Those rocket engine tests are fairly common for those of us living near the small, central Texas town of McGregor. SpaceX has a very active operation there. The deep-throated roar of those engines has been known to shake pictures off walls, objects off shelves, and nappers off couches.
The first time it happened, there was one question on the mind of every person: What is happening?! But, after learning the answer, people began to relax a bit. Oh, the roar continued off and on, but nothing actually seemed to be happening. After a bit, we stopped thinking of it as "emergency!" Soon, we downgraded it to "just a lot of noise." Oh, it was still loud, and it still had everybody's house shaking. But nothing bad followed all that noise; nothing momentous occurred.
The excitement had waned.
We settled down.
We got used to it.
That's the situation confronted by the Prophet Isaiah in this week's scriptures. God had been active in the lives of the Jewish people for centuries. God had sometimes presented as a giant pillar of fire, sometimes as a great whirlwind (think: tornado or hurricane), sometimes appearing with such a roar that ordinary people were afraid to approach.
God could be blindingly bright, thunderously loud.
Eventually, though, people came to take God for granted. Oh, they still did the religious things. They fasted, made sacrifices, participated in worship. And, in their minds, that was enough.
But, in truth, they had moved past the excitement of following God's commandments for living. They quarreled and fought with each other. They let the hungry go hungry. They denied justice to those who were falsely imprisoned. They were supposed to bring the homeless into their own homes, to free the oppressed, and to be caring for their relatives ... but, no. No time for any of that stuff; too busy being busy.
And all the time wondering where God had gotten to.
Because they no longer did as God asked, God told Isaiah to "Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion...." Apparently, nothing else was going to get their attention.
They could no longer hear the roar, no longer see the light.
What about us?
_________________________
A version of this reflection appeared in February 2017 as God and SpaceX.
_________________________
READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 9, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=17
Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
Psalm 112:1-9 (10)
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
Matthew 5:13-20
_________________________
As we continue to move through the Epiphany season, I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Fat Tuesday will be upon us before you know it, and then Ash Wednesday and Lent. Next thing you know, we'll be celebrating Easter.
Take some time to fellowship with us at Our Breakfast Place (formerly called the "Egg and I" restaurant). We start at 8:00 and mosey along around 9:00. We eat, we laugh, we pray, and we spend some quality time in God's word ... hearing the roar ... seeing the light.
Blessings,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment