A Sad Song from Isaiah

Come let me tell you a story of my beloved and his Garden.  He had a garden on a fertile hill.  With love he dug it up, with hope he cleared it of stones and with gentle expectation he planted the best flowers and vegetables he could find.  With joy he built a gazebo where he could sit in the shade to watch over his garden, and in anticipation he placed a great table in the midst of it where he could process the bountiful harvest. 

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!

Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!

We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!

Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

He expected his garden to yield abundant, lush and healthy flowers, fruits and vegetables; but instead, it yielded only rot and ferment.  For many, many years, he tilled the soil, moved about the plants, increased the fertilizer, adjusted the moisture.  But still it yielded only rot and ferment. 

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!
Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!
We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!
Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

And so the gardener says, "You who are listening to me, you people in the pews, you be the judges between me and my garden.  What more is there for me to do than I haven't already done?  When I expected it to yield healthy fruit, why did it yield only rot and ferment?" 

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!

Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!

We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!

Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

"And I'll tell you what I'm going to do.  I will remove the hedge and let my garden go back to the earth;  I will break down the walls and let it be trampled by wild animals.  It will go fallow and will no longer be pruned or hoed.  It will grow over with weeds and thorns.  I will even command that the clouds not rain upon it."

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!

Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!

We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!

Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

The Garden of God is the People of God, and you are God's pleasant planting;  God expected justice, but saw only inequity; God expected compassion, but heard only greed.

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!

Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!

We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!

Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

We are the garden of God and we need to be honest with ourselves as we look at the world we have created.  Are we worthy fruit that God is pleased to harvest that bring justice, compassion and beauty to the world?  Or do our words and actions only produce inequity, greed and decay?

Bring in the harvest!  Bring in the fruit!

Praise God with our voices, with cymbal and lute!

We are God's garden!  We are God's vine!

Our words and our actions are of God a sign!

Two Evils

Sing aloud, O People, to the Lord our God;

Shout for Joy, to the God of Israel!

Raise a song with tambourine and harp,

Blow the trumpet on the day of celebration!

Who called the world into being: the heavens and the earth, the stars and the Sun, the waters and the air?

 

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who created the plants and the animals the fish and the birds?
Who made all the peoples of the earth and made them blessed?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

 

Who heard the people cry out in their distress and called on Moses to set them free?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

 

Who brought down the 10 plagues on Egypt when Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not set the people free?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who lead the people out of Egypt in a pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who parted the seas when the armies of Pharaoh pursued you?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who lead you through the wilderness and fed you on quail and manna?  Who brought forth water from the rock?  Who gave you a law and a land and hope for the future?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who did?

Oh God, You did! 

Alleluia!  Praise God!

Who did?

Oh God, You did! 
Alleluia!  Praise God!

Then what wrong do you find in me that you go your own way?  Why do you chase after worthless things and yourselves become worthless?  Why do you defile the land and make my inheritance something shameful?    Why do your law makers not know me and your rulers transgress against me?  Why do your prophets speak for Corporations, celebrities and politicians  and not for me?

My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water,
And have built for themselves cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.

Prophetic Resistance

There are some parts of today's story that get repeated over and over and you are welcome to say them with me... 

 

God sent a messenger to Sarah and said to her, “Sarah, you are going to have a baby boy?”

And Sarah burst out laughing and said,

“Not me, Lord, Not me!… (That's a part you can say with me, "Not me, Lord, Not me!")

“I'm to old to bear children!”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;

I'll be here, I will deliver you. (That's another part you can say with me, "I know, I made you; I'll be here, I will deliver you.")

Sarah had a baby boy and named him Isaac which means, “Makes me laugh.”

Many years later God appeared to Moses in a bush that burned but was not consumed and said, “I have heard my people cry.  I will send you to tell Pharaoh to set my people free.”

And Moses said, 

“Not me, Lord, Not me!…

“I’m a murderer and I c-c-cant speak well!”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;
I'll be here, I will deliver you.

 

And Moses went and led God’s people to freedom.

Many, many years later, God spoke to Isaiah and said, “I’m not at all happy with the way my people are living.  They are not just; they ignore widows and neglect orphans.  I will sent you to call my people back to the covenant I made with them in the wilderness.”

And Isaiah said,  

“Not me, Lord, Not me!…

“I'm a sinner from a community that revels in sin!”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;
I'll be here, I will deliver you.
So Isaiah went and told the people what God wanted them to hear.

Around about the same time, God spoke to Ezekiel saying, “I’m not happy with how my people are living.  I want you to tell them that if they don’t shape up, I’m going to send armies against them!”

 And Ezekiel said,  

“Not me, Lord, Not me!…

“I wouldn't know what to say.”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;
I'll be here, I will deliver you.

 

And God gave Ezekiel words to say and Ezekiel proclaimed them.

 And again, God spoke to Jonah saying, “I’m not happy with those people up in Nineveh, I’m sending you to tell them that I’m going to wipe them out.  But if they listen to your warning and change their ways, I will bless them instead.”

And Jonah said,

 “Not me, Lord, Not me!…

 “Those sinners deserve to burn in hell, I'm not going to be responsible for their redemption!”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;
I'll be here, I will deliver you.
 And we all know what happened to Jonah…

God spoke to Jeremiah saying, “What have I done wrong that the people go after worthless things making themselves worthless?  Call the people back to my promise.  Tell them to change their ways.”

And Jeremiah said,

“Not me, Lord, Not me!…

“I'm too young.”

And God responded:

I know, I made you;
I'll be here, I will deliver you.

[insert the name of you] Church, It's time for you to change your ways.  The world is different than it was 50 years ago, and you must find a new way to express your faith!"

 

And we say:

 

"Not us, Lord, Not us!…

What are our objections?

Too old

Too tired

Too lazy

Not enough of us

Don't know how

Scared

The like the old way better

We don't want to change

All of the above

 

And what is God's response to us?

Telling Our Ancient Story

Week after week, I write a story for the part of our worship service that currently comes under the heading, "Telling Our Ancient Story."  It's the part of the service that has previously been called "Theme Conversation," or "Children's Time." 

But in my current setting, we have no children in church and recently it hasn't been much of a conversation.  I generally used the time to retell our faith story in a way that is fun, engaging, memorable, active, and family friendly (should a young family happen to show up).  It is my hope that I'm giving people the ability to tell the stories of our faith in ways that will engage their own grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I use techniques I learned around the campfire: repetition, rhythm, sung/spoken responses, actions, onomatopoeia and sometimes even silliness.  I follow the lectionary and will often integrate readings (particularly the psalm), perhaps having Jesus teach theme of a psalm through repetition (or having someone repeat a psalm to him). 

My primary goal is story appropriation.  I believe the first step in making the Bible more accessible for a new generation, is telling the stories in a way that lets us really own them and make them ours.  There will be time for study, criticism and scholarship, once we feel like the stories are ours.

So I'm going to start posting.  Please use, adapt, play, have fun as appropriate.  Maybe use my retellings as a spring board for your own retelling.  Most of all, share these stories and share your retellings with me!