Contrasting

Click here to read Isaiah 31
Click here to read Isaiah 32

Chapters 31 and 32 are a study in contrast.  Chapter 31 lays out the futility of our human efforts.  Chapter 32 lays out the hope of our human efforts.  One chapter makes our shoulders slouch, the other chapters makes us sit up tall.  Life is an exercise of contrasts.  One day joy can well up in laughter, the next day an event can leave grieving.

I think the hard part in all of this is the unexpectedness of the contrasts. We cannot always plan ahead. We don't always know when the words we hear are foolish until we look back in hindsight.  The other hard part is as people of faith we claim God is good all the time...and all the time God is good.  So, what gives?  This tension, or contrast, has at times caused people to drift away from faith. And while I am grateful Isaiah talks about the nobles doing noble things and making noble plans...I still don't always know who the noble people are!  And to make matters worse, sometimes the ones who are noble still make mistakes...they are human after all.

Which is why I think contrasts are so important in faith.  Reformer Martin Luther used to keep two pieces of paper with him.  On one piece of paper he kept in his pocket were the words, "I am a beloved Child of God."  On the piece of paper in the other pocket were the words, "I am a sinner."  Living between those two contrasting truths... simultaneously is what Reformed faith is all about.  Of course, many churches tend to error on one side or the other.  Some churches start sounding like the song, "All we need is love."  And there is truth in that.  Other preachers make you feel a bit like a worm by the end of the sermon.  And there is truth in that.  The problem is both trying to hold each in balance and trying to sort out when to say what.  After all on any given Sunday there are people who need to hear each message.

That is the contrast of faith.  That is the contrast of being a human.  That is the contrast of creativity where God moves in our lives.  I invite you into that contrast and simultaneous sense of who we are this week.  In the midst of that messy middle, I think there is a trace of God's grace for us.

Blessings and peace!