Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
For those of you who have seen The Wizard of Oz, you'll probably remember the end. Dorothy and her friends are gathered before the Wizard, hoping to receive the things they've been searching for. For the Tin-Man, a heart, the Scarecrow, a brain, the lion, courage, and Dorothy, a way back home.
They do this in front of the emerald holographic face of the Wizard. He seems absolutely terrifying, and he appears to have the power to destroy them in an instant.
But then Dorothy's dog, Toto, pulls away at the veil. The Wizard is not a terrifying monster, but a kindly man who offers to each of Dorothy's friends what they have been searching for, which it turns out they secretly had all along.
The Wizard was not at all what Dorothy and her friends thought he was. That's often how it is with us and God.
We often have various conceptions of who God is, or maybe what we think God should be. And we are often proven wrong about our thoughts.
This was the case for the Israelites too. Our reading from Isaiah this morning comes from the beginning of the second part of Isaiah, written after the Israelites have been sent into exile.
And as they turn to figure out what they did wrong to get to where they are, the Israelites are also trying to sort out for themselves who God really is. They are trying to rekindle their relationship with Him.
It's interesting because at this point in Second Isaiah, the prophet could have been very firm, and justifiably so. He could have told the Israelites everything they did wrong and how they were sorry creatures and that they should never do it again.
But Second Isaiah does the opposite. He doesn't chastise. Instead, he gives the people hope.
We hear that not only is God all-powerful, but that He is also there to help the weak. He will "renew their strength." He will "mount them up on eagle's wings." Thanks to God, "they shall run, and not be weary. They shall walk, but not be faint."
Yes, God is all-powerful. He stands as the creator of the earth, but He doesn't stand apart from it. He doesn't stand apart from us. He stands read to give us the help we need when we need it. He stands to support us and prop us up in our times of weakness.
As we see in the Gospel, God comes, in the form of one of us, to help heal the sick and to free us from those things that plague us. God to His depths wishes to help us. When He goes off on His own to pray, His disciples come to find Him to tell Him that many more people are searching for Him. Many more people are looking for healing.
Instead of telling them off for bothering His quiet time, Jesus gets up and goes to fill the peoples' needs.
We often think because of God's power that He is completely removed from us. But He is not. God is there to help us in our times of weakness. He is there, present with us in our times of hope and despair. No matter what it is we may go through,God is there.
When we fail to realize God's closeness, we become distant from Him. This was the lesson the Israelites needed to learn. If they were going to survive their exile, they needed to be closer to God. They had to allow themselves to be in relationship with God.
The same is often true for us. We often have to learn, or relearn, that God is not distant from us. God is here and present with us now. What we have to do is be open and allow Him in to be a part of our lives always.
For those of you who have seen The Wizard of Oz, you'll probably remember the end. Dorothy and her friends are gathered before the Wizard, hoping to receive the things they've been searching for. For the Tin-Man, a heart, the Scarecrow, a brain, the lion, courage, and Dorothy, a way back home.
They do this in front of the emerald holographic face of the Wizard. He seems absolutely terrifying, and he appears to have the power to destroy them in an instant.
But then Dorothy's dog, Toto, pulls away at the veil. The Wizard is not a terrifying monster, but a kindly man who offers to each of Dorothy's friends what they have been searching for, which it turns out they secretly had all along.
The Wizard was not at all what Dorothy and her friends thought he was. That's often how it is with us and God.
We often have various conceptions of who God is, or maybe what we think God should be. And we are often proven wrong about our thoughts.
This was the case for the Israelites too. Our reading from Isaiah this morning comes from the beginning of the second part of Isaiah, written after the Israelites have been sent into exile.
And as they turn to figure out what they did wrong to get to where they are, the Israelites are also trying to sort out for themselves who God really is. They are trying to rekindle their relationship with Him.
It's interesting because at this point in Second Isaiah, the prophet could have been very firm, and justifiably so. He could have told the Israelites everything they did wrong and how they were sorry creatures and that they should never do it again.
But Second Isaiah does the opposite. He doesn't chastise. Instead, he gives the people hope.
We hear that not only is God all-powerful, but that He is also there to help the weak. He will "renew their strength." He will "mount them up on eagle's wings." Thanks to God, "they shall run, and not be weary. They shall walk, but not be faint."
Yes, God is all-powerful. He stands as the creator of the earth, but He doesn't stand apart from it. He doesn't stand apart from us. He stands read to give us the help we need when we need it. He stands to support us and prop us up in our times of weakness.
As we see in the Gospel, God comes, in the form of one of us, to help heal the sick and to free us from those things that plague us. God to His depths wishes to help us. When He goes off on His own to pray, His disciples come to find Him to tell Him that many more people are searching for Him. Many more people are looking for healing.
Instead of telling them off for bothering His quiet time, Jesus gets up and goes to fill the peoples' needs.
We often think because of God's power that He is completely removed from us. But He is not. God is there to help us in our times of weakness. He is there, present with us in our times of hope and despair. No matter what it is we may go through,God is there.
When we fail to realize God's closeness, we become distant from Him. This was the lesson the Israelites needed to learn. If they were going to survive their exile, they needed to be closer to God. They had to allow themselves to be in relationship with God.
The same is often true for us. We often have to learn, or relearn, that God is not distant from us. God is here and present with us now. What we have to do is be open and allow Him in to be a part of our lives always.