I Will Be With You
Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Snow days make me hungry. They give me the munchies. I just want to snack and have comfort foods and warm drinks all day and night. Everyone in the house takes turns migrating to the kitchen for drinks and snacks like we have these bottomless pits, insatiable appetites that are only satisfied for little while on a snow day.
Is snow day hunger, really hunger? Probably not. But at the top of this new year, on January 12, what are you truly hungry for? For what do you have longing? What emptiness resides within you? What appetite is begging to be satisfied?
In both passages today, the people under the sounds of the prophets’ voices (Isaiah’s and John’s) are longing for a void to be filled. They are longing for change. Those gathered down by the riverside with John the Baptist are hoping and praying that John is the one they’ve been waiting for, the Messiah who will set them free. They are waiting in line to receive John’s baptism in the Jordan River, hungry for… do they know? A leader to set them free from the empire of Rome, or a savior to set them free from the bonds of sin and shame?
It is their ancestors who are the recipients of Isaiah’s words. Now, these people are the 2nd and 3rd generation exiles who are living in Babylon. I imagine they are tired of living under Babylon’s rule when they are supposed to be God’s chosen people - powerful in their own right. After so much time, they have grown arrogant and distant from God. They likely feel abandoned having lived in Babylonian exile for 50 - 70 years. Think about it. That is the life of this congregation.
The dispirited Judeans under Isaiah’s voice and the curious crowd under John’s voice are likely wondering, Who is in charge here? What’s the plan? When nothing makes sense, we tend to ask questions like these and more. How did we get here, up this creek, wandering in this wilderness? Who will lead us out of this mess? After this, then what? It is a hunger for something else, something more.
Today, let’s remind ourselves of a few things.
1. Longing is something we all experience
2. We belong to God no matter what happens
3. We can get used to our hunger and just stay there unsatisfied or be the change we long to see if we satiate our hunger with the right things.
Just before the encouragement in chapter 43 is delivered, Israel has been described as blind and deaf to God’s presence. And the relationship between God and people was described in typical Old Testament fashion, with anger and fury poured down upon them for their hard headedness (42:25). While the exiles felt abandoned, they had abandoned God to their own arrogance, ingratitude and disobedience which the prophets had reminded them of repeatedly. Their oppressor, Babylon, had robbed them of Temple, land, and freedom. Amidst the ashes of smoldering Jerusalem, who could they trust? What did their exiled hearts long for? [1]
The descendants of Abraham were ready to hear reassurance. They needed reminding that like Abraham had been, they are also named and called by the One who put the pounding in their hearts, and breath in their lungs. The wise prophet who had also preached accountability now provides that reassurance. So, Isaiah speaks tender, encouraging, empowering words to these exiles who faced a very uncertain future.
On behalf of God, Isaiah sends the following message:
I, the Lord, created you,
formed you,
redeemed you…
Called you by name. You are mine.
I will be with you.
No matter what happens, You will not be overwhelmed, burned, or consumed.
For I AM the Lord your God. (43:1-3)
In their original context, the words in this passage were for exiles who tentatively wondered whether to leave the stable, though subjugated, life in Babylon to return to the rubble of [the] former home [of their parents, grandparents]. The message Isaiah delivered, helped motivate the exiles to embrace their faith, their God, and inspired them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild. [2]
It won’t be easy. Notice that he doesn’t say,
IF you pass through the waters;
IF you go through the rivers;
IF you walk through the fire…
He doesn’t hint around. “It’s not really part of the prophet’s repertoire.” The good news in that bad news situation is, You won’t be alone.
WHEN you go through the waters, I’ll be with you.
WHEN you go through the fire, I’ll be there.[3]
Our side of the country has been much more familiar with people who have passed through the waters – dealing with the aftermath of flooding and mudslides in Western Carolina and hurricanes in Florida. And while we’ve had our own little weather-related inconvenience this weekend; our fellow citizens on the western coast have literally gone through devastating wildfires that have spread across the communities of Los Angeles.
We, modern-day people, also need to be reminded of the promises of old.
It’ll be hot, wet, and painful, and you’ll think you’ll be burnt to a crisp or swept out to sea, but I will be with you.[4]
This life is not easy. That is not what the prophet said. That is NOT what God promises. One of the most damaging misconceptions we can have about God is that God will protect us from suffering. Nope. But you know this. You are still here because you know this. When we go through hard things, it’s not because God is abandoning us, or punishing us, or teaching us a lesson. It’s because we live in an imperfect, often chaotic world. It is also sometimes because of humanity's collective choices that wreak havoc with the environment, or public health, or systemic injustice. But whatever the suffering, brought on by whatever the cause - known or unknown - The truth is God will be with us in all manner of suffering… no matter what.[5]
Notice on last thing in Isaiah 43, the end of the passage encourages a wider and more expansive interpretation than just those under the sound of Isaiah’s voice. Not only “you” who are starved for liberation, hungry for change, longing for Divine intervention – but those from the east and west, north and south, all others hungry and searching, everyone will be loved and welcomed among the named and called.[6] There is a wideness in God’s mercy, evidenced here in Isaiah 43:6.
As the community gathered at the river that day that John was preaching repentance and baptizing them, there was a hunger in the eyes of the spectators viewing the baptisms. They were asking themselves if John was the one who had been promised to save them.
But John and the community gathered that day remind us that we all have a role to play. John has his. Jesus has his. And even though they may not realize it, the community has a role to play as well. Some truths, some mysteries, some revelations, some signs of God’s presence need the community's witness to counter the chaos that is out there. As a community of faith, we can give witness to a time in our lives that we were hungry and longing, empty and waiting… And then God showed us who we are – named and called – and whose we are. We belong to God.[7]
Wasn’t it Gandhi who said, “Be the change you long to see in the world?” Meaning, instead of waiting for others to make the world a better place, we should actively take responsibility and initiate positive change ourselves by acting in the way we want to see the world behave.
This brings me to final thought that is best relayed through what’s believed to be a story passed down from the Cherokee.
A young boy came to his Grandfather, filled with anger at another boy who had done him an injustice. The old Grandfather said to his grandson, Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and hate does not hurt your enemy. Hate is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.
It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offence when no offence was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper.
He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, because his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit. The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" The Grandfather smiled and said, "The one I feed." [8]
As we come up against the forces in this world that would harm us or hold us back, let us remember that we are not alone. The One who calls and redeems is the One who wants to fill our hunger, our emptiness with Love, hope, and promise. If we will give witness to this truth through our actions, more than our words, we can make a difference. Together.
[1] Hanson, Paul D. Interpretation Commentary series, Isaiah
[2] Aaron, Charles L. Jr. Working Preacher commentary Isaiah 43:1-7 2019
[3]https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/re-membering-the-body/first-sunday-after-the-epiphany-baptism-of-the-lord-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/first-sunday-after-the-epiphany-baptism-of-the-lord-year-c-preaching-notes
[4] ibid.
[5] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve https://unfoldinglight.net/2021/12/29/baptism-of-jesus-january-9-2022/
[6] O’Brien, Julia M. Working Preacher Isaiah 43:1-7 commentary for Jan 12 2024
[7] Tucker, Charisse R. Christian Century In the Lectionary January 2025
[8] Text generated by ChatGPT January 10, 2025