Energy at Midpoint

Isaiah 40:31

[B]ut those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

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Introduction

There's a legend about Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, who led a band of soldiers against the grand army of England. It was a war for Scotland's independence, yet even with Robert the Bruce, a rising figure, leading the charge, England dealt some early blows to the Scottish resistance. After repeated defeats, Robert the Bruce went into hiding. With spirits broken, Robert took refuge in a cave where it was said he noticed a tiny spider attempting to weave a web. He watched the spider try again and again until, finally, its thread caught hold. It is said Robert the Bruce took inspiration from the spider and found the strength to continue the fight, ultimately securing Scottish independence. 

We all have days like that, where things are going so badly we want to get away, retreat, and cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. But this is true, especially if we feel we've been trying our best and doing our best, and nothing's changed. How many of you can relate to the feeling right of spinning your wheels or doing work that leads nowhere in the end? It's not a great feeling when we discover the possibilities we thought existed were never there to begin with at all. And here is where the words of Isaiah come into play. Words that carry with them the vitality of God's life-giving power for those times we struggle to find inspiration. 

Living With Babylonians

These words of encouragement don't happen within a vacuum. The whole of Isaiah 40 is written to a people who live in exile. Instead of living in the land promised to their ancestors, they find themselves living in a foreign land with new cultural traditions, language, and religious/moral values. Looking at the whole of Isaiah 40, we can tell that things aren't going so well. The people of God are lost; they are unclear about what role (if any) God plays in this new place. And after going around in circles, trying the same old things that worked back home, they're tired and burned out. The children's programming that worked in the '50s and '60s didn't attract children and youth as they thought; the adult programs that catered to popular trends and values of their time weren't the same as some of the adults in the local community. In this strange land, they were tired; we were and are exhausted. 

For today's reflection in his Advent devotional, Old Testament scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, "The poem reflects a faith community in which the possibilities of the gospel seem to have failed. They could not generate the old vitality. Nothing seemed to work. In this world, appeal to the power of God didn't carry much weight." (21) God's people, us, were burned out after trying to fit the gospel into a culture that, in simple terms, was different. Yet instead of allowing the abundance of God to fill their weary bodies (our bodies), we leaned instead into the promises of the Babylonian empire. An empire that stressed that the cosmos centered around you and your desires, which for worn-out bodies seems pretty attractive. But it doesn’t fall within the invigorating spirit of God.  

In the 1980s/90s, psychologists talked about the "Big Five." These personality traits helped provide a roadmap for understanding an individual's temperament (ego). The characteristics considered were: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Now, I would say these five elements make up a lot of our personalities, but there are certain things we could tweak. Setting that aside, where do you think our natures are most influenced? I believe we could say that it is from our environment! It's from what our parents taught us, what we learned from observing our neighbors, and what we absorbed from everyday interactions. Yet hear this, we aren't our personalities. Or at least we aren't entirely products of our culture. Your personality does not fully comprise your identity because you have a soul. 

And our soul carries with it our identity as the children of God, not children of the Babylonians or to the Empire of Greed and Self-Interest, but of God who gives us life.

God At Work

The people may have forgotten who provided them with energy and life; however, the prophet reminds them of the work of God. That it is in God, not in the Empire, where we find our renewed resolve: 

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? 
The Lord is the everlasting God, 
the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable
He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless."
(Isaiah 40:28-29)

For people who were burned out, people who forgot who they were, God was not done doing what God does best! The prophet reminds those of us who are weary that God does not faint. And to those who are weakened, God gives strength. This is a message of hope to us who may feel like we've run out of steam and who've given up on trying further to deepen our understanding and relationship with the divine. 

God is at work, dismantling what we have learned during our time with the Babylonians. God is at work, dismantling the parts of our personalities that have bought into the dream of false abundance and happiness. God is at work, dismantling the bonds that keep us in a cycle of "me" and "give me more" so that we can live free in gratitude and thanksgiving. Friends, God is at work, and as we hear the prophet's words, our hearts are called to set aside the dreams of the empire and replace them with a focus on the heart of God. This Advent season, let us break from what we've come to know as "normal" so we can lean hard into God's free and restless work. 

Spread Your Wings

Our reading for today reminded me of the song "Spread Your Wings" by Queen, "Spread your little wings and fly away... 'Cause you know you should do better. That's because you're a free man." While we use this time of Advent to remember and offer gratitude, it is also a time when we can dream a new dream and offer a new hope. It is also a time when we can receive what will uplift our souls, receive the energy and the resolve to see out the mission of harnessing the vitality of God. These are tough for sure, but God is still at work and is not hidden. So let us spread our wings and mount up on the air that flows from the life-giving spirit of God. 

Conclusion

Open your hearts this Advent season to the restless God constantly at work. Open your hearts with a sense of thanksgiving and gratitude, for God has not forgotten us. And open your hearts this Advent season to the energy of God, which revitalizes our worn-out bodies and souls. It is time that we embrace the lessons of Advent as a new way of living that runs counter to the falsehoods of Babylon. For those of us who are weary and heavy-laden, let us mount up on wings like eagles and find the blessed assurance that grants our peace.