Rev. Ben Davis’ Recent Sermon
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“Ransom”
Ben Davis
January 10, 2010
Pleasant Street Congregational Church, UCC
Please join me in the Spirit of Prayer:
Loving God,
May the words of my mouth and mediations of all our hearts be acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
I grew up going to church, more or less. Sometimes more, sometimes less… but I first started reading the Bible with some focus and purpose, when I was in my early 20s. See, I was going through a period of discernment in my life… which actually I’m actually still in, now that I think about it… Anyway, I remember really going to the Bible for wisdom, insight, guidance. I decided, I’ll read it, the whole thing, the Bible, cover to cover.
It was an interesting experience. I actually got fairly far before it began to dawn on me, that, well, at times, the Bible didn’t really seem to be a clear instruction book, with clear guidance, with much relevance to my life, to our world of today.
Part of the reason for this is that the Bible seemed to be filled with really extreme things. Extreme situations, extreme actions, extreme violence, extreme suffering, extreme ambition, extreme nations and politics, extreme rules and demands, extreme people, maybe even an extreme God.
I mean, what did all that have to do with me, growing up, in a suburb of Boston. While there were things in my life that felt important to me, it was nothing like all that. So, I wondered if all that old biblical stuff really applied to life, in my corner of the world in my time.
This passage from Isaiah reminds me of this reaction I had to reading the Bible.
See, this passage speaks to a complicated, even extreme situation of political, national, social, and spiritual upheaval and dislocation. It’s maybe helpful to get a sense of the history here. See, at this time, the nation of Israel has been conquered and the people sent to assorted nations. And remember, the Israelites have as core to their identity, this sense that they were called as a nation by God. Now they are conquered, scattered, and divided, their national, spiritual, and even personal identity is shattered.
In this passage, Isaiah speaks a message to the people that the nation will be restored. “Have faith,” Isaiah is saying, “God is going to pay the ransom which is necessary to redeem you, to collect you from where you are various places, and bring you back and restore the nation.”
For example, we hear in verse 3, “For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush [a] and Seba in your stead.” Verse 1 states, “this is what the LORD says— “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;” And Verse 4 has God saying, “I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.”
So, sitting in suburban America, with my dogs Jake and Mollie, and my cat Sprite, I read the Bible, and had to ask: what does all that, have to do with me?! How does it help me?!
And to today, again, we may ask, this biblical story of “ransom,” perhaps this idea of ransom more broadly, what does it have to do with our life today? Anything?
In considering this, I go to what I often go to, when confronted with life’s big questions: movies.
See, you can see how I’ve deteriorated since my early twenties. Then it was the Bible… now it’s Hollywood.
And so, my paragon of wisdom now 15 years later… I give you Mel Gibson.
So, Mel Gibson, starred in the movie, “Ransom”, he’s a CEO type, whose son is kidnapped in New York City and held for ransom. You know Mel, ever emotional, edgy, and a bit out of control, he concludes the kidnappers are going to kill his son anyway, so he refuses to pay the ransom, and fast paced thriller ensues. Don’t worry, in the end everything ends up okay… I know, big surprise.
Another ransom movie, I think of “Man on Fire,” starring Denzel Washington… This is maybe a bit more of a relevant story in our time, as a little girl, the child of American and Mexican parents, is kidnapped in Mexico City. This feels a bit more real because, kidnapping and demanding ransom is, in reality, something of a terrifying epidemic in Mexico.
Shifting from movies, I think of episodes of ransom from the nightly news. For example, I think of the sailors who were captured by pirates off the cost of Somalia. I think of those videotapes which show up on CNN… of American soldiers, or people from any nations, captured in violent conflicts and dangerous areas throughout the world… where these captives are used to bargain or to terrorize or to make some other terrible point….
I wonder if this suggests a conclusion … that the Bible may seem to have extreme subject matter in comparison to normal life in a relatively well off American city or suburb… but that when considered globally, life today is really not so different from that of the Bible.
Perhaps, then, reading the Bible encourages us to be aware of and, as best we can, try to address those situations in our world and society were difficult, frightening, dangerous conditions exist. Perhaps in the Bible is saying, at least partly, it is important to do what we can to help those people and places in peril.
I might add, while this is often not easy to do, it strikes me that this church does this really well. It is exemplified by many in this congregation, and is woven into the many activities of this church’s life. Which is great… Well done!!
But is that all. Is this the only way a passage, like this, from the Bible speaks to us… Is the standard for biblical relevance just what is worthy of CNN or a movie?
I mean, what about the questions I was facing as a 23 year old. What about my struggles then, my questions about what to do for a living, dealing with complicated relationship issues, asking basic questions about identity, coping with the death of my father… All this felt real and big to me, and I needed help… What about me, then?
What about the challenges, fears, difficulties, we all face in our every days lives. What about us, now?
Verse 2 of this passage speaks of “passing through waters” and “walking through fires.” Theses biblical images, we can surely relate to, describe facing challenges and hard or desperate times…
In one way or another, don’t we all know such “waters” and “fires.”
What are the things that cause us worry and fear and frustration? What keeps us awake at night or can make it so hard to get through a day? Concerns for our health, or the health of loved ones. Fincancial concerns in tough economic times. School. Jobs. Church. Relationships. Family. Loneliness, feelings of guilt, failure and disappointment, depression, weariness.
Indeed, there is much that threatens to overwhelm us, flood waters rising, flames closing in… What about when these things that threaten to overwhelm us, hold us captive, powerless, afraid?
In this passage, God speaks good news of paying the ransom to redeem the people of Israel? What does this Bible, what does Isaiah have to say to us?
Interestingly, part of the answer to our question comes in the very framing of Isaiah’s speech. See, these images of ransom and redemption are more than just an apt way to describe historical realities of the time. These image of ransom and redemption have deep theological and psychological significance.
See, in Isaiah’s understanding, the people have been rebellious and unfaithful to their covenant with God. Remember, the people of Israel understood themselves as being called and having an identity and relationship with God. This “covenant” is rooted above all in the story of God delivering the people from slavery in Egypt. In that story, the Story of Moses in the Book of Exodus, God ransomed the people from slavery in Egypt…
And yet, in Isaiah’s understanding, the people have fallen away from the covenant… they have broken the contract, reneged on the deal. The people having turned away from God, God is perhaps turning away in response, and the people are now suffering their deserved fate… the nation conquered, the people dispersed…
And so, according to Isaiah, the waters and fires are symbols of judgment, judgment even by God, for the people’s unfaithfulness.
Which to me, seems a bit like pouring it on, doesn’t it?
I mean, how’s that, on top of their tough circumstances, the people are made to understand that it is their fault, punishment from a just God, for their sins. Indeed, the people’s suffering now is intensified… the waters are rising, and the fires are spreading, indeed!
It seems like there’s an insight for us here: how much does our interpretation of things often intensify our own suffering. I mean, at times of our own rising waters and burning fires, what additional judgment or accusations do we impose on ourselves, consciously or otherwise? Are we not often tormented by that quiet voice, that says “I screwed up,” that “it’s my fault,” that “I’m unworthy or bad or terrible,” and “I deserve what happened!?”
We might often imagine and feel, also, the painful judgment of others. Even when it may not really be there. Even when it’s not justified. How much painful judgment do we impose on our selves? Even when it’s not accurate.
In we ever indulge such negative thinking, we should listen to Isaiah.
For, in the midst of the passage, at the heart of such questions and recriminations, Isaiah speaks God’s word of forgiveness, of God’s faithfulness, of restoration, and redemption. We hear God’s assurance, that, in the face of challenges and difficulties,: The flood waters will not overwhelm you… And you will walk through the fires without being consumed.
And why? Why does God makes such statements, such promises of restoration…
God explains… you will not be overwhelmed or consumed, because, and I quote, “Because, I love you, because I called you by name, because you are precious in my sight.”
((You will not be overwhelmed or consumed, Because, I love you, because I called you by name, because you are precious in my sight.”))
As welcome as these words are, there may still be a part of us that still asks: okay, but do these words, spoken by a prophet to a people half a world away and thousands of years, ago, do they apply to us, to me, today?
In a word, yes.
In fact, this is the very point of our faith, that God’s word of love, care, and saving grace, spoken so long ago, still rings today. As it says on the banner of this very church. God is still speaking, today.
Isaiah uses the image of “ransom.” A ransom must be paid, and a debt settled. In Isaiah’s telling, God pays the ransom, using perhaps other nations, other peoples.
Christianity, you may recall speaks the same language, but with a slightly different calculus.
In the Christian understanding, as with Isaiah’s, we do not claim to satisfy the standard of the ethical covenant with God. We may try. But we have flaws and imperfections, we screw up and we fall short. Heaven knows, our faith is not ironclad.
So, what is the Christian understanding of a ransom still needing to be paid, to repair the covenant, to put us right with God, and even with our selves and our neighbors? What is the Christian understanding? Who is paying the ransom? What could settle debt?
In the Christian understanding, the answer is quite simple. [[Who pays the ransom, who redeems and restores us, even in light of our struggles, our shortcomings, our frail bodies and spirits?]]
God. God pays the ransom.
The Christmas season has ended, but we perhaps still hear the words of that advent hymn: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…” Emmanuel, “God with us,” come, as a ransom…
Over the Christmas season, we have been celebrating Jesus’s birth. Jesus, who, in the mystery of faith, we call God’s own Son, the one in whom God is well pleased. Jesus, the one who came to restore us to God, here and now and forever. Jesus, the one who came to baptize us by God’s very Spirit, into God’s family of love, connection, and life everlasting. Jesus, the one who came as ransom.
And so folks, the bottom line, I’d say, is to hang in there, persevere, endure. Do those things you need to, in order to endure. Rest, have fun, reenergize. Invest in relationships and connections. Care for your body. Appreciate your blessings. Be bold in making your life rich. Attend to God. And in faith, know that in the end, all things well be well. All manner of things, shall be made well.
And, remember, no matter what we do, no matter how well we do, no matter how we are doing. On our bad days and during our sleepness night, …
Even then, especially then, listen:
Thus says the Lord… In spite of the waters. Whatever the fire. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I have redeemed you, for you are mine. I created you and formed you. I love you. I have called you by name. You are precious in my sight.
Amen.