Sermon for October 6, 2024: Imagine Together: A World Made Whole based upon Isaiah 35

Isaiah 35 The Return of the Redeemed to Zion

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. 
He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, 
but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. 
No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; 
they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, 
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

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​    I have a lot of friends who have jobs where they help people. One my friends, Adam, who is a counselor, recently shared something called a social story that he thought might help people who have been having a hard time. Social stories are a tool that adults like teachers, counselors, and parents may use to help a child prepare for a new situation or for a situation that might be challenging. Some people can get anxious about a new thing, even if it is a good new thing. The social stories are written to help prepare them for the things that will happen in the situation. They might include details about what things they can expect to happen, some feelings they might feel, and maybe some descriptions of behaviors that would be appropriate and expected in the situation.

     The social story that Adam shared was created by the Family Support Network of North Carolina. It is to help people who have been having a hard time after the bad floods that were there last week. The people who wrote the social story want to acknowledge the hard parts of the last week, the feelings that are being felt, and will be felt some more, and what we ultimately hope will happen: that everyone will be safe.​

     Here’s the image they created:  It’s a simple but powerful story isn’t it? In just ten pictures and 10 captions, we travel from a pretty scary thing to the work we need to do together to an understanding that even though things are different, the person is safe. After something scary happens, especially when it happens to a lot of people, it’s good to be reminded that it is possible to be safe again. And, that we can work together to help everyone feel safer.

​    As I learned about social stories and thought about the book of Isaiah, I realized that they had some important things in common. One is that they both can talk about challenging things that people have gone through or will go through. Another thing is that they both talk about feelings- people's feelings and God’s feelings. They both help us understand what kind of behavior is most helpful in a situation, too. And, like the social story my friend shared, Isaiah finishes in a hopeful place, with people who are safe and living a life that God hopes for them.

     Chapter 34 is like the first part of our social story. We didn’t read it together, but, I’ll go ahead and tell you that there’s a big fight in a place called Edom. It’s scary and gross and everyone- the people, the farm animals, the land itself- has a really bad time. The wild animals and spiny plants get control of the land. They are the only creatures that are even a little happy. This is the “We had a flood. The rain was loud. The water was high. I was scared” part. Edom was a nation that didn’t get along with Judah, the nation that the prophet Isaiah was from. People in Judah were worried that the bad things in Edom would also happen in Judah. To be fair, some very bad wars did happen in Judah. They weren’t wrong to worry. Our reading for today, chapter 35, shows us what happens after the bad stuff. It shows us a land, people, and animals that are healing.

     “Now the flood is over. I am safe. My house looks different. I might stay somewhere new. We will work together to clean up our town. Things will be different, but we will be safe.” That all sounds so much to me like “the wilderness and the dry land will be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing... Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!’... and the ransom of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” 

     The book of Isaiah, which is really a collection of several stories told in different eras by different prophets, is supposed to remind us that it is possible to rebuild. According to Joseph Blenkinsopp’s notes, chapter 35 is the link that connects the bad that happened to the possibility for rebuilding and reconnection that can come later. Patricia Tull described this chapter in another fun way. She calls it a “hinge,” like you’d find on a door. On one side of the door is devastation. On the other is renewed life and a broken place repaired, replanted, with people and animals returned.

     After spending a lot of last weekend watching a region I care about get swamped with dangerous flooding and worrying about people I know in the area, I have seen so many hinge moments that remind me that even though things will be different, people can be safe. One of my seminary friends, whose family was able to get out of the mountains to stay with friend in central North Carolina, is heading back with his kids to help with clean up. His friend, a Boy Scout leader, has been organizing kids and adults in his neighborhood to cut a path out to the main for some folks who had been isolated by downed trees and debris. They even salvaged a culvert that had washed into the area to use to make the path drivable. He’s been using his Scout skills to help people treat water, find fuel, and make sure to dispose of their waste in clean ways.

     Churches all over the area are cooking, housing donations, offering showers, and laundry. People are driving donations up from surrounding areas and into hard-to-reach homes, using ATVs, four-wheel drives, mules, and their own two feet.  Helicopter pilots, both private citizens and service members, have been dropping supplies and carrying out people who need transport. Remote volunteers are working with Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, have been working together to cover backlogs of emails from people outside of the region asking for wellness checks on relatives. Seventy people have called 700 families and processed 2000 emails in two different evening volunteer sessions. I’m signed up for one session tonight.

     It’s gonna take a while for everyone affected by the floods to be safe and things are definitely already different. But, the flood is over. The highways will be rebuilt. Isaiah shows us that the wilderness and the small towns and the mountain cities can be glad once again. May will be willing to stick around long enough to be a part of making this place whole once again.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
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More information about social stories: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/children-disabilities/article/social-stories

Family Support Network of North Carolina's social story post : https://www.facebook.com/share/p/UAEG8DeWZhNy43bs/

Patricia Kay Tull's notes on Isaiah 35 in the Imagine Together stewardship materials

Joseph Blenkinsopp's notes on Isaiah in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)