The Rock of Salvation: Isaiah 51:1-6 - 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. For the LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples. I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended. (NRSV)

Chapel Rock at Lutherlyn - photo by author

Recently, my parents gave me a box of old greeting cards, school pictures, and newspaper clippings that they had saved from when I was growing up. 

What really stood out to me were the number of birthday cards and encouraging notes from Sunday school teachers, the children’s choir director, and other adults from church. I recognized most of the names—but I hadn’t thought about them in years. What a blessing it is to know, after all these years, that I mattered to them. And I truly believe that my faith and my life would not be what they are today, had it not been for them. 

This is why our lack of togetherness during the pandemic has been so devastating. How can you be well in your faith when you are apart from the Body of Christ? Even worse, I fear we have become too accustomed to life apart. 

We are in a kind of exile right now—which has a mild similarity to the exile experienced by Old Testament Israel around six centuries before the birth of Christ. It happened because God’s people had become complacent in their worship of God and in their obedience to God’s commands. Their greed and idolatry had so weakened them as a society that they could not keep it together against the growing threat of the Babylonian Empire. Ultimately, Babylon burned Jerusalem to the ground, and those who survived were carried off into exile. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel made it abundantly clear that the exile was God’s punishment for their sin (which, by the way, Covid-19 is not).

Nevertheless, God’s people were questioning—what did the future hold? Had God forsaken them? Was there any hope?

God’s answer to them was, “look and listen.” “Look to the rock from which you were hewn.” Remember your history—remember my faithfulness to Sarah and Abraham; to your ancestors enslaved in Egypt who made it 40 years in the wilderness. You are still my people and you will see my salvation. 

God’s faithfulness is the bedrock upon which they stood—and upon which we stand. With so much in our lives in disarray, you need to look deep into yourself; deep into your life story; deep into the person God created you to be. What did God do—how did God act—that you are a person of faith? Who were the people who showed you undeniable Christian love? At what points in your life were you feeling that all hope was lost—and then God delivered you? Your life tells the story of God’s faithfulness! And even though we continue to face an invisible enemy with such awesome destructive power, your life is built upon the rock. Our common life is built upon the rock: the rock of God’s salvation. 

Like the Israelites in exile, we persevere in this exile by listening to God—and doing what God says. With so much in our lives in disarray, God is teaching us, and God is disciplining us—so that we can live more fully into God’s purposes for us. As horrible as the exile was for God’s people, God worked through it to bring his people back into right relationship with God and each other. We, today, need that same teaching and that same discipline. You cannot expect to see any change in this world unless that change begins inside your heart—as your faith compels you to live differently than before. But we also need to roll up our sleeves and get to work—caring for the hurting neighbor; enacting justice and peace where there is conflict divides and human lives are devalued. You cannot have right relationships with God apart from right relationships among peoples.

Lastly, we are to join the praises God’s people throughout all generations to give thanks for God’s goodness; to celebrate God’s deliverance; to proclaim aloud the salvation God is bringing out. 

There is no denying that we are living in the most dangerous and uncertain time of our entire lives, save for those who survived the Great Depression, World War 2, and the darkest days of the Cold War. But this moment in time is the most opportune time to reorient your life, your hopes, and everything you value on the bedrock of God’s faithfulness. With so much in our lives in disarray, God’s purposes will prevail. Look to the rock from which you were hewn. Remember the God who was there for you in the past. The journey forward is never so scary when you remember how far God has brought you by faith. Wait with hope for his salvation to come to you at the proper time.