When You've Spent Your Strength (Isaiah 49:1-6)

 When I study scripture, one question I ask is: Who is speaking, and to whom are they speaking?

In today’s passage, it’s not quite clear.

It would be quite natural to assume that the speaker here is Isaiah. After all, the book bears Isaiah’s name.

But scholars have noted that the book of Isaiah contains two or three distinct sections which were written at different times in history and by different people. 

Which means at least some parts of this book were written by someone other than Isaiah.

Now, it could be that the narrator is still Isaiah even if the author is not. For example: Samuel Clemens wrote as Mark Twain, and Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, and in Huckleberry Finn, the narrator is Huck Finn. Mark Twain is the author, but Huck Finn is the narrator.

This section of Isaiah could have been written by someone else, but that someone else may have been writing as if they were Isaiah. They may have said to themself, “I’m going to write this book of poetry and prophecy, and I’m going to make Isaiah the narrator - and attach it to other writings of Isaiah - because I believe what I’m going to write is a continuation of the thoughts and ideas of the prophet…”

So, here in chapter 49, we get a poem in which Isaiah says, “The Lord called me before I was born; He made my mouth like a sharp sword…”

And then, the Lord responds.

But the Lord doesn’t address the response to Isaiah. Isn’t that weird? The response is addressed to Israel. The Lord says, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

If Isaiah is the one speaking, why does the Lord respond to Israel?

Then Isaiah (or is it Israel?) replies: “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.”

Well. Whoever’s voice this is, they sound exhausted. Worn out. And discouraged.

Whoever’s voice this is, I’m thinking: this can be any of us. Am I right?

Who here has felt exhausted, worn out, discouraged in these past few weeks, months, or years?

Well, you’re not alone. Isaiah felt that way, too. Israel felt that way too. In fact, so many of God’s prophets and followers have felt that way at one time or another.

One time, when Moses felt so worn out, so exasperated, and so fed up with the people he was trying to lead, he cried out to God: “Hey, God! Why have you treated me, your great servant, so badly? If this is the way you, O Lord, are going to treat me, put me to death at once.”

Moses was tired.

I think of the time Elijah was so tired and so discouraged that he prayed to God: “I have had enough, Lord; take my life.”

I think of the apostle Paul, who sounds particularly tired and discouraged in his letters to the Corinthians. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus...”

Paul is tired. Worn out. Discouraged. And yet, Paul hasn’t yet given up hope.

I think of Jesus, and the times he got tired. One time, Jesus was so tired, he slept right through a terrible storm, sleeping in the bow of a boat that was tossing so violently that his disciples thought they were all going to die. That’s tired!

Pastors get tired. Sometimes pastors need to be reminded that even Jesus rested, so maybe pastors should rest now and then, too. That’s good advice for all of us, actually.

When I realized I would be preaching this sermon on MLK weekend, I wondered if MLK ever got tired, or what he did to rest. King is a role model to me and to other preachers, as well as activists, and the image we have of him is of a man who never got tired in the fight for justice.

But he did get tired.

And I learned that on several occasions, King escaped to Bimini, an island in the Bahamas that is just a two-hour boat ride from Miami. He stayed in room 303 at the Big Game Club and Resort, he liked to do some fishing, and he liked to visit some of the more secluded parts of the island, where he could be alone with his thoughts.

So even MLK needed to rest.

A lot of people engage in service projects on MLK day. Some even promote that it’s a day for action, not a day for rest.

Which is all well and good; but if a day of rest is what you need, then that just may be the best thing for you - as long as you make it a true day of rest.

Following MLK’s example, a day of true rest is one in which you can be alone with your own thoughts. And to be alone with your own thoughts, you need to get away from your computer, get away from your phone, get away from your TV, get away from all your anxieties.

Don’t worry, all those things will still be there when you get back.

For me, walking along the beach, or on the trails at El Dorado Nature Center, provide a wonderful time of rest - mental rest - when I can find some peace and be alone with my thoughts. At home, we have a fire pit in our backyard, with some outdoor couches that we bought used, and sitting out there around the fire is also a nice time of rest - even more so if I put my phone somewhere I can’t reach it. 

Unfortunately, the weather we’ve had lately has not been conducive to spending any time outdoors.

But I know that my sermons - the work I need to do - are only good if I’ve had some time during the week for contemplation. Some time to be alone with my thoughts. Without that necessary time of rest, my sermons just aren’t as good.

My point is that everyone needs to set aside some time to rest. A Sabbath rest. It’s one of God’s commands! And we need to make sure that those times are truly times of rest. Good rest.

Because the work we are called to do is not easy.

It’s not easy to raise a family in these times. It’s not easy to be a good neighbor in these times. It’s not easy to be a follower of Jesus in these times. It’s not easy to pursue justice in these times. It’s not easy to commit oneself to the ministry of the church in these times.

We do our best at these things. We work hard - for our families, for our church, for ourselves. 

And sometimes - often - we don’t see the results from our efforts that we’d hoped to see. And because we’re tired and discouraged, we say to ourselves and to God: “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity!” The same words that Isaiah spoke. Isaiah’s prayer has become our prayer. Which means that the identity of the one speaking is Isaiah, is Israel - but it is also us.

Fortunately, God hears all our prayers. And God especially hears the prayers of those who are tired, worn out, exhausted, and discouraged.

Because I know that, often, God has sent me reminders that - despite how things may appear - all my work is not in vain. I may not have achieved the results I expected, but that doesn’t mean my work was in vain.

And the same is true for you.

In Isaiah 49:6, after Isaiah says that his strength is spent and that he has labored in vain, God responds, "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 end of the earth."

I’m not sure how far Isaiah was looking when he was looking for results. I’m not sure Isaiah understood just how far his influence reached. It seems that Isaiah was just looking as far as the tribes of Jacob, but God responds by saying no; you’re not looking far enough. I will give you as a light to the nations. The work you are doing is bringing healing, wholeness and salvation as far as the end of the earth!

Isaiah couldn’t see that far, but God can. And the work God is doing through you also extends farther than you can see or know.

So don’t give up. And don’t forget to rest when you need to.

Then you can say with the apostle Paul: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”

"True Greatness" (Isaiah 49:1-7)

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry goes to buy his wand at Ollivander’s Wand Shop. Mr. Ollivander himself helps Harry, and is surprised when the wand that chooses Harry is the twin of the wand that chose Voldemort.

This leads Mr. Ollivander to say: “I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter … After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great.”

Ever since Harry’s first visit to Ollivander’s, Harry Potter fans have wondered just what Mr. Ollivander meant. Great? Voldemort? What does Mr. Ollivander mean when he says, “great?”

President-elect Trump has promised to “Make America Great Again.” He success- fully used that phrase to win the election. But what does Donald Trump mean when he says, “great?”

In the Bible’s New Revised Standard Version, the word “great” appears over one thousand times. In the story of creation, God creates “two great lights,” the sun and the moon, and God creates “the great sea.” But then, a few chapters later, scripture says that the “wickedness of humankind was great.”

Already we see that the word “great” can be used in different ways, with meanings both good and bad.

However, reading through scripture, we can discover just what true greatness is in God’s eyes. And one of the places where this true greatness is on display is in the servant songs of Isaiah.

There are four Servant Songs in the book of Isaiah. The four Servant Songs describe the ideal Servant of the Lord, the anointed one, the one who, it could be said, is truly great.

Our scripture today is the second of these four servant songs.

But reading through the servant songs presents another question: just who is the servant, the one described in these four songs? That is a question that has intrigued students of scripture for countless generations.

Listen to these passages, and see what you think. Who do you think the servant might be?

From Isaiah 42: “here is my servant, the one I uphold; my chosen, who brings me delight. I’ve put my spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.” God says to the servant: “I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason. I will grasp your hand and guard you, and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison, and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.”

In Isaiah 49, today’s scripture - the second servant song - God says: “You are my servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” The servant is described as despised, hated by the nations, and the slave of rulers, yet God will be glorified through the servant, who is chosen not just to serve his nation, but all the nations.

In Isaiah 50, we read that the servant was insulted and spit upon, yet did not hide from his abusers. God gave the servant strength to stand, to carry on, and an educated tongue so that the servant may continue to do what he has been called to do.

The final Servant Song begins in Isaiah 52 and continues into Isaiah 53. There it says that the servant is despised and rejected by others, disfigured and appalling to even look at. He was a man who suffered, who knew sickness. The passage goes on to say that it was our sickness that he carried, and our sufferings that he bore. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed. He was oppressed and tormented, yet he did not complain or cry out.

So. Who is the servant?

There are several possible answers.

It could be the prophet Isaiah himself. The book bears Isaiah’s name, and much of the Servant Songs is written in first person. Isaiah was indeed chosen by God to be a servant to the people, a prophet whose task was not easy and did involve suffering, a prophet in whom God was glorified and the people of the nations found healing and wholeness.

Perhaps the servant is a ruler or king, one who puts the welfare of the people ahead of his own welfare to such an extent that he is truly a servant of the people. I don’t know that any actual king could fulfill the description Isaiah presents, but it is an ideal that a good king could strive for.

The Servant could also be the nation of Israel as a whole. In our passage today, God even calls the servant, “my servant Israel.” You caught that, right?

Israel is a chosen nation. The people of Israel are a chosen people. Countless places in scripture describe Israel this way. Yet Israel never did become as great as other nations. As a united nation, it barely lasted more than a generation before it was divided into two. Then, the two parts were conquered by other nations and segments of the population were taken into captivity or sent into exile.

A chosen nation that endured much suffering.

Now, some of you, as you listened to the descriptions of the servant, thought to yourselves, “Wait - that all sounds familiar.” Perhaps to you, the servant sounds like Jesus.

In the early years of Christianity, shortly after the time of Jesus, the church took a look at these servant songs that were then some 500 years old, and saw in them a description of Jesus. Jesus, the one chosen by God. Jesus, the suffering servant. Jesus, the one in whom God is glorified. Jesus, the one who bore the punishment by which we are made whole.

If you see Jesus in these servant songs, that’s fine, as long as you understand that Jesus is not who Isaiah was talking about. Jesus lived five centuries after Isaiah.

However, Jesus emphasized many of the ideals of the prophets, their dreams and their hopes. There is a continuity of thought. So, in this way, one can say that Jesus is the servant Isaiah talked about, that he is the anointed one that Isaiah talked about.

Just don’t ignore the context when you do so. These servant songs have a meaning that was present in their own time and which is true with or without Jesus. It is not responsible to read these songs and ignore their context, ignore the prophet, ignore the nation of Israel. It is not responsible to take passages from Isaiah out of context and apply them to Jesus or anything else.

Some today have even gone one step further. They read passages in scripture that talk about a chosen one or a chosen nation, and they connect that to modern America. “America is a chosen nation,” they say. “America is the nation in which God’s glory is made known.”

It’s fine to say these things. It’s fine to say that America is a chosen nation. It’s fine to say that America is the nation in which God’s glory is made known.

But you can’t say such things and ignore their context. You can’t say such things and ignore what it means to be a chosen nation, according to the prophet.

If you are going to say that America’s a chosen nation, you need to know what that means.

So many who talk about America’s greatness and America’s chosenness have no clue what it means to be great. They have no clue what it means to be chosen. They talk about the glory, but ignore the suffering. They talk about the greatness, but ignore how the chosen one is called to serve.

Everywhere in scripture where it speaks of a chosen nation or a chosen people, it speaks of a people who are called to serve.

Being the chosen one does not mean you stand on stage or on a pedestal above everyone else. Being the chosen one does not mean you have the most wealth or the most prestige. Being the chosen one does not mean you are the most beautiful, gleaming one in the room.

Greatness in the Bible is not about being raised on a pedestal, or having wealth or power.

In scripture, the chosen one is often a servant who is despised, disfigured, rejected. I’m not sure the people who say that America is a chosen nation understand that.

Being a servant is a struggle. It’s not easy to be the chosen one. You have to work harder, and others may not appreciate your work. You work for justice and righteousness; in the first servant song, those Hebrew words for justice and righteousness - tzedek and mishpat - usually they are translated as “justice and righteousness,” but here they are translated into English as “success and prosperity.” I’m not sure the reasons for that, but clearly in the minds of the translators, success in God’s eyes means fighting for justice and equality. And prosperity in God’s eyes means prospering in the ways of peace and what is right.

These are the things that make for greatness.

If you want to be great in God’s eyes, it would be wise to read carefully these Servant Songs. Because they show what greatness really means to God.

If you want this country to be great in God’s eyes, it would be wise to read carefully these Servant Songs. Because they show what a great country really looks like to God.

Martin Luther King, Jr. knew how God defines greatness. King said that greatness is determined by service. A person who is great is a person who serves, and a nation that is great is a nation that serves. The one who is chosen by God is one who is chosen to serve. The nation that is chosen by God is a nation that is called to work for peace and justice in our world.

So if we’re going to talk about greatness, let us be clear what we mean by that. Not all definitions of greatness are the same. Great doesn’t always mean good.

But a greatness that is defined by service to others, by working for justice and equality and wholeness … that is a definition of greatness that comes from God. And in that sense, we are called to be great.

We are called to be great, because we are called to serve.

When It Becomes Too Much (Isaiah 49:1-7)

Isaiah has a testimony to share, a powerful story of hope and encouragement. 

He was God’s prophet to the nation of Israel.  A nation that had been all but destroyed, carried away into captivity.  A nation that once was, but which now existed only in the memories and dreams of its people.

“I have labored in vain!” Isaiah cried out.  “I have spent my strength for nothing.  For vanity!”  All his hard work, preaching to God’s people, loving God’s people… only to have it all fall apart.  Only to have the nation fall apart.

“I’ve preached the message of love.  I’ve preached the message of justice.  And what good did it do?”

What good, indeed?  Why bother following God’s call, devoting one’s life to God, if everything is going to fall apart anyway? 

People say that God never gives you more than you can handle.  Well, the nation of Israel had been given more than it could handle.  Isaiah had been given more than he could handle.  People DO get more than they can handle, and whether that comes from God or not, I don’t know, but it happens.

And then they say, “What’s the use?  Why bother?

A couple months ago an uncle of mine committed suicide.  I have a lot of aunts and uncles, but I had a special appreciation for this uncle.  He was quiet, like me.  At family gatherings of 50 or 60 or 80 people, when I’d get exhausted from all the conversation, I could sit by him, and we could sit in each other’s presence, and not feel like we had to talk.  We could just enjoy each other’s company, and let our energy levels come back up.

But he had more than he could handle in life.  Finally he said to himself, “What’s the use?  Why bother?”  It was too much.

I have known quite a few people over the years who felt that way about their churches.  And a good number of them were pastors.  People who loved God and loved the church, but then lost patience when the church got bogged down in some controversy or church politics.  And they left the church.  “What’s the use?  Why bother? I’ve preached the message of love, I’ve preached the message of justice, and we’re still arguing and bickering like before.  It’s destroying me, it’s destroying the church… it’s too much.  I’m out.”

This week I read a story about a 13 year-old boy named Jaylen Arnold.  Jaylen suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, Aspergers Syndrome and severe OCD. 

Jaylen says: “I have vocal ‘tics’ and motor ‘tics’ pretty severely. They interrupt my daily living and are quite troubling. If you don't know what ‘tics’ are just hang around and you'll soon find out. I also often yell out the word BAM! or squeal for no apparent reason.

“There is no cure. Doctor's don't really know too much about this disorder. There are very few medicines available and they come with very bad side effects. I'm a little guy so my parents don't want to take a chance on me taking these medicines that can give me a heart problem...so they protect me naturally, the best they can. I just want the "tics" to stop. You control your body, my body controls me (and boy does it ever). BAM!

“I decided I wanted to go to regular school. Boy, that was a mistake! My disorders got way worse with the stress. The doctors say my disorders cause me to have a lot of anxiety. I witnessed a lot of fighting and meanness. I don't like fighting. I was really scared for the other kids to see my ‘tics’ and know that I was different. I was trying so hard to hold them in. I would go to the hall and try to get them out. Eventually, I couldn't hold them in. It's like a big sneeze...you can hold it for a few seconds, but then it just blows out really hard. BAM! I was soon ‘ticcing’ all day long. The other kids were mocking and copying my tics.”

Eventually, all the bullying got to be too much for Jaylen.  Finally, Jaylen and his parents gave up.  They had had enough.  Jaylen had to leave his school.  It was too much, more than they could handle. 

That was Isaiah.  Being a prophet turned out to be too much.  More than he could handle.  And, it was pointless!  Nothing good seemed to be coming of it.  What’s the use?  Why bother?

But Isaiah didn’t see a way out.  “This is who I am.  This is who I was called to be, even before I was born.  Just as my name is Isaiah, I am a prophet of God, in whom I trust.  I can no more quit being a prophet than I can quit being Isaiah.  I’d like to, but this is who I am, and this is who I’m called to be, and this is what I’m called to do.  I wish there was something else, but there just isn’t.”

And God heard Isaiah.  God heard Isaiah say that it was all too much.  God could tell that Isaiah was depressed.  At the very least, God could tell that Isaiah was ready for retirement, or at least a transfer to a desk job.  I mean, he was getting too old for this! 

So what did God do?

God said to Isaiah, “I understand.  Being a prophet to Israel is hard work.  The people of Israel can be stubborn, they can give up hope too easily, they can focus on the petty things while ignoring the big issues, and yes, they can be hard on the prophets I send to them, inflicting terrible abuse.  I know that it’s hard work being a prophet to Israel.

“So here’s what I’m going to do.  You are no longer a prophet to Israel.  That job is done.  It’s over.  You don’t have to worry about it anymore.

“Instead, I’m now appointing you to be a prophet to the whole world!  I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Does God really expect his prophet, his servant, to take on an even greater task?  It’s crazy!  Just absolutely insane!

But then, as I mentioned at the end of the service last week, love makes us do crazy things.

A closer look at these verses from Isaiah 49 reveals that there is some ambiguity.  We start out assuming that the “prophet” here is Isaiah, but then we read a little further and it seems that the prophet is Israel itself.  And then it says that the prophet’s mission is to Israel, and how can Israel have a prophetic mission to itself?

It’s very vague, very ambiguous.

Scholars have connected this passage with three other passages in Isaiah, and have labeled all four of them the Servant Songs.  And the others are even more vague than this one.  In later centuries, many have seen in these Servant Songs Christ himself.  This is particularly true in the fourth and final servant song, found in Isaiah 52 and 53, which includes the verses that read, “He was despised and rejected, a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;…he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;… he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.”

There is no clear answer as to who the suffering servant is.  Is it Isaiah?  Is it Israel?  Is it Jesus? 

Just as the servant’s task gets greater and greater, so too, it seems does the servant’s identity. 

Perhaps even little Jaylen Arnold is the servant described by Isaiah.

Once Jaylen was in a special school where students and teachers understood him better and could help him rather than pick on him and bully him, Jaylen decided that finding a place where he was loved for who he was wasn’t enough.  Despite all that he had endured, he felt God calling him to something bigger.  Despite all the challenges he had faced, and the many times he had felt that it was just all too much, he felt God calling him to something more.

Jaylen asked himself:  “What about all the other kids whose moms and dads can’t or don't know their kids are being bullied? What about those kids I left behind? They are still getting bullied.  My next thought became what we have called my challenge. Jaylens Challenge ~ to end childhood bullying, especially those with disabilities like myself.”

At the age of 9, Jaylen began making in-school presentations. He founded the organization, Jaylen’s Challenge, and he continues to educate thousands of children each year with the help of donations and grant funding from the public.  Jaylen says, “God made me really special and I know that if I try super hard, I can do anything.”

At last week’s regional event celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., our preacher, Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, said that in order for a dream to become a reality, we have to wake up.  We have to wake up, and get to work doing what we have been called to do.

We can say we’re Open and Affirming.  We can say we love everyone.  But those things are just a dream.

I don’t mean to downplay the importance of those statements.  Martin Luther King had a dream, and it was a dream that changed the world.  Dreams are important.

But for the dream to become a reality, we have to wake up.  We have to act.

We need to find new ways to love everyone.  We need to find ways to express our love to our community.  We need to find ways to serve our community, to show love in action. 

We can’t just sit around and say we love everyone.

We have to be active in letting everyone know that they are loved.

We have to be active in showing love through our actions.

We have to serve those around us.

We do a lot of this already.  We feed the homeless.  We clean up litter from our streets.  We take up collections:  food collections, sock collections, shoe collections… We partner with a number of different organizations and charities in the community, and many of us volunteer at an individual level.

It’s a lot.  And we go to God and we say, “Look at all we’re doing, God.  And is it accomplishing anything?  Is it making a difference in our community?  Is it helping our church at all?

“To be quite honest, God, we’re getting kind of worn out here.  And it’s not just the work we’re doing, but it’s also all the distractions along the way.  And when the setbacks come, sometimes it seems that we have labored in vain, that we have spent our strength for nothing and vanity…”

And in such times, I can hear God saying to us, “You’re right.  It’s not easy….

“So all those things that have got you worried and worn out: I don’t want you to worry about them anymore.  Because, I’ve got something much bigger in mind for you now.  Something crazy.  I want you to find ways to show love that are grander, more radical than anything you’ve done before.  I want you to go all out in showing love to your neighbor. 

“Think big.  Go crazy!  Be extravagant!  I have called you for this purpose long before you were even aware of your calling.  And I have given you power!  You underestimate what you’re capable of.  Your words are as mighty as a sword, and your actions are as powerful as an entire quiver of arrows.  I have made you a light to the nations, that my healing, my wholeness and my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

And the leaders of the nations will notice you; governors and mayors will show you respect and honor, on account of the Lord, and what God is doing through you; because God, who is always faithful, has chosen you.

All Nations, All People (Isaiah 49:1-7)

Some years ago I had the opportunity to hear James Forbes preach at the Pacific School of Religion’s Earl Lectures. Man, what a preacher that guy is! At conferences and assemblies, it is common for CDs of the lectures and sermons to be available for purchase, and I never bought one … except for that one time when I heard James Forbes preach.

He preached that day on the story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus one day as she was drawing water from a well. He talked about how her satisfaction in life was important to Jesus, even though she was a woman, even though she was a Samaritan, even though she was (by the standards of her society) an adulteress, and even though she was an outcast to her own people.

He preached about how it was a concern of God’s that we find satisfaction in life, and he drew our attention to the 55th chapter of Isaiah, which says:

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Jesus cares about that Samaritan woman’s satisfaction in life. God cares about your satisfaction in life. God wants all people to find satisfaction.

That’s what James Forbes said, but he wasn’t done yet. He then said that the secret to satisfaction was to understand that your satisfaction is directly connected to and dependent upon your neighbor’s satisfaction. That’s just the way God designed the universe. The satisfaction of one is dependent upon and connected to the satisfaction of all.

That is precisely the point God makes in today’s scripture from the 49th chapter of Isaiah. There, God speaks through the prophet to the nation of Israel, which sees itself as God’s servant. There, God says: “It is not enough that you take care of your own people. It is not enough that you restore your own nation. You are a light to all nations, so that my salvation becomes global.”

In scripture, “salvation” doesn’t always mean what we today think it means. The way scripture uses the word “salvation,” it means healing. It means wholeness. It means satisfaction.

In scripture, “salvation” speaks of one’s present situation as much as – if not more than – it does of one’s future hope. To be saved is to live a life of wholeness. It is to find satisfaction in one’s life. It is to be rich in the things that matter.

Israel is a light to all nations, so that God’s salvation becomes global. Israel is a light to all nations, so that healing, wholeness, and satisfaction may reach to the end of the earth.

God calls upon us to think of the world that exists beyond our home, beyond our neighborhood, beyond our nation. God calls upon us to recognize how interrelated we all are.

A few years before he was elected president, Barack Obama said something quite profound for someone in politics. He said:

We are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief – I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper – that makes this country work.

How well Obama’s leadership as president reflects the truth he so eloquently spoke of, I’ll leave for the pundits and historians to decide; but the message is sound: your satisfaction, your salvation in life is dependent on that of your neighbor.

Martin Luther King, Jr., who our nation honors this weekend, understood this truth as well as any person in history. He understood that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think he understood this better than the original authors of those words. He understood that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He understood that salvation, healing, wholeness, must be global, or they will not be complete.

In his work for equal rights, he knew that he was acting on behalf of freedom for whites as well as blacks, knowing that neither could be free until all were free; neither could live life to the fullest, experience complete satisfaction and wholeness, until all people were able to do so. He saw those who perpetuated the sins of racism and prejudice as victims of their own fear and hatred, and sought to create a better nation for all Americans.

But knowing that God’s desire for salvation is that it become global, King didn’t limit his concern to those within our nation’s borders. His concern extended to all of God’s children, recognizing that the salvation, healing, and wholeness of people around the world was connected to the salvation, healing and wholeness of people in America.

In an age of Vietnam, this was an even harder sell than his message of racial equality, but his confidence in the truth of God’s word would not allow him to keep quiet.

So he criticized the war in Vietnam, even though he was told that doing so might jeopardize support for his message of racial equality. To him, the two issues were the same: they were both about allowing all people the right and opportunity to live lives of wholeness.

“Bombs in Vietnam,” he said, “also explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.”

On another occasion, King spoke about the importance of securing the welfare of all people, not just one’s own. He said:

Our only hope today lies in our ability to … go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism and militarism…. Our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.

The call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.”

And then King emphasized, as he did on so many other occasions, the importance of love as the foundation for all we are called to do, making sure that his hearers did not confuse biblical love with mere greeting card sentimentality. Speaking of love, he said:

This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.

King said that love for others – especially those of other lands – is what makes a nation great. “A great nation,” he said, “is a compassionate nation.”

King insisted that “a genuine program on the part of the wealthy nations to make prosperity a reality for the poor nations will in the final analysis enlarge the prosperity of all.” In other words, your nation’s satisfaction and welfare is dependent upon the satisfaction and welfare of other nations.

I’ve often thought of this issue in terms of a gated community. More and more, you see those gated communities being built; people living in a neighborhood surrounded by walls, with a gate at the entrance, and possibly even a security guard. These communities are built on the assumption that walling oneself off from those on the outside will improve the security, satisfaction, and happiness of those on the inside.

In some ways, though, it seems to me that a gated community becomes a prison of one’s own making. The walls are built out of fear – fear of what’s outside those walls, a fear that keeps one from wanting to venture outside those walls.

The walls also work to further emphasize the disparity between those who are inside and those who are outside. The fear that built those walls is made worse because of the walls, even though the hope in building them was that fear would be erased. The more walls that are built, the more those on the outside want to get in, and the more those on the inside live in fear.

We have become a nation of walls. The more walls we build, the more we separate ourselves from those on the outside. The more walls we build, the more those on the outside want to get in – most of them wanting just to see or experience what’s on the inside, but a few of them wanting to do us harm. The more walls we build, the more we live in fear of what’s on the outside.

The kingdom of God – the kingdom for which we pray every Sunday, the kingdom which we promise to help build on earth as it is in heaven – is not a kingdom of walls. The kingdom of God is not a kingdom divided into “us” and “them.” The kingdom of God is not a kingdom of fear.

In the kingdom of God, we work to ensure that all people are, in fact, able to enjoy their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In the kingdom of God, it is understood that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It is understood that a lack of prosperity anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere. It is understood that the welfare of one depends on the welfare of all.

In the kingdom of God, we recognize that bombs that drop in other countries also explode at home, destroying the hopes and possibilities for a decent America. At the same time, we recognize that working to improve the conditions of people around the world will in fact improve conditions at home.

That is, in fact, how God designed the universe. Your satisfaction is directly connected to and dependent upon your neighbor’s satisfaction.

The command to love your neighbor – whoever or wherever that neighbor may be – is not just some hoop God expects you to jump through. It is the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. It is the path to living the life God wants for you: a life of blessing, a life of satisfaction, a life of wholeness.

In the kingdom of God, it is not enough that you care for your own people. It is not enough that you restore your own nation. You are a light to all nations, so that God’s salvation becomes global, reaching to the end of the earth.