“God Will Neither Forsake Nor Forget”
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
2d Sunday after Pentecost, May 25, 2008
Text: Isaiah 49:8-16
The numbers are grimly staggering, utterly overwhelming. The number of victims from recent natural disasters in Asia. The cyclone in Myanmar--134,000 dead or missing. The earthquake in China, upwards of 80,000 dead, 5 million left homeless. (Numbers are from news reports on 05.25.08). With so much pain and suffering . . . . With so much grief and misery, even so very far away, surely the Church cannot, must not be silent. Otherwise, as Jesus says in Luke, the very “stones would shout out!”
So, comes now the obvious question: ‘What does the church have to say about these disasters?’ More importantly, ‘What does God have to say?’
As always, the Church looks to Holy Scripture for answers. How remarkable that on this very Lord’s Day, God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah about the restoration of a desolate land! You have seen video of the destruction in Myanmar and in China. You know what desolate looks like. Of course, the historical context is ancient Isaiah in the decades following its virtual obliteration at the hands of the invading Babylonians. Even so, we believe these scriptures--and the sacred promises contained herein--apply to any nation, any city left in ruins.
As God speaks today through Isaiah God is addressing the prophet’s mysterious “suffering servant.” Listen to Isaiah’s description of this “servant:” “one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers”(v.7). The “servant” is anonymous; we have neither name, nor rank, nor serial number. Perhaps the Suffering Servant is the personification of exiled Israel herself. Perhaps the personification of a leader like Moses or Jeremiah, both of whom suffered on behalf of the people. As you might expect, the New Testament Church sees in Isaiah’s suffering servant prophesy fulfilled in the mission of Christ.
In the poetry of Isaiah, God assigns to the Suffering Servant a remarkable task: “to apportion the desolate heritages” (v. 8). That is, to allocate land, to assign tracks of land back in defeated and demolished Israel to the those exiles whom God will soon bring home. Having received his instructions, God’s servant speaks to the exiles offering words of hope--words of hope we believe are relevant for suffering people of every age. As it was for Israelites living in exile, now comes hope for storm victims hanging by a thread in Myanmar; divine hope for earthquake victims in China. Isaiah says this is the divine intention: “they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down”(v.10a). And here is the divine plan: “the One who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them”(v. 10b). Now comes the divine summons: “Come out, those of you who are in darkness.”
Just imagine the power of these words! The comfort and assurance of these sacred words as they are read and proclaimed in refugee camps around the world. Before the latest disasters in Asia, there were, according to the US Committee for Refugees, 13.9 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world--people fleeing drought and starvation, fleeing political oppression, trying desperately to escape the horrors of war and the threat of terrorism. Imagine these words ringing in their ears: ‘You can go home now, and I will lead you. Along the way, there will be plenty for you and your children to eat, and clean water for everyone to drink.’ “Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west . . .”(v.12).
Let the church, let the people of God everywhere:
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted God’s people,
and will have compassion on (those who suffer).
Not so quickly, comes Zion’s response. Speaking perhaps for victims everywhere who have lost hope. For those who have languished far too long in FEMA trailers, in refuge camps, and under the harsh rule of military dictators. 14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.”
Zion says this? That is, God’s own say ‘We don’t believe a word of it!” The people of Zion, the Hebrew people, chosen by God to be a light to the nations . . . . The people of Israel, who know God’s history--the divine record of rescue and redemption, the story of Hebrew slaves fleeing Old Pharaoh, crossing the Red Sea on dry land, receiving manna from heaven and water from the rock . . . . If God’s chosen ones say, “We don’t believe . . . .” Surely God will abandon them then and there. Let ‘em rot in exile in Babylon!
No, says Isaiah, this is not God’s way. Listen carefully, all who doubt and question, who challenge God and confront God head on! Listen carefully, all who feel abandoned. Listen carefully, all who feel overwhelmed. Listen for this is God speaking:
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
And since God will neither forsake nor forget. Since God will neither ignore nor abandon, neither must the Church. “We serve humankind,” proclaims our “Declaration of Faith,” “by discerning what God is doing in the world and joining (God) in (this) work.”
In Myanmar, despite limited humanitarian access and tremendous logistical challenges, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is working as a member of the global alliance, Action by Churches Together. We are participating in providing clean water, emergency food, and non-food items to more than 100,000 people. The Churches have issued a world-wide appeal for $5.1 million for relief work in the nation long known as Burma. The goal is to provide up to 1.3 million people with safe water. Other planned assistance includes emergency shelter for up to 340,000 people.
Our Church is responding in China, too. There, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is supporting our local and long-time mission partner, Amity Foundation. Amity immediately provided food and drinking water for thousands in the heavily damaged areas of this vast country. They have deployed staff to the affected region and are focusing assistance in the most severely affected provinces. Assistance includes providing food supplies to some of the most vulnerable people and distributing tarpaulins and quilts to the homeless. Following the initial crisis phase, Amity is committed to helping to rebuild communities, and to restore damaged water and irrigation systems.
Admittedly, what our Church and our partner churches can do pales in comparison to the needs of the millions of disaster victims. But we know that just as God is not limited to the story we can tell, God is not limited by the meager resources we can muster. As relief supplies and personnel pour into the ravaged regions from public and private sectors the world over, rallying to provide aid for the storm victims, we see the goodness and mercy of God hard at work. For
10they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for (the One) who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of (living) water will guide them.
The numbers are staggering, the losses of life and property are overwhelming. But the Church is confident that the Lord has neither forgotten nor forsaken the millions of victims of these disasters. God, the God of love and justice and mercy, does not cause natural disasters. But we believe there is no event from which God is absent-- certainly not now among the victims of these catastrophic events. And we know that in all events, God’s purposes are loving and just.
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.