Have You Not Heard?

²¹Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; ²³who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. ²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. ²⁵To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. ²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God? ²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. ³⁰Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:21-31, NRSV)

It was reported this week that astronomers are debating the number of planets in our solar system. For years, we have been naming nine of them. I know this because they are on the ceiling above my son's bed and he often includes each one by name in our evening prayers. But now it seems there are either eight or ten of them. A new ice dwarf was discovered last year beyond Pluto, but it has taken a year of detailed analysis of the distant sphere to calculate its size and nature.

Now it has been determined that the new as yet unnamed orb is larger than Pluto, so it would hardly be fair to call Pluto a planet and not let this larger object also be a planet. This would bring the number of planets to ten. But some feel that Pluto is actually too small to qualify as a real planet, since it is considerably smaller than our own moon, and think it should be taken off the planet list. So both could be dropped from consideration, bringing the number of planets to eight. It may be some time before a decision is reached.

God, however, has numbered not only the planets in our solar systems, but also every other solar system. Every star! Each one is known and named by the Creator, Isaiah proclaims. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?

Have you not known, the prophet asks, have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Isaiah 40 begins what is known as Second Isaiah. This chapter and the ones following it address the community of Israel after the devastating attack of the Babylonian armies and the exile which followed. He has a keen eye for world events and understands them as happening in the context of divine activity. It is probable that the writer was one of the exiles, living far from Israel, in the area now known as — can you guess? — Iraq.

Isaiah is addressing a community that has experienced chaos and displacement. I can't help but think of the evacuees of New Orleans, longing for their old home, yet aware that even if they are able to return, things will never be the same. Or I think of our own soldiers, members of this congregation and community, far away from home, knowing that even when they return, life will not be the same for them. I think, too, of refugees from wars and disasters around the world, pushed from their homes by terrifying forces.

Many of the Jewish diaspora were convinced that cosmic forces greater than any other power, including God's, were dictating their destiny. Isaiah argues that this is nonsense: To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal? Says the Holy One. This is when we are reminded that even the stars are numbered and named by God. There is no body, no fate, no power, no astrology, no destiny which is outside the stretch of God's arms.

Have you not known, he asks again, Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

The prophet understands the confusion, the sadness, the anger, the resignation, the yearning of these people. The chapter begins, Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem … and it is this comfort that continues in the text we heard today. God has not left the exiles for lost. God has not given them over to powers beyond control. God is still active and working and present and available. We may not always see how God is acting nor understand how good can come from tumult, but this does not mean God has given up.

God does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

From the stars in the heaven to the weary people of the earth, God is here. God is here, not just watching, not just standing in aloof observance of all that is, but God is here in power, in strength, with dynamic energy, shaping history, offering solace, filling with hope, renewing, invigorating, enlivening, uplifting.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

Isaiah realizes that we get weary; that the trials of our lives exhaust us; that the worries of the world defeat us. But there is hope for us, he says, because our lives are not simply our own. God does not grow weary; God's energy is not exhausted. Even youths shall faint, but not our God. Even the young will fall, but not our God. And not only that, we're told, but God doesn't stand over us, full of dynamism while watching us struggle. No! God's power can be our power.

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength! They shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint.

The same energy that spins the planets, the same energy that fires up the stars, that's the energy that we have the privilege to draw upon. You may feel, like the exiles in Babylon, that you have been abandoned in your life, but Isaiah says, power is yours!

You may feel that fate has played you a lousy hand, but Isaiah says, God has a bigger vision and take you up to a higher place, with wings like an eagle, so that you can get some perspective.

You may feel that the problems of this church or this nation are too big for anyone, but Isaiah says, the rulers of the earth are nothing compared to our God.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God.

United Parish of Bowie is experiencing our own time of tumult this week. There is a sense of displacement without Carl's steady hand her to guide the ship. You may feel like you're entering a time of exile from all that has been familiar, that has been home.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. If I know the number and names of the star, don't you think I know you? I will renew your strength. You will mount up with wings like an eagle. Trust me. I have the power to hold the center together.

Jesus lived in that power. He taught in it, healed in it, walked in it, died in it and rose up in it. And when we gather around this table each month, we humbly say, I want some of that. I want to feel that energy moving in my body. I want to feel that life pulsing through my soul. I want to feed on the truth that is bigger than the realities that drag me down and wear me out. I want to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. I want some of that.

And the poet sings to us, whispers in our ears, beckons to our heart, "Have you not known? Have you not heard?" God is here. Come, come, my people. The dust that fuels the stars is the dust that runs through your veins and I am the energy in both. Come, come, my people. Don't stay away. Feed on me. Renew your strength. Come.

The foregoing sermon was preached at the United Parish of Bowie on February 5, 2006, by Rev. Laura Collins.

© 2006 Laura Collins