we are afraid of being robbed and or vandalized. Fear is something we know up close and personal.
Isaiah knows the reality of such experiences. He hears a voice telling him to cry out. "What shall I cry?" he asks. The response is, "All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass!"
Do we realize that we are grass? Do we know that someday, sooner or later, our lives here too will end?
If we do acknowledge and live with such reality, how shall we live?
I remember a hit song from the late 60's or early 70's. It went like this: "If that's all there is my friend, then let's start dancing, let's break out the booze and have a ball. Such a song isn't a sign of hope. It is a song of resignation. If life is just going to end, if so much of life is mortal, unjust and beyond our control, well then let's party for this brief moment we have.
Some people choose consciously or unconsciously to live like that. They work at not actually reflecting upon their lives or the lives of others. They attempt to engross themselves in their daily tasks and pleasures so that the questions of purpose, of deep honest relationships, of what will endure, and of what ultimately matters are drowned out.
Others despair, giving up. The temptation is to "exist" as if nothing really matters, so who cares? This is not "existence". This, in reality, is death.
The Judahites now exiled in Babylon experienced the derision of their captors. The exiles are tempted to give up. Some try to fit in, to exist. But God does remain silent.
God speaks to them and to any who will listen through the prophet. Yes, all people are grass (mortal). Yes, the grass withers, the flower fades. BUT – THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER.
The prophet exhorts the people to remember. Remember God's promise made long ago to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah. They would have descendants. And after a number of struggles and questions, they did. God promised also that they would have a land. And after a number of struggles and deep questions, they did. Truly, in that moment, they didn't have that land. But God hadn't given up on them or God's promises.
Finally, God's promise had spoken to them of being a blessing to the nations. Could this be possible, for a people where so many had turned their back on God, who were even now exiles?
The prophet proceeds. He is to cry, "THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER... SAY TO THE CITIES OF JUDAH, 'HERE IS YOUR GOD'! THE LORD GOD COMES WITH MIGHT."
Incredibly, some of the people do hear. God's Word isn't merely "words" but translates, is fleshed out into action. Cyrus of Persia comes to power. Cyrus declares that the people of Judah can return to their homeland. Once again, they have a land. God's promise is kept!
All flesh is grass! We need to experience this truth within ourselves. We will not live here forever. Nor will the institutions that we pledge our allegiance to be here forever. We are mortals. Our "creations" are also similarly finite.
Yet, instead of giving up, of feeling and acting as if there is no point, no reason nor purpose for living and life, hear the prophet. "The word of the Lord stands forever." God's promise to love, to care for, to intervene on behalf of all people, stands. God's love for the entire cosmos, people and creation is real!
Who else but God can truly lower mountains, raise the valleys, smooth out the rough spots? This is true in our own lives and times. Mountains of prejudice, of self-destructive and addictive behaviour can be lowered. Valleys of poverty and injustice can be filled so that new life can emerge. The rough places of uncertainty and confusion can be smoothed over by God who sends His Son to be light for the world.
Not that we are to stand idly by. God does keep God's promise. But, we are to trust God, to serve God by listening to God and acting in responsive ways. God loves us. God loves each and every person. Might all experience God's presence and love!
Even though we are grass, the Spirit of God blows on us. Will we receive that breath daily? Will we be open to God directing us, body, mind and spirit, individually and collectively, following the direction of that breath? Don't we see that the mountains and valleys of our lives and the lives of others can be changed for the better?
Remember: the Word of the Lord, God's promise stands forever. God's promise is translated into action Christ Jesus and then through Christ even in us. May God help us to receive this active, living Word in the very middle of our living so that we and others may not just "exist" but truly live. Sometimes grass does become beautiful. Amen.