Called and Chosen to be the Love and Light of God to the World!

Have you ever felt "called."  When did you feel called?  What does it mean to you that you are called?  Called to do what?  Called to be what?  This week we look at the concept of "call" through the eyes of the Jewish Community told through the "prophet" Isaiah.  The school of Isaiah prophets who have woven together the book of Isaiah lived through a tumultuous time in Jewish history.  The Jerusalem temple had been destroyed in 586 BCE and the people had been carried into exile to the land of Babylon.  The people are captive.  Are they still God’s people?  Without a temple how do they keep their faith and worship God?   They were in crisis and so strongly identified as “God’s People,” they must have been asking themselves many questions, such as “Who am I?”

 

Have you ever been in a community who was in the midst of natural disaster?  After Hurricane Katrina, I drove down the street and saw mounds and mounds of carpet at the curb in front of house after house after house.  It occurred to me that these were not just scraps of soggy carpet, these were people's lives laying on the street.  My heart broke.  "Where are you God?"

 

Have you ever been in such a crisis that you have questioned your faith in God?  If so, then approach this reading as a sign of hope and remember how the roots of your faith grew deeper through your experience!   If not, then spend a few moments preparing your heart to journey with others who have experienced crisis of faith.  When you are ready to sink into the text and listen with ears attuned to the situation of the returning exiles seeking the Presence of God, breathe deeply and pray a Breath Prayer.  You can use this one or allow one to emerge from within yourself.  

 

Breathing in ... God of Restoration
Breathing out ... Strengthen my faith in You

When you are ready to enter the narrative through Lectio Divina, pray ... God of Restoration, we are called but when times get rough it can be hard to grasp.  It sometimes doesn't feel good to be called because it's hard to understand what that means.  Send your light, fill my community, and let us be a modern light for others.  Amen.

 

Step 1:  Read Isaiah 49:1-7 (Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible) slowly and reverently ...What word, or phrase calls for your attention in your reading?  Spend a few moments pondering how God may be inviting you through this word or phrase ... 

 

Islands, listen to me! Pay attention, distant peoples! YHWH called me before I was born, and named me from my mother’s womb.  God made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of the hand of the Most High. The Almighty made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in God’s quiver.The Holy One said to me, “You are my Servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”  I had been thinking, “I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing!”— yet all the while my cause was with YHWH, and my reward was with my God.  Thus says YHWH, who formed me in the womb to be God’s Servant, who destined me to bring back the children of Jacob and gather again the people of Israel:  “It is not enough for you to do my bidding, to restore the tribes of Leah, Rachel, and Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”  Thus says YHWH, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One, to the one deeply despised, the one abhorred by nations, the one enslaved by despots: “Rulers will stand when you walk in the room and court officials will pay homage because of YHWH, who is faithful, because of the Holy One of Israel, who chose you.”

Step 2:  Read your selection again and Reflect ...
How does your word or phrase from this passage illuminate your life or the life of your community right now?  How is God inviting you to change or grow or pray or act?

Step 3:  Read your selection again and Respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you feel you are being called?   How do you pray when you consider what God is saying to you?

Step 4:  Rest ...
Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.  Try for 10 minutes or beyond ... When you are ready to move on,  pray:

God of all Nations, you are the light of the World.  May I be your servant, a reflection of your love and light to all people.  Amen.

 

 If music is a pathway for you, you might enjoy this children's choir signing "Light to the Nations."