Getting ready is a process - February 10
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82; Isa. 59:15b-21; 2 Tim. 1:15-2:13; Mark 10:1-16
Do you ever (metaphorically) drag your feet getting ready in the morning? The delays in showering, dressing, and exiting the front door are not always because there is some existential dread about what meets you when you leave the house. Perhaps you put it off because there are other personal tasks that you need to attend to first, or you get distracted by a basket of laundry, or there is a news segment that gets you thinking about your dad, so you give him a call to discuss. Before you know it, you are not prepared and it is time to go…you are running late.
One of the messages in our Holy Scriptures that we hear repeatedly is to be prepared, to stay awake, to be alert. We hear it in the prophets’ words. Jesus as teacher prepares his followers, and all who will hear, about that final day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess God’s sovereignty, ushering in a space of universal peace. Paul D. Hanson, Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School, writes that to be prepared for that day, we engage in the daily tasks ascribed in the guidance from one of the twelve minor prophets, Micah:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
In Isaiah 59, it is not we who are preparing, but it is God who is getting ready. And why? In the prophetic language found earlier in Isaiah, there is much encouragement around God’s promises ahead for restoration, if the Hebrew people would just be faithful and follow God. As my mom would say, “Straighten up and fly right.” Those divine promises were not immediately delivered. The people grew restless and weary. The critiques and attempts to shift social and political structures yielded little change. In this later portion of Isaiah (called third Isaiah), we see an emergence of more apocalyptic language, as the exilic Israelites yearn for “a more direct path to God’s reign” (Hanson). That comes through in verse 16 today:
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
What follows is the prophet’s description of how Yahweh prepares for a direct intervention into the lives and hearts of this world, for the purpose of expunging evil and infusing truth. God does not drag his feet or delay. And what does God do to get ready? Put on righteousness like a breastplate, salvation like a helmet, vengeance as the day’s outfit, and fury as the overcoat. Intense, huh?
It is more comfortable for us to lean into pastoral, comforting images of God’s mercy. How might we also accept that the righteousness and passion of God can be expressed in divine wrath – fury and vengeance? And how might we draw near to God, repenting from those evils that we have done, and those done on our behalf, so that as a people redeemed, we approach the feet of Jesus as the children of God, with our hearts focused on the daily task of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God today, and every day.
-- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
When have your words been lacking in truth? When have you seen someone else be less than forthcoming? How did you respond?
How are you preparing each day for a walk with God?
Daily Challenge
Meditate on what it means to prepare for receiving God by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly. What in your life makes this hard? What makes it easy? Pick one obstacle that you work on removing for today, so that your spiritual connection with God might be less cluttered today.