Precious Honored and
Loved
Isaiah 43: 1-7 paints a beautiful
picture of God. The prophet repeats his message of God’s protection: “do not fear for I have redeemed you.” “Do not fear, for I am with you.” “When you
walk through the waters I will be with you.”
He describes God’s compassion: I have “created you” and “I have called
you by name, you are mine” and expresses God’s love: “you are precious in my sight and honored and
I love you.” Isaiah further declares
that God is both creator and redeemer even calling God “savior.” These profound and memorable words were
written to an exiled people hoping to offer them comfort.
Last Thursday, my girls and I helped serve dinner and
visit with guests who were living at our church for the week. As we drove home, my 8 year old twins had
many questions. Why is someone
homeless? Will they always be homeless? How much money does it take to buy a
house? Where will they go next? Does all their stuff really fit in those
Rubbermaid tubs? Why didn’t we give them
any money? Such deep and thought
provoking questions. I am reminded of
our car conversation as I read some of the latest news from the Vatican where
Pope Francis has decided that the Vatican is taking in two families of
refuges. Pope Francis declares that “It
is not enough to say “Have courage, hang in there,’ but rather he pleads for
churches and Christians to follow his lead and offer a home to those in exile.[1] In other words, it seems he is urging the
church to put love, compassion and justice into action.
I wonder if one of the
greatest challenge for Christ followers is to actually embody the picture of
God painted through the words of Isaiah 43.
We find comfort in those words and yet they should equally challenge us
to become those words for the world. Embodiment will move us beyond a gentle
pat on the back and “hang in there.” When
we embody these words, all will know they are precious, honored, and loved. Just as the prophet Isaiah spoke to those in
exile, may our hearts be nudged to develop relationships with the homeless, the
immigrants, and the refugees among us to offer them the same promises of God.
Before all the
questions on the ride home, Mattie had tried to encourage a 5-year old boy
telling him not to cry, offering to play football with him or asking if he
wanted another piece of garlic bread.
When she realized that all of her ideas did not help him to feel better
and that perhaps he just needed to
cry; she simply sat with him. She didn’t
say a word. She didn’t say “hang in
there” or “it is going to be ok.” She just
sat. He cried and she sat. He was precious, honored, and loved through
the huge heart of an 8-year old girl who has never had to want for anything. My response on the way home that night was
that our job was to provide dinner
and visit with our new friends to remind them that they are loved and not
alone. Mattie had done that and through
her I caught a momentary glimpse of the Kingdom of God breaking into this world.
[1] http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/pope-francis-takes-in-two-migrant-families-at-vatican-calls-on-churches-all-over-the-world-to-follow-suit
