Thursday in the Third Week of Advent

"For all this his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still." (Isaiah 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4)

Is God hell-bent on destruction? Has vindictive wrath overpowered the All Powerful One? Are the Covenant People, who have forsaken their God finally (and irrevocably) God-forsaken?

When we read the three oracles pronounced by the prophet between Isaiah 9:8 and Isaiah 10:4, we may be tempted to answer the foregoing questions affirmatively.  We may incorrectly project human ideas of retribution and revenge upon the Almighty. We may wrongly ascribe to God the fickleness of human emotion.

Isaiah of Jerusalem poetically describes the descent of Israel into the abyss of destruction by employing a rhetorical device known as a "stair step". The further Israel sinks into its own demise, the more insistent the dramatic drumbeat of the ominous refrain -- "for all this his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still." The hymn Isaiah composes is a tragic tribute to human willfulness, in which one depressing scenario leads directly toward an even more devastating one. 

The Arameans and the Philistines have "devoured Israel with open mouth" (9:12). Not even the weakest of society (the young, the orphans and the widows) are spared (9:17). The Promised Land is burned; "the people became like fuel for the fire and eventually turn on each other (9:19). Finally, those who are supposed to be advocates for the marginalized of the society "turn aside the needy from justice and rob the poor of their right." (10:2). From one end of Israel to the other, the slide into chaos is undeterred. Why? Because God's hand is "stretched out still".

And yet, even as Israel buckles under the vise grip of the foreign powers that would crush it, the little country hangs on. Even as it is consumed by enemies that long to devour its wealth and wipe its memory from the face of the earth, it defiantly clings to existence. Even as all seems lost, a tiny minority keep the faith -- faith in their God and faith in the Covenant that was gifted to them by God generations before they were born. Why? 

Because God's hand is "stretched out still". 

The "hand of judgment" and the "hand of mercy" belong to the same God! The hand that disciplines is the hand that rescues. The hand that pushes Israel's enemies in her direction is the same hand that holds Israel's enemies at bay. 

We would prefer a one-dimensional deity, wouldn't we? A deity that protects us when we need protection, rescues us when we need some rescuing  and grants us our wishes "at all times and in all places". Such a deity would certainly be preferable to this irascible God that Isaiah seems to know so well.  But the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah and Jesus isn't the God of fairy tales. This God is beyond our knowing, yet knows us altogether. This God's ways are mysterious, yet this God makes plain the intention toward relationship with creation. This is not a God "far off" in the universe, but a God who is frighteningly near -- creating, redeeming, sustaining; even when those activities appear more like destroying, condemning and abandoning.

We don't like to think of encountering such a holy (and wholly other) God, do we? But from a Christian perspective, any talk of God that does not lead us to our places of prayer and repentance, does not give us at least a moment's pause, does not challenge our sentimental notions of a "God of Love" is really not much of a God at all. A God who lies in a manger is as incomprehensible as a God who dies on a cross.

When we look around our world, are there places where we might think God's "anger has not turned away"? Are we fearful of judgment? Are we aware of the shelter of mercy?

Maybe the time has come for us to cease our attempts to categorize God. Maybe our task isn't to avoid God's anger or duck from God's presence. Maybe our task is the frightening task of stillness. Maybe we need to re-read the portions of Scripture that we most want to reject (like this passage from Isaiah) with patience and humility. Maybe we need to take the time to ponder this God who will not leave well enough alone -- not because of some maniacal desire to destroy the creation, but because of an irrepressible desire to redeem it.