Now and not yet
Gordon Kennedy
October 15, 2018
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Isaiah 50: 4–9
4 The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backwards.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.
What makes a man keep a secret diary, hidden even from the telescreen? Visit forbidden shops, read outlawed books? Under the oppressive stare of Big Brother, Winston Smith trusts in a future vindication in George Orwell's 1984.
O Lord, our God,
how great you are!
Except, it doesn’t always seem like that.
We lift up our eyes:
your name is misused,
your truth rejected,
your love abused,
your grace taken for granted.
Our only hope is in your promise of vindication,
we may not see it with our own eyes, in our generation,
but you will arise, you will be glorified in all creation,
every knee will bow before you.
Give us grace today to live in the light of your future vindication of your own glory.
Amen.
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