Loving God, even in the midst of our brokenness, you fill us with your light and your love.  Teach us how to rely on the power of your Spirit, that your light might shine through us to others; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    When you have been traumatized, there are a number of different ways in which you can respond.  You can respond with anger and hatred, lashing out at those around you and hating the person or the people who have traumatized you.  You can keep everything inside and become depressed, curling up inside your own little world and wishing that the rest of the world would just go away.  Or, you can take what has happened to you and use it for good, turning it into light and hope for others.  It is this third option that is suggested by Isaiah, as he addresses a group of traumatized people.

    You see, the people of Israel had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the demolition of the Temple.  They had been taken away in chains to Babylon, along with the last descendant of David who ruled in Jerusalem as king.  They had seen all of God’s promises come crashing down around them, especially the promise of a land of their own and the promise that David and his descendants would rule forever.  However, in the midst of their despair, Isaiah reminds them of another promise: The promise that through Abraham and his descendants, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

    As Isaiah speaks God’s word to the people, he does not tell them to hate those who have perpetrated such destruction in their lives.  He also does not tell them that it’s okay for them to simply curl up and feel sorry for themselves.  Instead, he tells them that they are going to be “a light to the nations” (Isa. 42:6).  God’s spirit would be upon them, and through them God would establish justice in the earth.

    Once again, imagine yourself in the place of the traumatized person and hearing that God’s Spirit will be upon you, and that God will work through you in order to bring light to others, and sight to those who had been blind.  While this may not erase the trauma that you have experienced, it does bring hope and healing by turning your attention away from your own problems in order to focus on others instead.

    The image is that of the wounded healer, or the suffering servant, or the cracked pot.  The thing is that God has a history of using broken people in order to accomplish great things.  In fact, the cracks are where the light gets in!  It is the apostle Paul who writes about having this treasure in earthen vessels or in clay jars.  In the same passage he writes about being afflicted, “but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9).

    Paul is a broken person, who suffers from some sort of “thorn in the flesh” that won’t go away, and yet God uses him to proclaim the good news about Jesus to many people.  The people of Israel were feeling broken and abandoned, and yet God promises to bring light and blessing to the world through them.  And when we are feeling broken and abandoned, God also puts his Spirit upon us and fills us with his light in order to bring help and hope to others.

    Of course, in the broader sweep of history, these words that we heard today from Isaiah also point to Jesus.  He also is identified as God’s suffering servant, and as God’s chosen one.  And ultimately, it is through Jesus that all nations are invited into a relationship with God.  While Jesus doesn’t come with the same brokenness that all other human beings experience, he certainly does share in the pain and the suffering and the grief that are all part of being human.

    At the same time, the coming of Jesus is perhaps the most amazing “new thing” that God has ever done!  That last verse that we heard today from Isaiah talks about the new things that God is declaring and will do (Isa. 42:9).  There is only one time in history that it is recorded that God dared to become human, and that was the birth of Jesus Christ.  You would think that there might have been easier ways that God could have decided to save people.  However, our God does not just sit on high and act from afar.  Instead, our God comes as Emmanuel – God with us.

    This is true at those times when we have been traumatized and need to see some light and hope.  This is true at those times when we are the dimly burning wick or the bruised reed.  However, God is also with us at those times when God has put his Spirit upon us and sends us to bring light and hope to others – or at those times when we are the ones who have been sent in the name of Jesus to bring forth justice.

    You see, the servant who is described by Isaiah is not only the people of Israel and Jesus.  We, too, are God’s servants through our imitation of Christ.  God puts his Spirit upon us in baptism and strengthens us as people of the new covenant in Holy Communion.  God continues to be with us through Jesus and empowers us to be beacons of light and hope in our world.

    Let us then continue to come to Jesus – the one who has come, and who continues to come to us, and who will come again.  It is a big job to bring forth justice and to set the prisoners free and to be a light to the nations.  However, God has a history of using broken people in order to do great things.  After all, the cracks are where the light gets in.  And whatever we do in the name of Christ, we do not do it alone.  For God is with us and upholds us and puts the Holy Spirit upon us.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Advent 3 (NL 1)                                Isaiah 42:1-9
December 14, 2014                            Matthew 12:15-21
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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