Last
week, those of you who were here will recall that I invited us to reflect on
our experience of being crushed and indeed torn apart by the circumstances of
life; and how, in those very places, Jesus comes to us to gather us in to
community and to honour our losses as holy memories that remind us of God’s
presence with us, through good times and hard times alike.
This
week, I want to help us to reflect on what
happens next; and the word I want to focus on in particular is ‘delight’,
which refers to great pleasure:
‘You
shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed
Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land
Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall
be married.’ Isaiah 62:4
The
visionary Isaiah speaks to a community that has been through a crushing
experience, has had their world torn from them in being carried far from home
into exile, and who will return needing to construct a new normal. They
consider themselves – and others consider them – to be forsaken by God; and
understandably so; but Isaiah has been caught up in another story that is about
to unfold: ‘the Lord delights in you’.
The
Lord delights in you. You, unlikely community of broken people – you are those in whom the Lord delights.
We
see the same story unfold in our reading from the Gospel According to John, where Jesus delights to join in with
the joy of a wedding celebration, and most fully demonstrates that delight when
the hosts are hit with the social disaster of running out of the means to
provide for their guests, by transforming water into fine wine.
And
we see the same story unfold again in our reading from Paul’s letter to the
church in Corinth, where the Holy Spirit delights in an unlikely group of bickering,
competing people, and demonstrates that delight by giving to each gifts for the
common good.
God,
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, defined as ‘I delight; therefore, I AM’.
Allow
me to say it again: the Lord delights in you. You, unlikely community of broken
people – you are those in whom the
Lord delights.
Just
let that sink in for a moment.
How
does that transform your perception of God?
People
often tell me that they believe that God exists, and that God is good, but they
can’t imagine that God is particularly interested in them. Interested? God delights
in you; is crazy about you!
How
does that transform your perception of yourself?
Again,
people often tell me how unworthy they feel; surely God must be disappointed in
them. But what happens when someone is told ‘you are beautiful’? Their face
lights up; their hidden God-given glory shines forth.
How
does that transform your perception of the people sat around you?
Can
you see their glory? Or just their brokenness?
I
want to say something about the artwork currently installed in the Minster,
marking Holocaust Memorial Day. The piece over there, near the entrance, is
‘Babel’, Barrie West’s work relating to the global arms trade. It depicts
businessmen (crafted from toy soldiers) climbing over a glittering tower
constructed of guns. We have deliberately positioned it at right-angles to both
the birth of the Prince of Peace – depicted in the south transept – and his
crucifixion – depicted on the wall of the Bede Chapel. Here, one of the
greatest idols of our times is held in tension, caught in the cross-hairs of
love. Here, we too are held in tension.
As
we look at the world, there is much that could be termed Forsaken and Desolate.
When we look around the room, when we acknowledge one another, sisters and
brothers, there is much in our own experience that could be termed Forsaken and
Desolate. But there is also another story unfolding – and one that needs
present-day Isaiahs, and Johns, and Pauls; male and female, young and old,
Mackems and those for whom this is our adopted city; to proclaim it into being,
on earth as it is in heaven.
The
Lord delights in you. Pass it on.
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