Isaiah 49:1-7 (NRSV)
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Chapter 49Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. Verse 2He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. Verse 3And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Verse 4But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God." Verse 5And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength- Verse 6he says, "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."
Verse 7Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, "Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
Devotion
Do we ever know the full impact of what we do for God or even for the greater good? Isaiah thought it was enough that he should labor in vain on behalf of the people of Israel. Though he was burdened by his Call and unsure that his ministry was making any difference, he was sure that the Call was from God and that God had given him the gifts he needed to accomplish the Call. For Isaiah, this was enough.
But God had other plans and ideas for Isaiah’s ministry. God declared that Isaiah’s ministry would become “a light to the nations, that God’s saving Word might reach to the ends of the earth.” And so it has. Isaiah’s depiction of wild beasts lying with lambs is a universal image of peace. It is God’s image given to us through Isaiah for the world. May it be so.
Prayer
May the words and images we speak be words of God’s peace and saving actions in the world and for the world. Amen.