There is a hymn inspired by Isaiah 50, "Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see." While I love that hymn, I don't know how well I live its truth or the truth of Isaiah 50. I wake up in the morning...groggy...not necessarily considering God's presence. I usually go to the gym in the morning and start to plot and plan my day...not necessarily considering God's presence. And so when someone comes in with words of criticism, I am not ready to respond. When I feel the slightest insult, I become sullen and sad. And sometimes those bad days can extend to bad weeks with my mind lingering over what was said.
Remember, the people are in exile, in a foreign land, and away from home. Each morning they wake up and are reminded of that painful truth. Why? And how long? These become the unanswerable questions for the People of God Isaiah is preaching to.
And amid people who conquered your land, torn down your walls, and destroyed your sacred place of worship, Isaiah essentially says, "Turn the other cheek," Ever wonder where Jesus got that wisdom from the Beatitudes? Isaiah 50 verse 6 might have been roaming around the back of Jesus' mind and in his heart when he preached that sermon on the plain in Luke.
But imagine trying to do that day after day after day in exile. Turn the other check when someone pulls your beard...or refrain from trying to get even when someone insults you. That is really difficult. Most of us can hardly stand it when a co-worker gossips behind our back, so we build a wall of silence around them. Or that family member whose politics are different, or that group of people who makes our skin crawl. Really, be nice to them? What was Isaiah and Jesus thinking? Why can't we take revenge and get even and even act on the anger we feel when someone says something that breaks our egos...and hearts?
I am not sure I have a great reason for that. To be sure, when I try to get even, it usually means the relationship goes to the lowest common denominator, to a place of utter chaos and brokenness. When I hold onto grudges, I am usually the one who ends up feeling lousy because the other person just goes on with life unaware. Part of what revenge and anger do is cause us to see the other as less than human and to deny our connection to that other person. And when we do that, morning after morning; day after day; life becomes less than what God intended.
Morning by morning - with the rising of the sun to the going down of the same - can you this week be honest about those who have hurt you? Can you forgive? Can you seek to live in a different way with those around you? Perhaps that will allow a trace of God's grace into your life. I pray it will for mine.
Blessings and peace!
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