Serendipity again

This morning all three readings assigned for today had been part of the two Bible studies I did on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday we are studying Ezra and Nehemiah, having just finished the Second Book of Kings. We looked at two prophets who worked in the time period of the exile, Isaiah 40-55 and Ezekiel. Thursday, studying 2 Esdras, we turned to Revelation 21 to shed insight on the text we were wrestling with. I will limit myself to Isaiah today.

The first reading Isaiah 49, was one of the chapters we looked at while a quote from Isaiah was found in Matthew 12. I have shared before how often this happens. It seems to be the Hand of God at work, to me. Yet, I am also aware that there is no way to prove such a thing. At any rate, the message of Isaiah 49 is pretty amazing. The prophet is living in exile with a conquered people. He is preaching a message of hope, reminding them that God made everything, that God alone is God and that He intends to redeem and rebuild His people. Such sentiments are understandable and, in fact, a few years after this the people did leave exile and return home. Yet tucked away in all of this is a most unexpected verse: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." What stands out to me is how (humanly) inappropriate such sentiments would be in this setting. Only God could be thinking along those lines!

That this people, crushed and insignificant, are to play a key role in the salvation of the entire world seems unfathomable. Yet, that is what they are told. Jesus picks up on this same theme (perhaps originally in a sermon on this text?) and His words, found in Matthew ("you are the light of the world"), remind His Jewish listeners (and by extension, Christian readers) of this vocation.

Epiphany is the season of Light and revelation. Jesus is revealed to the world. He is manifest among us. After many years of obscurity, He comes forth to begin His ministry. The church members of today's congregations are to be an Epiphany people. We are to manifest Jesus in word and deed (and deed tends to be more effective). If the world can be a dark place at times, we do have His light to share. Perhaps some of the darkness is a function of our failure to do just that.