( Isaiah 40, 8-12 ) - [ Deutsch ]
Dear congregation, words work. Not all of them work. And words do not all have the same effect. We know that, we experience that every day. Words are the main way we communicate with each other. They put a smile on your face, they can build you up, but they can also make you infinitely sad or even destroy you. They can heal and hurt. They can relieve and weigh you down. Human words. We know their effect - the good, life promoting and - the bad, destructive.
On this 2nd Sunday before the Passion season, everything revolves around God's word. In the Scripture reading, in the Gospel, we heard that the Word of God is seed, which, scattered by the sower, bears fruit or not.
And in our sermon text from the book of Isaiah it says this:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord,
9 but as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow fall from heaven, and do return not there again, but moisten the earth, and make it fruitful, and cause it to grow, that it may give seed to sow, and bread to eat;
11 so shall the word that proceed out of my mouth be, saying, It shall not return unto me void, but shall do that which is right in my sight, and it shall prosper whereto I send it.
12 For ye shall go forth in joy, and be led in peace.
God's word works.
It does not return to Him empty, but accomplishes what He wills. What is God's word? In the Hebrew Bible, God's word is the word by which reality is created, is set: God spoke, let there be, and there was. In personal encounters, however we may imagine it, God speaks to people, Abraham and Moses and others, who pass on what they have received. In Isaiah and the other prophets, God's word is what reaches people as a message spoken through the mouth of the prophets. They are words that have an effect, set goals, promote power systems or announce their downfall, words that change reality. In the most diverse political and social circumstances these messages go out and neither the prophets nor their listeners can escape the effect.
In the Gospels, everything comes to a head with Jesus Christ - "Word of God" here is the "Eu- Angelion", the Good News that God has brought to this world and to people through Jesus Christ, that God means well with us, that we are important to him, that he loves us so that we can love and value one another and him and ourselves.
The Letter to the Hebrews, one of the late writings in our Bible, considers all the Scriptures of the old and new covenants as the "Word of God" that speaks to people alive and strong and sharper than any sword - with all its stories, laws and promises.
In my life, and certainly in yours, there is such a Word of God. In my case, it is my confirmation saying that keeps coming to mind, encouraging me, comforting me, nudging me when Christ speaks "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
There are many stories, figures, events from the Bible that help me understand certain situations in life.
Yes - the Word of God works, it creates something, sets reality by meeting people who hear it, let it affect them, let it question them or nudge them, lets them tell others about it. God's word works, but it does not work independently of those who hear it and the reality in which they live.
The first hearers of Isaiah's message lived far from their homeland in Babylon. Many years had passed since they had been forcibly relocated. They had settled down in the foreign land. Certainly, some had almost forgotten what their ancestors had once believed in and had succumbed to the attraction of the foreign religion. And now comes the prophet Isaiah. He speaks of an imminent return, not only to the geographical, but also to the religious homeland: There is only one God who deserves trust, only him, the God of the fathers and mothers, him who was almost forgotten, they should trust. They can rely on his words just as much as on the fact that snow and rain make the earth moist and fertile. And he invites them to set out again, to leave the exile in which they had just settled.
When reading these chapters in the book of Isaiah, one senses to this day how much the prophet must strive for and solicit trust among those who ask themselves: Who tells us that this will work out well? That God is so reliable?
No one other than God's word itself says it.
And so the prophet reminds his doubting listeners of two things: He reminds them of the story to which Israel owes its very existence: the story of the escape from slavery in Egypt, in which the Israelites, guided by God's word and sign, finally reached a land of their own. You see, he says, God is reliable. His word works and keeps what it promises. That's one thing.
The other: He makes it clear to them that God thinks, plans and acts differently than they can understand in their narrow horizons. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord, 9 but as much as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God's ways and thoughts are not ours, but most of all it seems to me that God's pace is not our pace. The image of rain and snow makes clear to us the way God's words and thoughts work. The image says: Just as snow and rain do not bring about fruitfulness on their own, but only in connection with the earth, God's word also works in connection with people who receive it, let themselves be opened and moved. Where this happens, we can become co-workers and ambassadors of God's future, however limited our strength may be. To God's ground staff. And just as growth in nature is a slow process and does not happen overnight, the realization of God's future also takes a long time.
We do not know the path on which we are called. It has always been like this with every departure, with every exodus.
What can give us courage and comfort in times of difficulty is the certainty that God's word works and does not return to him empty and ineffective. It is no different with his words than with many a good human word that is said to us in the course of our lives.
Sometimes they come back to us only after many years, after we had simply forgotten them, then when we particularly need them, and then they unfold their effect. It is the same with God's word: when we are in need and in a tight spot, they come back to us and set us on the track that leads to God's future.
Amen