Called by a New Name

This is our 3rd and final week with Isaiah during this time after the Epiphany.  In week 1 we allowed the metaphor of light to illuminate the text.  In week 2, we embraced water and fire as metaphors for the struggles of life as we moved through the text.  This week Isaiah “of the Restoration” talks about transformation of the people and their lives in the form of “re-naming.”   In the bible God renames people when they have had a powerful experience during which they have been changed from within.  Isaiah expects that when the exiles return their lives will be transformed just as our lives are transformed when we fall short, turn away and subsequently return to God. 

Let’s listen in as Isaiah comforts the exiles returning to Jerusalem.  You can read more about Isaiah and the context of this passage in this paper I wrote several years ago:  Vision of Restoration.  Although it focuses on a selection located a few verses before today’s passage, what is written about the Exiles and their journey back to Jerusalem still holds true. 

As you prepare your heart to read and pray the scriptures, remember the Israelite exiles … going home to a desolate, dark and lonely place … only a faint shadow of what it once was.   Remember refugees all over the world, people who are fleeing war and strife in their homeland.  Remember those you know who are struggling with life right now, especially the homeless men or women who are cold and have no place to lay their head tonight.  Remember your own struggles, be they old ones or new ones. 

Just sit with your "remembering" right now and breathe a gentle breath prayer for the world:  

Breathe in … God of All Names (pause)  
Breath out … Change our world (pause) 

When you are ready to move into the text, use these verses of Psalm 23 (adapted) as a prayer:

O Lord, you are my shepherd, I shall not want.
You makes me lie down in green pastures;
You leads me beside still waters;
You restores my soul.
You lead me in right paths
    for your name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff — they comfort me.

Now, read Isaiah 62:1-5 with the "ear of your heart" using Lectio Divina, during which you will breathe and listen deeply to Isaiah’s encouraging message as you read the text slowly, savoring it in all of its beauty.

Reading 1.    Read the text slowly. Focus your attention on the sense of the passage as you hear it.   Perhaps you will find a word or phrase full of meaning for you.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...

Movement 1 (Read) and repeat your word or phrase several times.  Let the word or phrase that has chosen you sink into your soul.   What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you where you are in your life right now? 

Isaiah 62:1-5
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

2.    Read the text slowly again ... As you read, listen for the still small voice of the text whispering to you, “Here I am, where are you?”  Where is God calling your attention?  Sit with the “word” God has for you … it can be from the text itself OR it can be a different word or phrase that has arisen from the text.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...

Movement 2 (Reflect)  How does God want to work in your life and change your name?  If God gave you a new name what would it be?  Use your own words and consider this phrase as a meditation to pray with:  I once was _____ and now I am ______

A butterfly in the countryside of Panama ... a sign of transformation!

3.    Read the text slowly again.  Respond to God with prayers of surrender and commitment ... sing praises, whisper confessions, laugh gratitude, breathe in discernment, breathe out commitment ... whatever emerges from within you as you pray.   Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready …

Movement 3 (Respond)  How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?

4.    Rest in the gentle silence of God's presence.  Breathe in the transforming power of God.  As you move on, breathe out the transforming Love of God upon the world!

Movement 4 (Rest) Breathe … Breathe … Breathe … Amen

To end your time praying with scripture, use these remaining verses of Psalm 23 as an amen:

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long. 

If music is a pathway to God for you, listen to this song sung by Eden's Bridge: I will change your name.  The graphics on this video are not that clear and the words are blurry but I simply close my eyes and listen. This song illuminates our passage by Isaiah in a beautiful and moving way and was written in the 1980's by a woman named DJ Butler.  It is her story and my story and your story ... and our prayer for exiles and refugees all over the world.